ARC: Manufacturing still key to supply-chain integration

No supply chain integration effort will succeed without interconnections with manufacturing, according to several speakers June 25-26 at “Collaborative Manufacturing Strategies Forum” by the ARC Advisory Group (Dedham, Mass.). Competitive pressures, such as the need to reduce costs, increase quality, decrease turnaround time, and deliver more customization, “increase the value of manufacturing information. In some cases, this makes information as important as the products themselves,” says Greg Gorbach, ARC’s e-manufacturing director. Mr. Gorbach says that beyond supplying data and information into, and receiving input from the supply chain, manufacturing could teach the supply chain a thing or two. “We’re talking about implementing closed-loop control beyond the plant to the supply chain,” he adds. Use of control-loop thinking—measure, analyze, and control—could improve supply-chain performance, Mr. Gorbach suggests. For more information, visit www.arcweb.com or www.controleng.com/search.asp , or see Control Engineering, Jan. ’01 and Oct. ’01 editions.

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