Category: Technology

January 30, 2017

How Cloud and New Technologies Transform Manufacturing

“How Cloud and New Technologies Transform Manufacturing”

If you’ve seen the latest issue of Manufacturing Business Technology (April 1, 2016), you were surely drawn to an article by Rootstock CEO Pat Garrehy on how manufacturing is being altered by the Cloud and other new technologies it is cultivating. According to Garrehy, “Conventional wisdom holds that as technology advances, the world gets smaller…Manufacturing firms are moving to cloud-based ERP systems to access large amounts of critical data in real time anywhere along their supply chains, scale operations up or down as needed, all at reduced costs.”

Garrehy goes on to project that “the ability to store and access critical data in the Cloud is enabling new technologies that promise to transform manufacturing even more and, in the process, allow firms of all sizes to access even more of the global economy.”

The ERP industry veteran argues that “before the cloud, small manufacturers were at a distinct disadvantage, lacking the financial and technology resources to compete in global markets. Many large manufacturers who already had a global presence invested heavily in on-premise ERP systems over the years in an effort to leverage data into business intelligence. Unfortunately, those legacy systems proved insufficient to the global challenges because of high operating costs, frequent customization, outdated hardware, limited functionality and limited access to data.

“Along came cloud computing, with its access to data and applications over the Internet in real time,” Garrehy states. But, that’s just the beginning, he ventures.

“We’ve seen how manufacturing has been transformed by cloud computing. However, the cloud itself is being transformed as it integrates into other new technologies, including mobile devices, the Internet of Things and soon, wearable devices.”

To read the entire article, head over to http://www.mbtmag.com/article/2016/04/how-cloud-and-new-technologies-are-transforming-manufacturing.

November 7, 2016

Changes in the economy Through Fintech and how It Has Effected U.S. businesses

The growth of financial technology has changed how we look at financing today. Individuals are rather passive when it comes to this developing technology as it’s only an advancement that creates convenience for them. On the other hand, businesses should be and often times are well aware of this influencing “fintech” (financial technology).

What is fintech? Fintech is the bridge between banks and the digital world. Almost everything is dependent on the internet. There are some businesses out there today that are strictly internet based. Banks were failing to make this online presence, so this allowed companies like PayPal, Lending Club, etc, to arise. They came and filled this gap that the banks had left behind, and smoothed out the financial struggle between our money and online businesses. Thanks to these companies we can make easy and simple purchases online, convert money into other forms of credit, and even distribute our money easier. But this is only what regular customers got from it.

Businesses saw other opportunities with fintech. Loans for those small businesses could now be easier to achieve, as online financial platforms allowed the handling of money in a completely different way than banks. There is more support and trust among those online loan agencies to help businesses grow. And these small businesses could now open themselves to the online crowd, allowing for more convenient business online. This helped them reach more customers and grow more than ever. Fintech is still growing today, at an even faster rate. Everything we used to depend on banks for can now be done online through other companies.

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November 1, 2016

Small Business Tips and Tricks: Leverage the Gig Economy for your IT Needs

The gig economy is most often associated with lower skilled work, such as the omnipresent ride service drivers. However, as the culture around gig work evolves and the number of opportunities rises, increasingly talented and skilled workers are seeking short-term positions, including in the IT space.

The key to finding the right employees for your business is in taking a close look at your own business’ data, and matching it with the skills and needs of IT gig workers.

Here are three key facts about the gig economy, and how businesses can leverage the increasing number of IT workers who prefer temporary work:

53 million Americans work as freelancers. And that number continues to grow. That means businesses can turn their attention to finding the best employee for the job, even if that person interviews and works entirely from home. The IT field has many unique opportunities for telecommunication rather than on-site work, which opens up businesses to a vast pool of potential temporary workers, depending on the project.
IT departments can save around 30% on payroll costs with temporary hires. While this requires some attention to detail with picking the right freelancers, the payoff is plainly large. As skilled IT professionals continue to turn to the gig economy as their primary income source, it is increasingly tenable to plan projects around scaling active staff to the exact needs of the moment.
Not every IT job requires a permanent position. By predicting when a current high level of need is potentially going to taper off, using short-term subcontractors can save money and avoid the issue of having a large IT team with months of downtime.

By following these three small business tips and tricks, you can lower your IT overhead and focus on scaling your staff — and expenditures — based on the work at hand.

October 28, 2016

Effect of Digitalization on Personnel on the Manufacturing Shop Floor

Manufacturers all around the business world are bracing for change. The ever-changing face of digital technology has led to reinvention of manufacturing. There is no place the impact of digitization hits more than the shop floor, which is the heart of any organization. To understand the impact, consider the following factors.

