The Ledger
Curated content foranalytical business leaders
FP&A Needs a Beacon to See Through Volatility
August 29, 2018
In today’s continuously changing market, anything can happen at any time. To manage short-term volatility, FP&A practitioners need to follow the core attributes of their company. While volatility can disrupt plans and create panic, the most effective ways to respond is to have a set of guiding principles to organize your thoughts and reactions. Without this, teams can be adrift among the sea of potential responses, chasing different ends and losing focus. Market changes can easily put a wrench in any plan at any time, so it is important to understand how to navigate through the resulting volatility before it happens.
Data: Too Much of a Good Thing?
August 28, 2018
As hard as it is to believe, there was a time in manufacturing when data was difficult to come by. Fast forward to today and manufacturing data is available to anyone and everyone. Compared to a few decades ago, the cost of technology is dramatically less expensive today. As a result, data collection is faster, more automated, and cheaper and access to data is unlimited. Now, companies are drowning in data. While collecting tons of data may seem like a good idea, there are consequences to be considered before making that fateful decision. The key to success with data lies within the technology used to maintain and analyze it.
Intelligent Manufacturing Enhances the Automotive Industry
August 27, 2018
While the automotive industry seems aligned on all that a massive transformation entails, the forecast and timing horizon is less obvious. There are many visions for the future of connected and autonomous vehicles and the emerging business models, but a dominant view has not yet emerged. The result is that OEMs, suppliers, technology providers, and others in the changing automotive ecosystem must remain flexible enough to quickly respond to changing conditions; adaptable enough to provide a variety of solutions to the market; and they must partner to ensure all relevant capabilities are brought to bear. While doing all this planning, investing, strategizing, and transforming for the future, automakers still need to design, build, market, and sell great vehicles to their customers.
Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >
The Value of Innovation in the Wholesale Distribution Industry
August 23, 2018
Distributors should select, implement, and leverage technologies that work together to enable innovations that help them embrace new and alternative business models and processes. The traditional approach to success and profitability in the wholesale distribution industry centered on operational efficiency and supply chain management. But that approach now needs to extend through to customer engagement and services innovation. It now also involves predictive models that leverage machine learning to anticipate shifts in demand and allow for more informed decisions that can be based on real-time data and insights from both suppliers and customers. A true digital core can allow for increased market awareness, agility, and decision making around product and delivery strategies.
Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >
