Timothy McDuffie

With computers revolutionizing manufacturing, a CNC mill is a must-have if you are a manufacturer. The CNC, also known as computer numeric control, involves the use of computers to control your conventional machines. The CNC uses unique software to feed in specific instructions to facilitate the production process. When you seek precision control over your production process, your equipment such as lathes, routers, millers, etc., must all function in synergy. In this case, the CNC mill becomes an indispensable tool. There are numerous reasons why you should have a CNC mill at your disposal, firstly with CNC machines. There is a guaranteed increase in your productivity. Secondly, challenges regarding precision are well handled. Another reason involves improved safety at work, amongst others. However, one needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the CNC machine as well as how to go about the CNC machining parts.

Some reasons why to use a CNC mill are explained as follows:

1. CNC Mills offers precision

In producing your prototypes, you need a high precision level that is second to none. The CNC milling process delivers highly in that regard. It’s excellent attention to detail puts it at the fore in your production process, hence its usage in fields like aerospace industry and medicine. Thus, when you seek every piece to be exact, and with the lesser waste of materials, and eliminate human error, the CNC mills offer you that precision.

2. CNC offers you more efficiency

One benefit of CNC mills is efficiency. With a computerized process at the helm of your production affairs, consistency can be achieved easily. What this results in is the increased speed of production and efficiency. Also, other difficulties that are expected with conventional human labour is eliminated. CNC machines can work tirelessly, meaning production can go on without pause except in the instance of maintenance.

3. Using a CNC mill reduces workplace hazards

It’s not uncommon for accidents to occur in workplaces. The dangers of operating high-end machines are apparent. Thus accidents often lead to maiming or loss of lives. The CNC mills eliminate these inherent dangers, as each part has it’s programming orders. Functions like shearing, punching or welding are carried out in a synchronized manner, immensely improving workplace safety.

4. It implies less labour

CNC mills mean less labour in the production process. With its advanced software, the CNC cuts down on labour demands tremendously. One skilled operator, with a proper understanding of the software process, can do a lot. Thus, you gain more in the form of monies that should be spent on paying labourers as the CNC mill performs their jobs even better.

5. CNC mills provide a reliable endurance

Unlike human labour that requires rests, shifts and breaks, the CNC mill is equipped with high endurance components that can work tirelessly at all times without always needing rests.

CNC mills no doubt is a must-have for you. It gives you a massive advantage over the usual conventional means of production know to be rather strenuous. However, a proper understanding of a CNC machine, its maintenance culture as well as in-depth knowledge of the CNC machining parts are often called for.

Generally, contactors can be mounted on a field and come in a compact size. The electrical devices have several contacts. These elements are usually open and offer some operating power to the device’s load when the contactor coil has been energized. A contactor is mostly utilized in controlling electric motors. In this blog post, you will get to learn more about the basics of a contactor.

There are, of course, different types of contactors. Each one comes with a set of applications and features.

Contactors can also easily break circuit over certain currents. Other than that, the electric devices are also available in a variety of sizes.

But one of the common applications of a contactor is the high-current load. Here, the device is known for its capability to handle specific currents of about 4000 amperes.

Heavy motor currents, on the other hand, produce arcs if interrupted. The arcs can easily be reduced using a contactor.

Components of a contactor

Every type of contactor has its components. The following are three essential parts of one:

a. The electromagnet – also known as the coil, the electromagnet, refers to one of the most crucial parts of a contactor. It is also the driving force behind the operations of the contactor. The feature is protected using an enclosure.

b. The contact- this is another critical element of the electrical device. Typically, the contact is responsible for carrying current in the contactor.

That said, there are various types of a contactor. They include power contacts, auxiliary contacts, in addition to contact springs.

The enclosure- as with any other application, a contactor has an enclosure that offers insulation coupled with protection from the people touching these devices. The element is a protective device designed using various materials, like Nylon 6, thermosetting plastics, Bakelite, among others.  

Typically speaking, there is the open-frame contactor, which has an extra enclosure. It protects the machine from harsh environmental factors, like bad weather, dust, as well as oil.

Analyzing different contactor device types -The Knife Blade Switch

This is a prominent device that was used in the past centuries (the late 1800’s). Probably, it was one of the first contactors used in controlling the electric motors.

