SmarterChains / Media
SmarterChains Welcomes Supply Chain Veteran Michael Corbo to Strategic Advisory Board
SmarterChains, a leading smart manufacturing transformation platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael “Mike” Corbo to its Strategic Advisory Board. Corbo brings over four decades of global supply chain leadership, most recently serving as Chief Supply Chain Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, where he guided complex international logistics and operations with precision and foresight....
SmarterChains / Media
SmarterChains Appoints Scott DeGroot to Strategic Advisory Board
SmarterChains, a global leader in smart manufacturing transformation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott DeGroot to its Strategic Advisory Board. With nearly four decades of leadership at Kimberly-Clark Corporation culminating in his role as Vice President of Global Distribution & Planning, DeGroot brings profound supply chain expertise and executional strength to SmarterChains....
SmarterChains / Factory of the Future
SmarterChains Appoints Finance & Transformation Leader Heidrun Wechter-Essig to Strategic Advisory Board
With over 30 years of international leadership in finance, operations, and transformation in Fortune 25 companies & private equity–backed businesses, Wechter-Essig brings a rare blend of strategic and practical supply chain expertise. She is valued for her ability to combine financial rigor, operational depth, and digital transformation expertise, when partnering with supply chain leaders....
SmarterChains / Advanced Manufacturing Technologies
Operational Excellence and Technology Adoption: A Unified Path for Manufacturers
Manufacturers today face unprecedented challenges: supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures, labor shortages, and rapid technological change. In the middle of this turbulence, leadership teams are often confronted with what feels like a difficult choice: Should we continue focusing on operational excellence in manufacturing, or should we shift resources to technology adoption in manufacturing?...
Take OpEx to the Next Level: How SmarterChains’ Platform Bridges Process Improvement with Tangible ROI
Manufacturers worldwide rely on Operational Excellence (OpEx) frameworks like Integrated Work Systems (IWS), Lean, Six Sigma, and TPM to eliminate inefficiencies and drive continuous improvement. These methodologies have transformed production systems by enabling process standardization, empowering employees, and ensuring incremental improvements over time....
Operational Excellence First: The Hidden Prerequisite for Scalable Digital Transformation
Digital transformation has become a rallying cry in manufacturing boardrooms across the world. From predictive maintenance to AI-powered quality control, the promises of Industry 4.0 are both exciting and — at times — overwhelming. Vendors flood the market with smart tools, and leadership teams feel increasing pressure to modernize their operations....
From Chaos to Clarity: How Value Intelligence Unifies Manufacturing Improvement Programs
Across the manufacturing world, improvement is everywhere — but alignment is rare. Step inside any global manufacturing enterprise, and you’ll encounter an array of well-intentioned initiatives underway. A Lean team is focused on reducing waste and improving cycle times. A digital innovation team is testing AI-powered quality tools. ESG leaders are tracking emissions and launching energy-efficiency projects. Meanwhile, the finance function is pushing for tighter cost control and faster ROI....
Introducing Manufacturing Value Intelligence: A New Category for Industrial Value Creation
In an era marked by volatility, inflation, and mounting operational complexity, global manufacturers are being asked one urgent question by their boards and investors: "Where are we losing value—and what should we fix first?"...
Reflections on IoT Connected Products
If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The Internet of Things is about to change it all over again!...
The 7 Deadly Sins of Modern Manufacturing
Many companies have committed one (or more) of what could be described as the 7 deadly sins of modern manufacturing....
Manufacturing's Next Step: From CoE To Ecosystem of Excellence
A CoE is a business investment: A team that develops and shares best practices and orchestrates end-to-end transformation. In SmarterChains’ experience, however, it is only a stepping stone....
6 top solutions for Semi Automatic Case Erecting and Sealing Systems
Review of 6 companies innovating in the Case Erecting and Sealing sector....
Robotic Goods to Person: Top 7 Companies right now in Warehouse Automation
A list of companies innovating Warehouse Automation with Robotic Goods to Person. It includes solutions by Viastore Systems, Invata, Dematic, OPEX Corporation, TGW, UNEX and Eiratech....
IIOT Analytics Platforms: 10 Services Measuring the Performance of the Internet of Things
The second step when building a Factory of the Future demands the monitoring of all the assets as well as deriving meaningful and actionable analytics from their performance in real-time....
Industrial Remote AR Assistance: 8 top solutions
Learn more about the 8 most trusted solutions for Industrial Remote AR assistance in the Manufacturing Sector....
Industry 4.0 Complexity and Uncertainty – Why Some Manufacturers Thrive
Why do some manufacturing companies gain more value from Industry 4.0 than others? Because they regard the adoption of Industry 4.0 as an overall strategic business objective....
Factory Culture of the Future: A sensible guide to Adhocracy
Imagine a synergistic organization, where silos are broken by common customer-centric objectives and a transparent flow of information....
Industry 4.0 in Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturing
Industry 4.0, above all, is opening up new and exciting pathways for companies to level up their capabilities and performance but it is also accelerating the demise of companies that cannot successfully leverage these possibilities and adapt fast enough to the changing landscapes around them....
Embracing the possibilities of Industry 4.0 in the COVID-19 era
Clearly, the time to move, to get ahead of the curve, is now by preparing and defining your future capabilities for what is next and beyond. At SmarterChains, our three-stage approach – Prepare, Define, Execute – helps manufacturers embrace the possibilities of Industry 4.0....
Ten Factory of the Future Dimensions – Your way to Industry 4.0 transformation
At SmarterChains we call these areas the 10 Factory of the Future dimensions....
