ANNUAL MANUFACTURING REPORT 2016

INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, TECHNOLOGY
ANNUAL
MANUFACTURING
REPORT2016
INFORMATION &
COMMUNICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY
Sponsored by:
Analysis by Tim Griffin
Dell UK Vice President & GM
Dell Corporation
Analysis by Atul Shrivastava
Head of Dell Services: Manufacturing,
Energy & Utilities Sector,
Dell Corporation
The 2016 Annual Manufacturing Report
finds that the strong level of investment
in Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) that we saw last year
has been broadly sustained. Nearly
90% of respondents said that their
investment in ICT was the same or more
than last year.
Increased focus on ERP and new
investments into analytics and reporting
alongside better need for operational
planning shows that manufacturers are
looking at ICT to not only gain visibility and
control of their entire business, but also to
drive greater efficiency through integration.
Market pressures such as competitiveness
on price and a need to differentiate
via innovation are some of the critical
challenges driving new ICT initiatives.
ICT investment still continues to support
innovation and product development
and continues to show a positive
impact on key business metrics such as
productivity and profitability.
A drive to achieve better planning and
monitoring is also evident with a strong
need to measure ‘product design and
development’. Most companies said
that the goal of their ICT investment is
to improve their existing performance.
For example, CRM is now looked on as
a tool to derive greater value from loyal
customers and to improve cost of sales.
We have, for the first time this year,
asked about the Internet of Things
(IoT) or ‘Industry 4.0’. As with any new
technology, there seems to be high
awareness but low adoption. Most
companies seem to be in a ‘wait and
watch’ mode as they try to assess and
understand IoT’s impact to their business.
Dell helps manufacturers to drive
efficiencies and increase productivity.
Our strong capabilities in business
intelligence and data analytics means
that our customers can gain critical
insights into their business to achieve a
competitive edge, whilst protecting their
IP. Our products and expertise around
IoT are helping manufacturers manage
critical control areas such as plant
and asset maintenance and partner
integration, whilst enabling business
innovation by securing their IP to drive a
competitive edge.