Managing Automation Magazine

March 2010 Issue

Cover story

DeepDive: Supplying the Rebound
by Chris Chiappinelli
Manufacturers caught in the Great Recession moved quickly to cut supply and production. Now, as demand hints at a return, they’re challenged to synch their networks with the rebound. .

Features

Outsourcing: Why the Handoff Isn’t as Easy as It Looks
by Stephanie Neil
Manufacturers and automation vendors alike are leaning on IT professional services organizations to lift the burdens of day-to-day activities that impede their ability to achieve business objectives. But buyers beware. When outsourcing IT or engineering, .

Commentary

Take 1
March of 1990
by David R. Brousell
Ideas about world-class manufacturing built on notions of flexibility in operations and greater speed may have been born years ago, but they are still very much with us today..

    Notes
    On Demand Gets Complicated
    by Joshua Greenbaum
    Two new, modeling-based software suites due this year will change the cost equation for on-demand adoption in significant ways.

      Next
      The Creative Process
      by Robert Malone
      Our industrial structure was developed a century or so ago, and the creative minds behind it didn’t so much invent things as put things into a constructive process.

        Methods
        Gauging Demand
        by Julie Fraser
        In an era of unpredictability and fast change, demand planning software and practices will be crucial to survival. Here are factors to consider. .

          Product Scan

          Manufacturing Technology Product Scan, March 2010
          A round-up of some of the latest tools available to help you run your manufacturing business, from the shop floor to the top floor and beyond.