Top 10 Predictions for Brand-Oriented Manufacturers
The prospect for a continuing recovery is good. Brand-oriented manufacturing firms – those selling branded goods and serving consumer markets - are optimistic but cautious, ready to grow again, and looking for guidance on the cadence of growth. The pace of these businesses continues to be driven by generally predictable supply and unpredictable demand. Consumers will persist in seeking "more affordable" and "good value" products, including private label, keeping in mind that what consumers define as "good value" may change through the year.
In the context of the economic environment and the specific implications for brand-oriented manufacturers, IDC Manufacturing Insights offers the following predictions for 2011:
Prediction #1: Brand-Oriented Manufacturers, Recognizing the Inherent Complexity in Their Business, Will Look for Ways to Drive Out Unnecessary Complication through Segmentation, Simplification and the Use of More Practical Analytics.
Prediction #2: IT Vendors Will Continue to Develop Business Intelligence and Analytics Tools that Enable Brand-Oriented Manufacturers to Drive Improvements in Key Business Processes like Promotion Management.
Prediction #3: Although Demand Forecasting Continues to be Important, Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Will Begin to Recognize the Critical Role of Supply-Side Responsiveness.
Prediction #4: Supply Chain Visibility Will Climb on the IT Application Priority List as Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Increasingly Identify Critical Product Quality Use Cases such as Traceability.
Prediction #5: Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Will Drive the Use of Downstream Data to "Sweat" the Demand Side of their Supply Chains.
Prediction #6: Recognizing the Inherent Inverse Relationship between Innovation Investment and Private-Label Penetration, Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Will Get Serious About the Adoption of Enterprise-Level Product Lifecycle Management Tools.
Prediction #7: Investment Among Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Will Be Driven by Capabilities Rather than Capacity of Plant Network, with a Focus on Moving to Global Multi-Enterprise Orchestration.
Prediction #8: As Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Increasingly Outsource Operations and Expand into Emerging Regions, They Will Search for Ways to Improve Information Sharing and Support More Organic Collaborative Processes Across Their Business.
Prediction #9: Brand-Oriented Manufacturing Captains Will Put a Stake in the Cloud to Level-Set Technology Capabilities with Focus on Aligning with the "Clock Speed" of the Supply Chain.
Prediction #10: Brand-Oriented Manufacturers Will Invest in Learning How to Incorporate Mobility Applications and Smart Devices into the Supply Chain.