Technology

3D printing is a “game changer” for manufacturing, but its real impact on supply chains will take years to play out, experts say. According to the 2016 MHI Annual Industry Report, Accelerating change: how innovation is driving digital, always on supply chains, only 17 percent of nearly 900 supply chain professionals surveyed said they believe that 3D printing can be ...

The concept of predictive analytics is one that sends many to thinking of the future. Not so for Randy McClary. He’s quickly reminded of the past. As a champion of the theory of dis­ruptive innovation—when a new idea is so much better than the traditional way of doing things that it completely displaces the old—what comes to mind for McClary ...

In 10 years’ time, there will be more than 100 billion people, devices and systems connected to the Internet of Things, and each connected device will be equipped with dozens of sensors, says Boris Felgendreher, director of marketing, EMEA, GT Nexus. “You have big data and cloud platforms and the Internet of Things all coming together at the same; it’s ...

The U.S. Roadmap for Material Handling & Logistics (Roadmap) identifies trust and technology as two key barriers to effective collaboration. At MHI we are building and testing a platform with trust embedded so that the value of sharing information and assisting others with their material handling and supply chain issues can be realized. The opportunities for MHI members to elevate ...

Certified track and trace using blockchain or other emerging technologies—is there an actual case for this in the next three years? A growing number of experts are certainly bullish on the prospects, and there is movement among the manufacturing and retail industries to explore how to best leverage such technologies for use within their own supply chains. “Track and trace ...

Wearable technology, 3D printing, advanced robotics, real-time shipment tracking and integrated business planning tools are just a few examples of technologies that are in place now, or will be in the near future, throughout the supply chain. grows, and supply chain leaders are facing a major talent shortage. This lack of talent can slow innovation throughout the industry, according to ...

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) and global positioning system (GPS) technologies is mitigating the risks within supply chains by minimizing financial losses due to downtime, reducing the chance for non-compliance with government regulations on product safety as well as corporate governance, and even protecting the physical safety of workers. But the use of such technologies to provide an ...

Moving a roll of cloth destined for military uniforms from manufacturer to warehouse to fabricator has been, until recently, a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. The introduction of automatic identification—specifically Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)—has transformed it. Manufacturing employees used to handwrite each cloth roll’s data onto manually attached tags. At the warehouse, employees would copy each roll’s information onto a sheet by ...

Mobile technologies are improving processes within each step of the supply chain—and expediting real-time communication for better visibility across the entire chain. An increasing number of manufacturers are outsourcing some or all of their supply chain management to third-party logistics providers, which are leveraging mobile technologies to report performance metrics—as well as potential problems—to their clients in real time, says ...

Supply chain management is getting an adrenaline shot in the arm with emerging wearable and mobile technologies. From smart glasses, to voice-directed hands-free wearable scanners, to real-time views of every touchpoint within the supply chain via mobile devices, manufacturers, distributors and their partners are experimenting with various technologies to expedite processes, improve worker safety and increase transparency within the supply ...