The element consisted of a switch with a metal strip. It would quickly drop onto the contact. Other than that, the switch contained a lever used to pull the switch down while pushing it up.

In the past, users had to level their knives into a closed position. They stood right next to it.

But there were issues with the method of switching. It caused the wearing out of the contacts because it was pretty challenging to open the switch manually.

For that reason, the soft copper devices used in switching went through corrosion, which in return, made them more vulnerable to dirt.

In just a few years, the motor size of the device increased. This would create the need for rather larger currents to help operate the contactor.

It also played a great role in creating some potential danger to operate a rather high current carrying switch, thereby leading to safety concerns.

Regardless of the multiple mechanical improvements that took place over the years, the switch could not be fully developed because of the impending problems coupled with risks of precarious operations as well as short life contacts.

Final Thoughts

Generally, a contactor is known as a special relay type often used in switching the electrical circuit, not just on but off too. They are often used with different electric motors coupled with lighting applications. The applications of a contactor offer some level of isolation rather than the high electrical currents linked with the applications.

In every manufacturing process, there has always been the need to create a prototype that will act that as a mockup or a design before the main one is created. The use of CNC aluminum machining techniques to create rapid prototypes have been very greatly appreciated. However, most people are often confused and ask how aluminum parts can be machined.

Understanding Aluminum Machining and its workarounds

This is a simple process. Aluminum is a soft and lightweight metal that is very durable and malleable. It is a metal that lacks magnetic properties and it is a non-flammable metal. It offers interesting and cool properties such as mechanical and thermal properties. CNC aluminum machining, the use of aluminum alloys is taken in higher regard than other types of alloys.

The Aluminum machined prototypes are produced based on a long alloy variety. However, the most common alloy used for aluminum is the 6061-T6 alloy. This type of alloy is the best when applied to electronics, transportation, and other relevant industries.

Aluminum alloys used for the Aluminum machining process are less dense but it is very high strength. They usually have a vast tolerance level and when it is placed well, it can be able to produce top-notch and quality prototypes.

In the industrial space, Aluminum is one of the most essential materials. The downside of it all this is that it has low hardness and high thermal expansion. When the thermal expansion is high, a lot of things can be deformed when it is not properly taken care of.

When working with Aluminum, you need to put a lot of things into consideration. However, this could end up taking your time, energy and of course, money if not properly taken care of.

At this point, you may be confused about what to do when trying to perform CNC Aluminum machining. The best thing is to get yourself a good service company.

Best ways to choose a great service company for CNC aluminum

If you are searching for good companies to help you with your CNC aluminum troubles, here are ways to identify the best.

Seek out Reviews

The first thing you should do is to seek out reviews. Other people have likely used their products in the past.

To find out who they are and seek out their opinions. You can find some of these comments in online review platforms. You could find this by word of mouth.

Check out their customer care

The truth is that a customer is likely to treat you badly when their customer care does the same. So watch out and avoid companies with terrible feedback organization.

Final Thoughts

CNC aluminum is an important way of creating rapid prototypes. It can even transform the fortunes of your company. So take the right step today and find the company that fits you perfectly.

A 3D printer is a machine that facilitates the 3D printing technology by using computer-aided design (CAD) to create a three-dimensional object through a layering method. It is one of the most captivating developments in printing history; hence many companies have embraced 3D printing. The printers produce custom items using high volume and quality resin and are becoming more affordable for all users, e.g., the resin 3d printer under $300. 3D printing technology is used in almost all industries for different applications like dental products, consumer products, and reconstructing evidence in forensic pathology. In this extract, we look at the Importance of 3D printing technology.

Importance of 3D Printing Technology

The demand for 3D printing is growing due to some of the revolutionary benefits that it can provide. They include;

• Design Flexibility

The traditional printing processes restricted users when it came to designing options. Each change in design requires a new tool, die, or mold. With 3D, it allows for the designing and printing of more complex products. Any printer can create anything that fits its build volume. It enables the inclusion of various materials, a wide range of colors and textures.

• Rapid Prototyping and Increased Productivity

The technology allows for designing, manufacturing, and testing customized products in a short time. A CAD model can be transformed into a reality in a few hours. Traditional methods can take weeks or months to go from the design stage through to the production stage.