Operational excellence

Reliability and efficiency are the driving force for any manufacturing enterprise that yearns for success and make an impact in the market. Changes in the way you can configure, make, assemble, and pack items is what determines efficiency.

For this services to pan out perfectly for better productivity, better and improved systems are imperative. Personnel at this level understand meeting customer’s current expectations is next to impossible at most. In most manufacturing enterprises, profits or losses occur at the shop level, so it is important to have up to date systems. Digitization does not only determine increase or decrease of reliability of systems, but it also improves the efficiency of services at this stage. Strategy teams in a manufacturing enterprise should prioritize improving the shop floor first.

Examinations of core systems

Evaluation of revenue generation opportunism is critical. Managers and directors understand which areas have loopholes, where the enterprise is falling short of expectations, where there is poor communication, or where there is unavailability of data that slows down the decision-making process. Often the stumbling block for systems is inefficient ERP solutions. If any manufacturing enterprise is to make progress in the competitive market, then their ERP solutions should meet the challenge of digitization.

October 18, 2016

AI, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the Future of Jobs

Like a scene out of the latest sci-fi movie, the robot armies are coming. And while it is generally accepted that they will be friendly to humans, they bring with them an undercurrent of danger. They will arrive initially to serve mankind, to perform tasks considered too mundane or harmful to human health. But as they get smarter, their ambitions may grow, until the next thing you know, they’ve stolen your job!

Sound far-fetched? Far from it. The very near future is likely to bring with it a landscape populated with ever increasingly sophisticated computers and robots. As technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning mature, the capabilities of these devices to perform more “human-like” tasks will increase exponentially. The economic impacts of this coming revolution could be dire if the technology is not managed properly. Many experts are predicting that future generation AI-driven robots will essentially be able to perform any task that humans can do today, from driving a bus to operating on a patient. The question then becomes, what will humans do in a world without work?

The threat to the economy is very real. According to the World Economic Forum, jobs lost to AI-driven automation could number 5 million by 2020. And another report, co-authored by Citibank and the University of Oxford Martin School, predicts that in the US alone, a whopping 47% of jobs could be at risk. Even if these worst-case scenarios don’t come to fruition, the disturbances to the global economy as a result of AI-enabled automation will certainly be profound.

Governments and businesses alike need to consider the ramifications of the coming ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. Advanced automation will result in a sea change in the way organizations both large and small conduct business. And society as a whole will need to decide how to best harness this technology for the greater good of humanity, rather than allowing it to spawn economic hardship and inequality.

March 4, 2016

Cloud Computing – What can it do for your business?

Cloud Computing concept with businessman drawing with a marker

Cloud Computing – What Can it Do For Your Business?

Originally believed to have been created in the 1960s by Joseph Licklider with his work on the ARPANET and the original Internet, cloud computing has evolved into something much bigger in the 21st century. It’s a term that is thrown around frequently these days. But what is the cloud exactly? The cloud is simply the internet and it allows you to store, manage, and process data remotely through Internet servers rather than on your own personal computer or local server. Cloud computing is essentially revolutionizing business models while leveling the playing field between small and large companies. So what can cloud computing do for your business?

Backup Data Securely

Backing up data is a must in case of a systems failure or other disaster. With cloud technology, copies of your data are kept off-site in safe locations. The cloud also enables automated data backup while you work taking one more task off your to-do list. Furthermore, large commercial data centers offering quality certifications offer top-notch protection from security threats that many small businesses can’t provide on their own.

Offer Mobility

Telecommuting is an option that many companies like to offer as a perk or a necessary for getting qualified talent in their business. With cloud computing, an employee can have access to a virtual mobile office allowing for a flexible and adaptable business. Regardless of where an employee is on the road, collaboration and easy access to data helps keep productivity on track. PICS ITech has recently started offering Workspace as a Service or WAAS which provides our customers with everything they need to outfit a remote employee.

Lower Costs

Cloud services can help your business save money by reducing the total cost of your infrastructure. Spending less on equipment (such as servers), software licensing and upgrading, as well as utility costs associated with running equipment helps improve profits. Cloud computing often goes hand in hand with virtualization which minimizes servers sitting idle which is common in single use systems.

Scalability

Cloud computing is able to grow on demand. Business has cycles and it’s imperative that IT requirements and needs are able to scale up or down depending on what is driving business at that time. Not having to make expensive changes to your IT environment allows your business to react quickly and efficiently. Using cloud computing you can add more or less resources with a flip of a switch.

PICS ITech offers many different solutions that at their core are cloud computing. These include backup and disaster recovery services, Cloud File Sync and Storage, Office 365 and traditional Software as a Service and Website Hosting. If you would like to know more about what cloud computing can do for your company, please contact us and we would be happy to discuss our services and solutions with you!