There was a time not so long ago when manufacturers had the time and resources to implement large, big-bang IT projects, such as ERP or PLM, that promised to transform broad swaths of the enterprise.
Not so much anymore.
These days, many manufacturers, facing stiff global competition and the need for quick, certain benefit, are opting for incremental projects that focus on rapidly improving an important, yet specific, business process.
This year's Managing Automation Companies to Watch are all over that trend. The 10 up-and-coming technology and service providers highlighted in the following series of articles have identified an important, discrete pain point common to many manufacturers and come up with a targeted solution for relieving that pain.
Take Optessa, for example. The young software vendor provides a plant scheduling tool that lets automotive and other manufacturers cope with rising complexity. As the number of product SKUs keeps rising and cycle times keep dropping, the number of scheduling constraints is soaring. Optessa's MLS and MLP systems keep track of all the constraints while producing a schedule that optimizes critical resources.
Or consider Boomi. As more manufacturers opt for software-as-a-service rather than on-premise software, they are running into predictable challenges when it comes to application integration. Boomi, a SaaS application itself, focuses on alleviating that specific pain point.
But just because this year's Companies to Watch picks are concentrating on solving specific, bounded problems, don't assume they lack larger ambitions. Many, in fact, have aggressive plans to grow and to expand their offerings.
For now, however, most understand that you've got to start somewhere, and it might as well be solving everyday problems for real manufacturers.
Click on the links below to read about this year's 10 Companies to Watch.