Category Archives: Converters

Haizol on improving supply chain flexibility

LONDON, 29-Apr-2021 — /EPR INDUSTRIAL NEWS/ — Supply chains worldwide have experienced some level of turbulence in the last 18 month. The pandemic continues to cause disruption, as well as other events such as the obstruction of the Suez Canal in March.

The countless obstacles encountered have been coupled by innovative development and novel means of working in all phases of the supply chain. Digital manufacturing, as a solution to mitigate supply chain risk, is being increasingly implemented by companies globally.

Many companies are looking at ways to improve their supply chain flexibility, here is what we recommend to increase agility.

1. Expect the unexpected
Being prepared for unforeseen situations will stand you in good stead should they occur. It is not uncommon for things to not go to plan. To combat this, planning is key, you know your business better than anyone else, and it will ensure your supply chain will continue working smoothly.

In order to plan ahead effectively, it is important to communicate often and in detail with suppliers. We need to adopt a proactive approach to supply chain, and consider likely future trends and market direction to make preparations for them. As the market and businesses alike are fluctuating at speed, interruptions are also going to keep happening, and likely more often.

2. Stock a little more than you need
Whilst being lean, reducing waste, and being as productive as possible is the aim, one should be conscious to not be too lean. It is beneficial to stock a little more than you need, to account for any eventuality. Having that extra material can still be lean, customers know they can repeat orders rapidly, they can rely on Haizol to produce at speed, and have adaptations to the design put in place which can reduce lifecycle cost.

3. Stay connected to the engineers on the ground
Technology has meant that we can acquire large amounts of data from machines, however having a close relationship to the actual machine operators and factory floor can prove invaluable. It is irreplaceable to be on the ground with the actual machine, to see what is happening, and help to solve the issue. Based on this, it is beneficial to ensure there is someone in manufacturing bases all the way through the supply chain. In this regard, relationships are crucial, supplier engineers are able to find problems that were not apparent to begin with, and they can report this information and adapt the plan when required.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Ensuring you don’t rely solely on a single-source supply will help in building a more flexible supply chain. Having more options will mean less of a risk that material will be unobtainable. Keeping your options open means if stock does run short will your supplier you can source from another supplier with ease. Using a manufacturer like Haizol, who partner with over 200,000 factories across Asia, mean risk is mitigated.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Digital agility enables manufacturers to quickly pivot when faced with disruption

LONDON, 22-Feb-2021 — /EPR INDUSTRIAL NEWS/ — We are moving more and more into an on-demand world, where the companies who embrace digitalization and agility thrive. We have witnessed that the companies surviving in this new era of manufacturing are the ones who go digital, be agile, and mitigate risk.

The recent pandemic has resulted in new ways of working, highlighting the importance of getting immediate access to products and services. As manufacturers navigate the new normal, realizing digital agility has never been more important.

Having a responsive supply chain proves essential. Once you take a product to market, it is key to safeguard the supply chain. With a constantly changing market, your supply chain should be able to rapidly respond to satisfy demand where that means making more of the same product, or shifting focus to another more in demand item.

When done correctly, automation paves the way to digital agility. Agility results in lower cost and errors, whilst increasing productivity and sales. Digital agility enables manufacturers to quickly pivot when faced with disruption.

When manufacturers get it right, automation provides a path towards digital agility, which ultimately leads to the reduction of cost and errors, while improving productivity and raising revenue. Digital agility is especially important amid COVID-19 disruptions, as it allows manufacturers to quickly pivot.

Digitalization and technology help companies embrace new market trends. Market opportunity is evident in industry, the capture this, companies and their manufacturing partners need to push the existing boundaries and strive to push themselves and digitalize their processes. As products and services are moving more and more on-demand, only those that embrace this will gain competitive advantage.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Haizol’s digital manufacturing platform in the light of COVID-19 supply chain disruption

LONDON, 9-Feb-2021 — /EPR INDUSTRIAL NEWS/ — COVID-19 taught us numerous things when it comes to manufacturing. Throughout 2020, we saw countless industries and companies alike struggling to source materials, complete production, and get their product to the end user. When normal supply chains were disrupted, there was a challenge and difficulty sourcing alternative means to achieve supply chain stability during this time, and keep production going.

