The hype around "big data" has mainly aimed at niche market sales without delivering expected benefits. Similarly, the business world's obsession with Lean Six Sigma has shown minimal returns on investment. In contrast, over the last 25 years, I've leveraged small Excel files to significantly cut costs and increase profits, often by millions of dollars, through a reliable sequence I discovered.

"Big data," according to Amit Kara, contains more variables and potential security risks. The challenge lies in leveraging it.

Meta. It’s a term that means “self-reference” and was born in postmodernism, a description of the ideology, culture, and literature of the late 2oth century. Postmodernism, particularly in regard to literature, is marked by the rise of dark humor, unreliable narrators, and parody as a way to comment on our world in a fresh and interesting way. Think M. Night Shyamalan and plot-twists.

AI (Artificial Intelligence), sensorization, connectivity, and IoT (Internet of Things) will be key to optimizing productivity. However, they are currently being held back by conservative attitudes toward data management and connecting machines. This will change as the market pressure mounts.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” I’m guessing 4 out of 5 people would attribute this quote to Ben Parker, uncle of Peter Parker, from the Spider-Man movies and comic books.

“Remaining competitive” takes on many meanings, depending on your location in the world, but here are some thoughts on how American manufacturers can do it better today. By the time you finish reading this column, another entrepreneur will have figured out a way to make it happen for his or her company.  

Organizations have used management systems for a long time to help them create value and reach their objectives by actively managing risks and continually improving their performance.

It would be futile to argue that “cutting-edge” is not a popular term. Like it or not, it’s used (when used properly) to describe just about anything new or innovative.

Quality is based on a series of facts and statistics collected together and analyzed. To produce a quality product—and continue producing a quality product—you need data.

In the manufacturing world, the buzzword “Industry 4.0” is on seemingly everyone’s lips for a reason. Not only do manufacturers have to keep up with rapidly evolving technology, but also  with the changes in consumer trends that go along with it in order to survive, much less triumph, in an increasingly competitive and high-tech marketplace.