• Cost Reduction

It is a single step manufacturing process hence saves on costs associated with the use of different machines. The cost of materials is also reduced as only the needed materials are used, with little to no waste production ( additive manufacturing ). The printer can also be pre-set to work on its own; therefore, no manual workers are required; thus, no labor costs are incurred.

• Easily Accessible

Compared to traditional setups,3D printing systems are much more accessible and can be used by a more extensive range of people. It is almost entirely automated, requiring fewer personnel to run, supevise, and maintain it, unlike other manufacturing systems that have many complicated machines.

• Quality and Consistency

3D printing technology allows step by step assembly of products. Good designs are used, leading to good quality prototypes. There is improved consistency as errors are immediately noticed; thus, the overall number of wasted materials and defective or inconsistent parts is lowered.

• Production on Demand

Printing is done only when required using CAD or STL files; thus, there is no need to print in bulk, and you don’t need a lot of space to stock up inventory. 3D designs are saved in a virtual library and can be retrieved and printed when required.

• Product Testing

It is possible to physically touch and feel a 3D printed object to check whether it has flaws in its design. If you detect an error, you can change the CAD file and then write a new version.

Conclusion

Knowing the pros of the 3D printing technology, you can now understand why it is becoming revolutionized across the world.3D printers are a good investment when selecting a product development method.

Disaster preparedness is imperative everywhere, but that goes double for the manufacturing industry. Thankfully, technology provides ways to ensure business continuity and peace of mind.

Businesses are more likely today than ever to cater to a worldwide audience. That means a company’s supply chain activities, vendors and talent pipeline could very well span the globe. This is the advantage as well as the consequence for companies that take advantage of emerging markets to achieve a broader footprint and a wider audience.

Predictive Analysis for Shipping

There are many technologies companies can use to better understand, gather data from and visualize their entire supply chains. These include various temperature and atmospheric sensors, radar, satellite imagery, GPS and more. Businesses can make higher-fidelity predictions — including potential shipping delays — based on external forces like weather, storms, traffic pattern interruptions and more.

For companies that rely on ports and harbors, advance warning about incoming storms is still sometimes not enough. With the right application of intelligent technologies, manufacturers and supply chain partners can more easily make proactive decisions, like diverting vessels and making other route changes. It’s a chance to avoid a delay, or could at least result in saving valuable merchandise that might’ve been lost had the right data not been available.

The Cloud and Data Resiliency

The availability and affordability of cloud solutions for business mean disaster-related data loss is a thing of the past. This branch of technology helps manufacturers on two fronts: backup and disaster recovery.

Data backup entails the off-site storage of your company’s intellectual property, process data, customer information, payroll records and more. If your company headquarters or another business location was lost to a disaster, you could rest assured that all the information is safely stored in the cloud and off-site.

Data centers themselves have become efficient and resilient structures. When even these layers of protection aren’t enough, there’s disaster recovery. This refers to a company’s plan for re-establishing communication channels, IT infrastructure and other essential business applications. For instance, a company with an intelligent disaster recovery system can take advantage of automated fail-over. This is where a client’s information is automatically shunted to an available server if the original host becomes unavailable. Afterward, the two sets of records are reconciled according to the last changes made.

Backup Batteries and Smart Grids

Industrial-sized battery storage for electricity has been a long time coming, and today we’re closer than ever before. Lithium-ion batteries are still too expensive, some say, to play a major role in tomorrow’s electric grid. What they can do is provide short sprints of uninterruptible power for critical functions so manufacturing plants stand a chance of remaining operational during power outages.

Research indicates that the cost of power outages for the business community exceeds $27 billion per year, with batch and continuous manufacturing companies among the hardest-hit. If an outage happens, you want every tool at your disposal to claw back some of that potential lost productivity and earnings.

As a result, we can expect batteries to play a larger role in keeping manufacturing companies, utility companies and even municipal services rolling during short-term outages.

We can expect the rollout of smart grids to play an even more significant role in hardening manufacturing and distribution facilities against disasters. Smart grids are just what they sound like: It’s where transmission lines, generation stations, utility companies and end-users are all equipped for data-gathering and two-way communication. Current capacity is monitored and continually weighed against supply, demand and power disruptions. If one location is producing more energy than it needs, it starts storing it or feeding it back into the grid.