Despite the world having a magnitude of advanced manufacturing capabilities, these are difficult to find and access. What has become clearer than ever before, is that current supply chains and manufacturing processes are international, proficient, and well-organised, and at the same time, they are delicate and can struggle delivering transparency to its user when hit with unforeseen instability. This was demonstrated by the shortage of supplies in numerous industries, from medical, to automotive, to digital goods. Not only did raw material become a challenge to source, but key industrial component shortage led to issues with final assembly of goods.

The future of the manufacturing industry requires improved resilience, agility, and supply chain transparency in order to manage any future disruption more effectively. Breaking the existing mold, embracing new technology, and developing a digital supply network which is able to quickly respond and adapt to any situation thrown its way.

This industry requires visible and accessible manufacturing in a digital format. China, in particular, is a country which is at the forefront of this new vision. China boosts advanced manufacturing competences, resources, and has a transparent and accessible infrastructure. Agility and resilience is key, and digital manufacturing platforms, particularly ones that offer an online marketplace at the users fingertips of a multitude of capabilities, is key. This digital core allows high transparency, easy visibility, easy access, and agility when faced with disruption.

Having a digital marketplace which can be accessed at any point from anywhere for any kind of manufacturing requirement allows for a truly agile foundation of digital supply networks. A user can identify manufacturing resources and capabilities at the touch of a button from part designs, features, machine tools, capabilities and more. This essentially breaks down the barriers and reduces effort typically found when sourcing manufacturing resources and capabilities.

The future will see more complex and improved versions of this digital manufacturing marketplace, allowing a user to be able to search for diverse manufacturing resources and capabilities and multiple variables such as manufacturing capacity (such as machine tool / specification) and complex part design. A further development is likely to be a more inclusive service, allowing the user to source based on capability to manufacture components with specific requirements, such as 5-axis CNC turning with horsepower and x/y/z travel metrics with metal additive manufacturing as an option.

Manufacturing is an extensive and multifaceted sphere, therefore a comprehension platform with effective searchable options is something which needs to be continually adapted and upgraded. Haizol’s manufacturing platform provides users with over 200,000 suppliers in Asia with wide-ranging capabilities and the ability to filter based on a variety of criteria. In terms of supplier, the user can select based on manufacturing type, region, industry, factory size, employee number, annual turnover, certification, R&D capacity, and more. They also have the option to filter by product, choosing process, material, and region, to see examples of what factories have previously made, to guide their decision making.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Biomatdev – website for biobased and biodegradable materials

Biomatdev is a B2B website in both french and english entirely dedicated to the industry of biobased and bio-degradables: polymers and raw materials, additives, semi-finished products, intermediates, processing,equipments, research, distribution and services.

Until now, there was no B2B tool for all these “new” products such as natural and synthetic biodegradable polymers, bioplastics, green surfactants and green additives, biolubricants, biosolvents …

But a lot of industry players have already invested highly in the development and marketing of these bio-products and want to highlight their innovations. With Biomatdev, raw materials suppliers, manufacturers and converters, machinery and mould makers, distributors have a place which exactly aims them to promote their activities and get in touch with suppliers and customers.

It’s truly a business platform, focused on five large areas of applications: Plastics and composites – Paints, inks and coatings – Industrials products & intermediates – Roads, buildings and gardening – Research, machinery, tooling & services.

Free access for all visitors, Biomatdev is an entirely automatized website which allows users to list themselves their company and products and to advertise. Biomatdev gives to companies a large range of possibilities: listing in the manufacturers and products directory, advertisement – sell and buy offers – training and job classifieds. At last, everyone can find on Biomatdev market news and current regulations, a list of specialized links and a calendar of related events.

About Biomatdev owner: Biomatdev is a private and independent initiative launched by two French specialists in selling advertising space for B2B media. Their goal is to create a practical business tool for all parties involved in the increasing industry of biobased and bio-degradable materials and products.

Via EPR Network
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