In this episode, we talk with Shekar Hariharan, VP of Product Marketing at Jitterbit. Shekar highlights the crucial role data integrations and APIs play in driving innovation, efficiency, and agility in the manufacturing sector.  2:57 - Digital Disruption Shekar: Manufacturing, just like any other industry, is being impacted by digital disruption...there's data scattered across different systems, and… unless you connect these systems together, you have what you call data silos.  3:58 - The Matrix Andrew: I have this mental image of disparate databases housing lots of data, machines o ..read more

"Since we've started this, we're literally adding tens of thousands of dollars of extra revenue when our product ships." In this episode, we talk with Chris Muto, Sales Operations Manager for Pro-Tech, a manufacturer of industrial snow plows. Chris shares how Pro-Tech is using data to improve customers' experience, drive additional sales, and do more with less. Connect with Chris on LinkedIn. Check out Pro-Tech. --- This season, we're giving away a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones!    How to enter: To be eligible to win, you must complete ALL of the following st ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Mendy Ezagui with Nucleus Technologies and Rapid Logistics Couriers. Mendy digs into strategies manufacturers can employ to customize automation and streamline internal processes to increase productivity. “When you review a [new] software, put it into the hands of some of your users and say: ‘Hey, check this out. Is it simple? Are you getting your job done much better than the way you're doing it right now? Is this efficient? Can you walk through your steps, far more easily than you have up to this point and could you put in the information that's important?’ Obvi ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Clark Richey from FactGem. Clark offers insights into how manufacturers can take small — but effective — steps to break down data silos for a more complete view of the company. "Information is now being connected, and that's what we've come to expect. And successful businesses are doing that really well. Whether it's in the manufacturing space, supply chain, retail, they're connecting all the dots. And that's where those silos lead to problems. We're separating those dots, and we have hard walls between them. So we need to figure a way to reconnect those so we can ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Zach Boyd from Hirebotics a company that allows manufacturers to hire a robot for hourly work like they would an employee. Zach explores the ways that data and the Internet of Things (IoT) can be harnessed to provide proactive and preventative remote support and maintenance to their customers.  “We Cloud Connect our robot so that we can gain real-time insights into how that robot's performing, what problems it might have. And with that, we're able to 98% of the time, come to a resolution, identify that root cause and provide a fix from a mobile application th ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Mike Wertheim from Hayward Industries. Mike shares how Hayward is using data to boost the company's bottom line and outlines his team's top priorities for 2020. 3:41: 3 Ways Data Can Drive Profits Mike: Data is important to everybody. For Hayward, we are a manufacturing company and it comes down to the bottom line. So, I'll give you 3 ideas of some things that make data very important to [us].  We are a big company in a mature market. The way to grow in that market is through acquisition. When you acquire a company and there's a different set of data, there ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Lisa Arthur, marketing expert and advisor for Scoutbee. Lisa digs into strategies manufacturers can use right now to create or expand on a data-driven marketing strategy. That strategy starts with not marketing to customers, and instead, using data to create informed buyers. “The first step around getting strategic, and building that foundation for data-driven marketing, is really deeply understanding those buyers and prospects. Understanding what they find of value. And then building the vision and the strategy around how your products and services can actually m ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Francois Gau, owner and CEO of Levy Industrial.  This episode is the second of a two-part segment with Francois. During this portion of the interview, Francois digs into the concept of Inbound Marketing and explains why manufacturing and industrial companies need to focus messaging on thought leadership rather than selling. He shares key metrics companies can use to gain insight into the effectiveness of their efforts and connect marketing investments to sales and profits.  Connect with Francois on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out Levy Industrial ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Louis Columbus, a Forbes columnist and principal at IQMS. Louis talks through five ways artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionizing the manufacturing industry — from marketing and sales to efficiency, from addressing the talent gap to ensuring quality, safety and security. 13:24 - Labor Challenges  I visit a lot of manufacturers. I visit probably five to 10 manufacturers a month, and I periodically do surveys every quarter as part of my role at Dassault IQMS. We did a survey and we asked what are the top impediments to your growth in 201 ..read more

In this episode, we talk with Tom Brennan from Rootstock. Tom discusses the pitfalls of 'FrankenCloud' (multiple cloud systems roughly connected). He also digs into the role of the data-driven CFO and shares how companies can move from a transactional to a strategic approach. FrankenCloud - 3:45 Tom: People are adding more clouds, and we're in a 'FrankenCloud' stage where you've got multiple clouds and on-premise. You try to draw inferences about that customer and it's very difficult to do. Andrew: I agree. I'd argue it's probably the number one problem that we see. Managing Acquisitions an ..read more