Smart grids will make the transmission of electricity more efficient and less costly to maintain and operate. They will also reduce peak demand, help lower utility rates and make electricity faster and easier to restore after disasters. The intelligent nature of the network allows for automatic rerouting during weather events or emergencies.

Consequently, manufacturing companies that buy into the smart grid will be hedging their bets against lost profits and productivity in the future — and winning peace of mind in the bargain.

Technology Delivers Peace of Mind

There are other disaster preparedness technologies available too, like all-in-one purification and desalination systems so residences and facilities can purify water from any source during an outage. Emergency preparedness managers and employees alike benefit from the peace of mind that comes with knowing an active manufacturing facility can sustain people’s basic needs during a power outage or a storm.

Hurricane Katrina did damage to city water purification systems that lasted for a decade. Industrial sites can do two things when they prepare for disasters using these and other technologies. They provide a location where people can shelter in place to wait out the storm should they need to. And in some cases, they can continue to process water for industrial purposes during periods where access to potable water is limited or non-existent, including keeping agricultural livestock watered during a chemical spill or other contamination event.

There’s also the concept of the digital twin, which should appeal to manufacturers that deploy heavy or industrial equipment to dangerous or disaster-prone areas. A piece of equipment in the field has a digital twin back at home base. Thanks to sensors and data collection, the digital version experiences everything its real-life counterpart does, thereby providing warning of equipment failure or weather changes.

The future will yield even further innovations that help companies prepare for the worst — and recover in a timely fashion. Some concepts, like the smart electric grid, allow us to share our infrastructure in a more efficient and disaster-resilient way. Other technologies, like cloud backups and storage batteries, help us limit our lost data, productivity and profitability in the face of business disruptions.

Everyone in the beer world is talking about it. Have you too been speculating over the impact of the upcoming merger of the world’s two biggest brewers, Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller?

According to WSJ, this fourth-largest takeover in history would result in “the world’s largest brewer, with nearly 30 percent market share after divestitures.”

This leaves the rest of industry in a tight spot. Eventually, it’s going to take more than pricing strategy for brewers to compete with a beer-making behemoth that controls a significant percentage of global profits in the industry.

To remain competitive, brewers will need to rethink existing processes, strategies, and particularly technology investments. Most have invested in sophisticated production planning technology over the years and a critical capability they continue to leverage is optimization. Brewers must ask themselves, how effective is my optimizer in achieving business goals? Adapting to new KPIs? And most importantly, is my optimization technology actually optimizing?

For those in doubt, here’s what true optimization is about:

100%-fit

Be wary of anyone who claims that an 80% technology fit is an acceptable level to aim for. It isn’t; not when it comes to optimization.

Lots of breweries adopt an optimizer that is thrown in as a package with other software. The system is basic and inflexible, but customers accept it because the product comes from a trusted name – albeit trusted for providing a different sort of solution. The bundled price can seem like a proposition too attractive to turn down. But it’s a false economy.

Employing software that doesn’t fit 100% with the brewery will end up costing much more than the money potentially saved on that initial investment.

Data is meaningless without responsiveness

To be a leader in the global beer industry today, brewers need to use big data and all the conflicting variables it represents to optimize their operations. But even optimizing operations on a foundation of big data is not enough. They need speed. They need to be able to respond in real time to the inevitable disruptions that undo the best of plans.

Serial entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki has gone so far as to say: “How fast you are moving is more important than where you are.” Data and information can take you only halfway to the place to which big calculations and speed can bring you. The path to real-time optimization is heavily dependent on big data but it is the big calculations that deliver the promise of big data.

Moving forward, true optimization will prove to be the game-changer for brewers wanting to remain competitive in the industry. The question is, will they realize it in time?

You worked hard to market your capabilities and nurture your prospects. Now your sales team has a healthy list of leads. However, research shows that 40-50% of these leads are ignored and never followed up on, which can add up to a lot of lost revenue for your business.

Developing an effective lead follow-up process can ensure that you don’t leave potential opportunities on the table. Here are the strategies that should be a part of your process.

1. Be Quick To Follow-Up With Your Leads

Speed is the name of the game when it comes to following up with leads. According to The Harvard Business Review, companies that follow-up within an hour of receiving an online query from a potential customer are seven times more likely to have a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker than those who wait only an hour more.

