CIO recently published a write up covering the basic concepts behind prioritizing business intelligence in the manufacturing industry. Arguably the most important aspect of a the manufacturing exec's job is to illustrate the connection between operations and corporate strategy - prioritizing investments and identifying how to best measure progress and milestones.
It starts with the alignment between operational and financial metrics but the data requires further examination to identify the key criteria supporting the operational behaviors that significantly impact profits.
Key takeaways:
- Operations must identify the purpose and focus of performance management. If the goal is savings, they focus on cutting cost.
- If the goal is growth and market share, the focus shifts to customer satisfaction and revenue-generating activities.
- If the goal is to ensure performance, the focus is placed on quality and productivity.
- And if the goal is corporate social responsibility, the emphasis is placed on ensuring product safety and quality of life.
- Best-in-Class companies are more likely to run business process experiments, try new BI technologies and invest in automated dashboards and analytics to empower employees with incentives and accountability to improve the way that they work.
- Once operational goals are understood, the next step is to define the data approach that best supports their ability to execute and measure.