SupplyChain Magazine June 2020 | Page 34

HE EVOLUTION OF TRENDS WITHIN MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY CHAIN
TECHNOLOGY

Tara Merry , Industry and Solution Strategy Director , Infor , discusses rapid innovation in supply chain and manufacturing and the impact of COVID-19

34

T

HE EVOLUTION OF TRENDS WITHIN MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY CHAIN
“ In conversations with our industrial manufacturing customers , along with our industry strategists , the key challenges that we ’ ve been discussing are very much focused around industry 4.0 ,” says Tara Merry , Industry and Solution Strategy Director at Infor . “ It ’ s about finding new ways to increase productivity ; driving business model innovation ; a shift to servitisation where we ’ re seeing more subscription-based sales ; smart manufacturing , shifting to the cloud , which can enable so many things relating to data visibility , and using that data in bigger ways . We have also had discussions around the next generation workforce ; and the demand for new products and customisation from consumers .”
With the recent disruption caused by COVID-19 in mind , Merry reflects on her career , explaining that for most of it , she has spent close to half of her time on the process side and half on the discrete side of manufacturing . “ At the top of emerging trends as a
JUNE 2020