The faster you connect with your potential customers, the more likely your business will be top of mind when the prospect picks up the phone.

2. Use Marketing Automation To Make Your Efforts Easier

Don’t have a dedicated team for your marketing? Is hiring a marketing agency out of scope? If so, investing in a marketing automation platform may be the right choice for you and your business goals.

Marketing automation is the process of using a software to automate your lead generation efforts and usually goes hand-in-hand with email campaigning. According to Emailmonday, about 49% of businesses use some form of email automation. With the rise of different marketing technologies over the past decade, automation allows businesses to produce better lead generation results without having to invest time in traditional outbound marketing and sales.

Popular marketing automation platforms include: Hubspot, Marketo, and ActiveCampaign.

3. Segment Your Leads To Determine Who Is Ready To Buy

Not all leads should be treated equally. Each potential customer you interact with will have different budgets and needs. Segmenting your leads will help you determine who is ready to buy and who needs more time to warm up to your business. That’s why it’s so important to segment your prospects and find out where they are in their decision-making process.

It’s most effective to segment your leads into three groups, and communicate to each accordingly:

New leads

These are visitors who are interested in what you offer for one reason or another, but haven’t yet made a purchase from you. You’ll want to share general, top of the funnel information with them, like one-sheets, “Top 10” pointers, and product guides. Remember — these leads might be looking at other vendors as well, or might not even be looking to buy at the moment. Don’t turn them off with a hard sales pitch.

Existing customers

They’ve bought from you before, so the purpose of nurturing this list is to make sure they keep the orders coming, preferably in larger quantities. Product comparisons, industry updates, and “how-to” guides all make great content to share with this list. They already know what you’ve done for them — make sure they know that they chose correctly, and what else you can do.

Former customers

Provided that you’re approved to send them emails, former customers are also a wise audience to nurture. Buyers choose other suppliers for all sorts of reasons, and can return to you just as easily as they left. Not only do nurturing campaigns act as a “no hard feelings” olive branch — they can distinguish you from competitors as more than just another vendor.

4. Nurture Your Leads If They Aren’t Ready To Buy

You never know when your customer will be ready to buy, which means that you have to continuously follow-up with them to make sure you connect at the right time.

Recent research from The Harvard Business Review reveals that sales reps can experience up to a 70% increase in contact rates by simply making a few more call attempts. Although email marketing is an extremely strong way to nurture leads and should definitely be used, it’s important to not forget to pair inbound marketing methods with more traditional outbound methods like cold calling as well.

• Don’t rely purely on email marketing
• Use content marketing throughout the buyer’s journey

5. Build Trust With Your Leads

It’s important to showcase valuable information to your leads when you do follow-up with them. Provide them relevant content that addresses their needs each time you reach out.

Think about the questions that most potential customers have when they reach out to you, and have answers ready and in your back pocket. Being helpful and informative is a great way to earn trust with potential customers, which can be a key factor in their decision to do business with you.

When creating content centralized around this idea of nurturing, it’s best to generate different content depending what problem your prospect is having and how you can help solve it at that specific stage of the industrial buying process. For example, if a prospect is in the need or research stage, you’ll want to serve them higher level educational content that is top of funnel instead of content that is more sales and action oriented like someone who is in the shortlist or purchase stage.

Top Of Funnel Content For The Need & Research Stages

Situation: Your potential buyer realizes they need a specific product or service so they begin to do some research on their own to figure out exactly what they should purchase down the road.

Type Of Content To Create: For buyers at the top of the funnel, you want to provide educational content that distills complex concepts into useful insight like blog posts, 101 eBooks, and industry research.

Middle Of Funnel Content For The Design & Evaluation Stages

Situation: If executing a new design, the buyer will need to get the latest product data and then evaluate potential suppliers aka size your business up to your competitors.

Type Of Content To Create: This is your chance to really build on your initial relationship, establish trust, and start to showcase what separates you from your competitors with a variety of content like comparison guides, case studies and buyers guides.

Bottom Of Funnel Content For The Shortlist & Purchase Stages

Situation: The buyer at this point will create a shortlist of some of the top suppliers they have evaluated, and you’re in luck because you’ve made the list so this buyer makes a purchase and is now a customer, congrats!

