IDC Insights: 10 Manufacturing Industry Predictions for 2010

For the last hour I listened in on the IDC Insights Predictions 2010: Manufacturing annual conference call where Bob Parker, Group Vice President at IDC, and a group of IDC analysts provided their predictions on what’s in store for the Manufacturing Industry in 2010.

I spent the first 8 years of my career (back in the 80’s) focused on the Manufacturing industry (anyone remember MAPICS?) and since then, my focus shifted to strategy, marketing and market intelligence disciplines.   So much has changed since I was deep into manufacturing.  Back then we were just happy to get small and mid manufactures up on automated front office and back office systems.  The manufacturer of today has so much more to think about when they employ IT systems across their business.  

The IDC analysts started the call with a review of the environment facing Manufacturers.  To summarize their comments…all the factors look to be in place for a major transformation of the manufacturing industry.  IT and related smart technology can enable this transformation.

The call then turned to the top 10 predictions, which focused on how trends in Manufacturing will impact spending on information technology and improvements.   The analysts covered predictions in supply chain, demand management, product lifecycle management, operations technology, smart technology, and sustainability.

Here’s my summary of the predictions presented on the conference call

1. Business Model Transformation:  Companies will transform business models to better meet the needs of increasingly demanding customers
2. Variable Cost Structures:  IT Organizations Will Look for Costs Structures that are more variable as they assist in making technology a focal point of business strategies.
3. Variable Cost Driven Supply Chains:   Manufacturing companies will begin the process of fundamentally rethinking their supply chain structures, evolving from a fixed-cost-driven supply network to a variable-cost-driven value network.
4. Dynamic Supply Chain Optimization:   Dynamic optimization dominates capability investment to support redefining of the Supply Chain.
5. Product Innovation Aligned with Business Strategy:  Manufacturers will look to better align product lifecycle innovations with the overall business strategy.
6. PLM Usage Matures:   Manufacturing companies will become more mature in their use of enterprise PLM applications.
7. Fulfillment Networks:  Manufacturing companies will increasingly see factory assets as part of the larger fulfillment network.
8. Intelligent Factory Networks:  Firms will create intelligent factory networks.
9. Smart Services:  Smart services and the need for persistent assets create the inflection point for RFID, Sensors, and M2M.
10. Sustainability:  Armed with metrics, manufacturers move from sustainability reporting to intelligence.

For more information

• Access the web conference IDC Insights Predictions 2010: Manufacturing (registration required)) where you can listen to the entire 60 minute conference call and download the slides.
• IDC’s Manufacturing Insights web site:  www.idc-mi.com
• IDC’s Manufacturing Insights community:  http://idc-insights-community.com/manufacturing
• IDC’s Manufacturing Insights newsletter, "IDC Manufacturing Insights Theory and Practice."  Click here

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