Towards future information management for high value component manufacturers

Manufacturers across the globe are transforming from product suppliers to service providers. They face numerous challenges, in particular the staggering amount of heterogeneous information generated out of a growing number of functional or operational silos, which often lead to redundancies and conflicts that compromise system efficiency. In this paper, we look into the problems and opportunities of high value component manufacturers on their change initiative towards higher level service provisioning. The need for lean and flexible information management is discussed to accommodate future technology inclusions. A preliminary approach of cost and benefit analysis which incorporate two novel leanness measurements, is proposed to assist manufacturers in this industry to get the best out of the investment. More focused study shall be reported along the journey of joint exploration.