IT and Manufacturing – are they converging?

By Administrator 123erty

Published On: September 1, 2014Categories: Default0 Comments

The Guest lecture by Mr. Sarang Ohol was a mixed bag of learning in terms of domain knowledge in manufacturing, management, marketing and supply chain. Witty and dynamic in his speech and approach, it didn’t surprise us to know that the young speaker standing in front of us is the General Manager of Vision Group of Industries, Mumbai. Mr. Sarang grabbed the attention of students by sharing interesting stories from his own experience about selling software solutions to manufacturing firms. He painted a picture of what is expected from IT consultants in understanding businesses in-depth given any domain, say manufacturing, retail or telecom. By showing samples of few components used in manufacturing the Main Circuit boards, he further kindled the interests of the students towards understanding how small to the large components are procured, manufactured and supplied to meet the demand of the customers. Enterprise Resource Planning in manufacturing has supported various business optimizing decisions, but we were flabbergasted to hear the insignificant investments in IT for various companies. The speaker strongly believes that the integration of technology and global supply chain in the manufacturing domain is including various granular factors and not just price points in analyzing tenders with vendors. Students were upbeat to respond to the speaker’s questions on the Volkswagen and Skoda. The speaker left us with questions worth exploring about differences IT can bring in manufacturing businesses to help achieve competitive advantage.