At the Infor seminar that took place on Tuesday, 17 May 2011, in Johannesburg, Craig Simpson, the Lead Analyst for Manufacturing Insights at IDC, CEMA commented on the largest survey into global discrete manufacturing ever undertaken in partnership with Infor.
“Revenue, profitability and raw material costs remain three of the main concerns for manufacturing companies in 2010 and 2011, with energy and fuel cost concerns skyrocketing to the top of the list,” says Simpson.
“According to the research findings, South African manufacturers are embarking on a more aggressive and risky approach that is focusing on extending into new markets and finding new customers. Developing markets are also active in innovative product development and creating new services in the face of adapting and ever changing customer demands. More developed economies are on a vastly different playing field, with manufacturers following a more conservative route that focuses on retaining and growing existing customers and improving productivity,” says Simpson.
Arsenin Rodriguez, the Strategic Solutions Director for Infor, says innovation has become a core activity for manufacturers. Innovation is the key to how manufacturers plan to meet their strategic objectives. Support is, however, needed to ensure that their investments match their ambitions,” says Rodriguez.
The availability of skilled resources is ranked as the top inhibitor to innovation, says Simpson. “The prevailing lack of skills in South Africa is a very real threat to the intellectual property that we offer to customers. Many companies are outsourcing key functional aspects of their business to outside providers that are essentially diluting the unique product offering that you give to the end-user, and that is something we need to guard against,” concludes Simpson.
For more information on the IDC Manufacturing Insights Survey, visit http://www.infor.co.za.
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