To stay competitive in today’s chemical industry, manufacturers must sustain a high level of operational productivity. Moreover, current issues like rapid commoditization, complex supply chains, aging assets, and increased need for dynamic operations planning make it more demanding than ever before to achieve the level of productivity that drives differentiation and innovation. Manufacturers often become locked into patterns where they’re implementing shortsighted cost-cutting measures that can adversely affect operational productivity and decrease overall market responsiveness.

To ensure you don’t fall into these traps, it’s vital that you not only understand the industrial challenges you face, but also recognize the top trends that are reshaping manufacturing. Gaining this knowledge is the first step toward building a foundation of digital transformation.

This blog post is a helpful summary of the top challenges a supply chain faces today. If you’d like to learn more about how to turn these obstacles into opportunities, please read Infor's recent executive brief for an even deeper dive into the topic.

As robust and far-reaching as ERP solutions can be, it's simply not feasible to think that they can be all-encompassing, providing complete business functionality for every aspect of an organization. The simple truth is that all ERP solutions have gaps in specialized areas such as product lifecycle management (PLM). Successful companies know that it's best to close these gaps with focused, industry-specific solutions that address the unique aspects of their business.

When it comes to addressing market and customer demands, aging enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications can hold modern day business back. Legacy systems can also prevent organizations from delivering value instantly to customers.

More than 80% of CFOs see identifying and targeting areas of new value across the business as one of their main responsibilities, according to research from Accenture. That's why CFOs, who are attracted to the cost-effectiveness and scalability of connected enterprise management solutions, are being swayed by the compelling functionality of unified ERP and enterprise performance management (EPM) solutions.

Mitchell Chi, General Manager - Americas Enterprise Software, attended the NRF 2020 Vision show at Javits Center in NYC. “RETAIL IS FAR FROM DEAD," said Mitch. "Only the complacent retailers should be worried. The atmosphere here is “let’s INVEST to grow our business in 2020”. Lots of smiles, serious questions and tremendous interest from senior execs, who are here in droves”. 

Infor M3 and Infor M3 Cloud offer multi-functional capabilities - combined with highly productive new technologies to support mobility and team collaboration - developed over years of working with some of the best companies in the world. Designed for medium to large national and global manufacturers, distributors, and aftersales service providers, M3 provides industry specific process support and functionality built on good practices, and an industry-leading user experience. Flexible deployment options and implementation accelerators yield low total cost of ownership and short time-to-value.

Effectively managing Segregation of Duties (SOD) is a key requirement for any enterprise resource planning (ERP) or financial system to pass an audit. Initiation and efficient maintenance of SOD requires a fully automated financial control testing platform to identify, prevent, and mitigate issues that can negatively impact the accuracy, and validity of financial reporting -- putting the organization at risk.

Segregation of Duties (SOD) requires organizations to ensure users of business applications do not have the capability to perform two processes that could permit fraud, waste, and abuse. These are called "toxic access combinations" and enable an individual to execute such fraudulent activities as creating and paying himself as a supplier. 

In today’s highly competitive and consumer-driven marketplace, fashion companies are under enormous pressure to create exciting new products at a moment’s notice. By providing a central repository for storing and accessing design and development information, CloudSuite PLM for Fashion can help businesses meet this need for speed, while also making sure new styles and collections are delivered with consistent quality—at the right time and right price.

Accelerate innovation with CloudSuite PLM for Fashion

Whether a company has 20 users or more than 2,000, Infor CloudSuite PLM for Fashion is designed to accelerate development cycles to get ideas to market faster. With its intuitive, personalized user interface, CloudSuite PLM for Fashion is an end-to-end solution that connects every aspect of a product’s lifecycle, from the first sketch to the store.

The difference between customer and company expectations is only becoming more pronounced in the age of e-commerce. For example, 55% of shoppers say their shopping experiences are somewhat disconnected as they switch between the online and in-store experience.  Another study reports that 22% of North American retailers consider omnichannel experiences a top priority.  That means that customers are noticing the disconnect, but retailers are failing to respond.

As it heads into the holidays and 2020, Target is set up win shoppers over through its ongoing investments and initiatives. The retailer said it now expects full-year adjusted profit of $6.25 to $6.45 per share, up from its prior range of $5.90 to $6.20 per share.

"Our third quarter results are further proof of the durability of our strategy, as we’re seeing industry-leading strength across multiple metrics, from the top line to the bottom line,” said Target’s chairman and CEO Brian Cornell. “Looking ahead, we have ushered in the holiday season with an unwavering commitment to guest service that complements our highly differentiated, value-driven assortment, our exceptional in-store shopping experience as well as an unmatched suite of easy and convenient fulfillment options.”