Type Of Content To Create: This is it, your time to close the deal with the buyer. At these stages you can create content that is a little promotional like product videos, spec sheets and brochures.

6. Find Out What Works Best And Track It

Once you start following up and leads start moving down the pipeline, be sure to keep track of your activity to continually fine-tune your process. A deep understanding of your personas and ideal customers will ensure you’re reaching the right people at the right time with the right content.

While research from MIT shows that the best time to call a lead is Wednesday or Thursday between 4 pm and 6 pm, every company is different. Log phone calls, times, and conversions into your CRM and take note of trends to see what is most effective. The only way your sales will improve is if you know what works and what doesn’t.

Now that you understand the best ways to stay in contact with leads, it’s time to get to work. Keep these in mind and it will lead you down the right road for sales success.

Engineers and sourcing professionals rely on comprehensive, digitized product data in order to do their jobs. They need accurate data, and they need it fast. Many manufacturers rely on a website and phone number to handle inquiries for new data, but is it really the most efficient way?

According to Forrester Research, rich omni-channel experiences deliver several competitive advantages for B2B businesses — especially those with complex products. Omni-channel supply chains serve customers across different channels. The difference with a multi-channel approach is that with an omni-channel approach, the channels are fully integrated in order to provide a seamless customer experience. We’ve listed out five things all OEMs and industrial manufacturers must know to generate more leads, satisfy customers needs and increase sales.

1. A Website Is No Longer Enough

Manufacturing continues to grow more complex, and a 100-word product description isn’t going to cut it when customers want to know if your product is the right fit for their immediate need. Engineers want detailed CAD models, 2D drawings, eCatalogs, and more to access on their own time and schedule.

Your website is a good place to start, but your dynamic eCatalog is what helps customers the most — and it needs to be available to your distributors, as well. Delivering this with a mix of 3D CAD models and 2D drawings means engineers have access to the rich product information they need. This positive digital customer experience helps your customers easily discover and commit your products to their projects, making your company the company to do business with.

2. Strengthen Your Supplier-Distributor Relationship

B2C customers can find rich product details on Amazon and even a complete user manual with a simple Google search. They expect instant, detailed information. B2B buyers are the same way and if your company doesn’t provide it to them, they’ll find a competitor that does. Because the barriers have dropped and data flows freely across multiple channels (mobile, desktop, e-mail, etc.), your customer isn’t going to accept a B2B experience that doesn’t support their design and specification needs.

The biggest challenge B2B sellers face is the content creation and management platform to facilitate this omni-channel offering. Complex products, multiple file formats, and custom data structures at every distributor all increase the challenge of bringing a rich digital experience to customers. The burden rests on the manufacturer to make all of this technical data available wherever the customer expects to find products.

In a recent research study that surveyed senior representatives of distributors across three major industrial markets, distributors reported that manufacturers frequently misinterpret the product data templates they create, resulting in a large amount of manual reformatting. The respondents also reported that the manual labor involved chasing missing product information cost significant time and money. All agreed that delivering quality information to end users can build brand loyalty by saving customers time and money. Based on these experiences, strengthening your supplier-distributor relationship is proving to be just as a important as your relationship with your customer.

3. Better Data = Better Rankings

When your products are missing important data, they become invisible in the database. This results in missed opportunities not just for new leads, but also for new orders.

Manufacturers that meet the strict requirements of their distributors and other sales channels like AmazonBusiness, see their products positioned higher in search rankings. Strong content is also the key to effective search engine optimization — the higher the content quality, the higher your products are ranked above your competitors and the more positive the digital experience is for your audience.

Content Management systems like Thomas’ Navigator platform also deliver on-page optimization elements and meta-tagging to assure your products rank high with Google. These three tactics — quality content, keyword management, and frequent website updates — are basic effective SEO tactics to getting your company’s website ranked higher on Google.

4. Varied Forms Of Content Are A Must

Creating one format for one audience is not enough. Your customers want an intricate understanding of your offerings in varied forms. Different industries require different information and formats making it critical for manufacturers to understand the unique needs of each audience they serve.

The chart below shows stats from a real manufacturer that provides white papers, catalogs, and certification downloads on its website. It also provides access to CAD and BIM files. As you can see, submissions for the CAD/BIM library greatly outnumber any other type of marketing offering. This company has gained over 12,500 potential opportunities by providing this rich data to their audience.

