Stacey Warthen

It might have been a short week for some, but at Supply Chain Now, it was chock-full of great interviews, conversations, livestreams, and episodes!   For a bonus episode on Saturday, Scott and Greg welcomed Tyson Steffens with Pallet Alliance and Jom Fechner with USG to the podcast to talk about building a national procurement program and optimizing your spend.   Supply Chain Now · “How and Why to Build a National Procurement Program to Optimize Your Spend”   On Monday, Scott dug back into the archives for This Week in Business History, and gave us all the story behind Labor Day.   Supply Chain Now · “This Week in Biz History for September 7th: The Story Behind Labor Day”   On Tuesday, Jamin Alvidrez joined Scott as co-host, and welcomed a couple of amazing people in logistics and transportation, Trey Griggs with Lean Sales and Nicole Glenn with Candor Expedite.   Supply Chain Now · “The Amazing People of Logistics & Transportation: Featuring Nicole Glenn & Trey Griggs”   Tim Judge with Agillitics and Nate Endicott with RateLinx joined Scott and Greg on Wednesday for a great conversation on agile decision making in supply chain.   Supply Chain Now…

The story of the manufacturing industry has been one of progress. Few manufacturers continue to produce the same products as they did in their infancy years. In order to remain competitive, manufacturers must continue to evolve their products to meet the demands of the marketplace. But meeting consumer demand is only half the battle — the other half is staying up to speed with industry advancements. New technology brings a host of changes that manufacturers must recognize. For example, increasing dependence on automation leads to the need for more skilled workers who understand these advanced systems. If workers cannot adapt successfully, organizations could find themselves struggling to keep up with the rest of the industry. To remain competitive in this dynamic environment, organizations should have several tools at their disposal that go beyond the physical equipment and technology innovations used in their facilities. These tools are ideas manufacturers can keep in their toolbox and use to produce next-level productivity. For example, one tool can be an investment in regular maintenance, which can ensure that machinery stays in service for as long as possible. This results in higher productivity and fewer costly downtime periods. For more ideas manufacturing companies should keep…