The Infor Blog

Never mind the mantra that the customer is always right, according to the findings of research from IDC Manufacturing Insights into the strategies of the discrete manufacturing sector, the customer is seriously high maintenance. 

If you’re in the manufacturing sector, you’ll be well aware of, and no doubt responsible in part for, the dynamic of living in the ‘now’ society.  We expect products how, when and where we want them, and this trend shows no signs of abating.
 
The knock-on impact of the ‘now’ society is that manufacturers are citing increasingly or rapidly changing customer requirements and demand volatility as serious concerns when it comes to servicing the customer effectively.  Manufacturers were asked how concerned they were about a range of issues on a scale of 1-5 and both demand volatility and changing requirements came in at a ‘very concerned’ 3.41.

Interestingly, despite these concerns, manufacturers believe that their customer fulfillment is excellent and precisely where it needs to be in moving forward.  They are less confident about areas which can add major value in addressing these concerns, most notably demand planning and bid and project management, citing a significant gap between where their current capabilities are and where they need to be over the next two years.   

How concerned are you about servicing an increasingly volatile and demanding customer base?  If our findings serve us right, all manufacturers are feeling the heat to some degree – wherever you are in the world. 

Want to learn more? View the full post on this topic, as well as other posts just like this on the Manufacturing Matters blog, where Infor's manufacturing experts are on hand to share relevant information that matters to Infor manufacturing customers.