The first hard indications that top-line growth would move to center stage on manufacturers' agendas this year came toward the end of 2006 when Managing Automation conducted its annual outlook poll. The results of that poll, published in the January issue of the magazine, pointed to a subtle, but marked, shift in reader attitudes about growth initiatives in relation to cost-reduction activities.
What the poll revealed was that while cost reduction remained an ongoing top business priority, an emphasis on growing the business through such initiatives as new geographic and industry market penetration and more rapid product introductions had finally overtaken cost reduction after several years of caution inspired by economic uncertainty.
In the months since that poll was published, the growth message has played louder and louder throughout the industry. As a result, the Managing Automation editorial team decided to devote this issue to exploring in depth the topic of growth.
What we have done is to select five hot-button technology and business practice subjects — business intelligence, software-oriented architecture, and operational efficiency disciplines such as lean, e-commerce, and enterprise integration — and explore how they can influence the growth equation for manufacturers. Geared toward what executive manufacturing management needs to know, these articles explore the link between technology and actual business performance.
And it is that link that the MA edit team believes is the key to accelerating growth for all companies that understand how to marry technology with their business strategies. One of the great challenges for all companies is to begin to close the gap between what increasingly sophisticated information systems are capable of doing functionally for manufacturers and what manufacturers are prepared to do with these systems.
As the articles that follow show, closing this gap in the months and years ahead will unlock not only greater growth for manufacturers, but better corporate performance as well.