Stories by Terry Smagh

Distributors face rising costs and supply chain risks; smart ERP solutions offer real-time data and automation to protect profits and improve resilience.

The 90s ERP boom led to costly legacy systems, warning companies today against rushed AI investments without strategy and quality data management.

Human oversight is vital for AI's success, ensuring ethical use, optimised performance, and unlocking its true potential in business and innovation.

The manufacturing execution system market, valued at USD $14.88bn in 2024, is set to hit USD $41.78bn by 2032 amid rising demand for digital transformation.

As manufacturing gears up for Industry 5.0, AI investments in the Asia Pacific are set to rise, boosting productivity by USD $1.6 trillion by 2027.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are revolutionising equipment dealerships by streamlining operations and enhancing customer satisfaction, driving significant ROI.

As digital transformation accelerates, many large firms face challenges with outdated cloud ERP strategies, risking costly delays and operational disruptions.

Integrating ERP with AI and edge solutions drives customer satisfaction by personalizing products, optimizing pricing, and ensuring seamless delivery.

Generative AI revolutionises how businesses document processes, improving efficiency and employee training, heralding a new era of organisational advancement.

Diversifying suppliers, maintaining buffer inventory, and leveraging advanced technology are key strategies for creating redundancy in your supply chain.

The Red Sea crisis' enduring impact on global shipping extends beyond geopolitical tensions, spiralling into shipping delays and rerouting, spiking costs, and disrupting trade routes, with intrusive fallout on tech and worldwide supply chains.

Deploying AI in the cloud, businesses can leverage cost-effective scalability and advanced security, outweighing on-premise setups' challenges.

2024 sees significant growth in Cloud ERP deployments and enterprise application platforms, impacted by digital transformation initiatives and technology advancements in AI and machine learning.

Many companies are now busy developing their blueprint for where this technology can be applied within their enterprise and how to get there.

Supply chain finance emerges as a critical solution for companies facing challenges in today's complex business landscape.

The supply chain and distribution industry will face challenges in the coming months, and distributors must remain adaptable and resilient to succeed.

Investing in resilience is not only a strategic imperative but also a responsibility to stakeholders and broader society.