5. Poor Data = Lost Opportunities

It has become critical for B2B manufacturers to make a concerted effort to create a rich product information database in order to compete in this digital world. Creating a master product data repository which can deliver multiple formats, languages and structures is becoming a crucial way to meet the needs of customers across multiple markets.

It’s critical for industrial companies to provide the exact data and information their prospects need to get specified and stay specified. Understanding how your customers select and specify your products, and in which tools, is key to generating leads and avoiding any missed opportunities.

Content Management technology like Thomas’ Navigator platform gives you the tools you need to consolidate your product information and deliver a positive digital customer experience to all of your audiences, get specified, stay specified, drive leads and increase sales. As you’ve learned in your business, saving customers time is the same as saving them money — and speeding up their access to information also accelerates their decision-making process.

Above all, that builds loyalty. Leveraging this rich data also improves your relationships with existing customers and partners, and puts your products in prime positions across distributor channels and Google search results.

Whether you’re in the airlines industry, managing field crews in an industry like utilities or construction, or coordinating deliveries for a third-party logistics provider, planning and scheduling your resources optimally is critical to keeping your operations moving and your customers satisfied.

This process, while already complex when planning only a single resource, such as workers, vehicles, or orders, becomes infinitely more complex as the number of variables increases. For instance, what about pairing up field crews with a particular piece of heavy equipment? What if a vehicle is needed to get them to the work site? With a large and/or highly skilled workforce, the number of possible pairings multiples exponentially. It becomes incredibly difficult to determine the optimal way to schedule these resources for maximum efficiency.

Multi-resource scheduling is an area where many organizations are losing money, defeated by complexity.

In a recent conversation with Adrian Gonzalez of Talking Logistics, we discussed some of the keys to aligning multiple resource types when creating schedules. Here are a few of the takeaways for organizations struggling with this complex planning challenge:

1. The more resources being scheduled, the greater the chance for inefficiency

When a planner is creating a schedule for just a few variables, say 5 workers and 5 tasks, the number of possible schedules already numbers in the thousands. Now, expand that number to meet the scale of a typical operations team, with thousands of workers who each must accomplish 5-10 tasks per day, and the number of possible outcomes expand into the millions.

When we add an additional resource, such as trucks, equipment, or even personnel types, finding an efficient schedule, let alone the most efficient one, is nearly impossible.

This is a puzzle that simply cannot be solved by even the most accomplished of human planners. Only best-in-class optimization technology can provide profitable solutions to puzzles of this scale.

2. Integrate resource scheduling to improve efficiency

When it comes to scheduling multiple resources, a common school of thought is that planners should start with scheduling their most constrained resource –equipment, trucks, etc. – which are also typically the more costly resource. This step-by-step planning works, when only the more costly resources are a bottleneck. In many situations, planning isn’t that easy: when planners then begin to schedule a more complex resource such as their workers, they run into challenges aligning skillsets, certifications, and other specializations that are required to complete a task, with the existing plan for the more costly resources.

This siloed way of working results in costly efficiencies. A more effective approach is to bring all of your resource data into one system in order to schedule it simultaneously. Rather than trying to fix schedules on the back end of your planning process, scheduling resources together keeps them in greater alignment and improves overall utilization.

3. Dealing with change on the day of operations

Creating a profitable multi-resource schedule in the long-term, even with some kind of optimization technology, is clearly a challenge. But the real test is in maintaining efficiency on the day of operations. One of the best examples I can think of is in the airline industry.

One of DELMIA Quintiq’s customers, KLM Catering Services (KCS), is faced with the puzzle of efficiently re-loading meals onto arriving flights. Their challenge, of course, as any frequent flier can relate to, is dealing with the moving target of flight delays, cancellations, and gate changes. This means that their vehicles, meals, and tarmac crews must be frequently re-assigned to meet the demands of this variable schedule. By linking directly to Schiphol Airport’s flight information system, DELMIA Quintiq give KCS’s planners a quick and accurate overview of the changes in flight times and positions at the airport, and then automatically adjusts the assigned tasks, alerting the planner to possible outcomes based upon pattern recognition.

This type of rapid optimization and decision support for planners is a crucial step in solving the multi-resource scheduling puzzle.