The Pros And Cons Of Contract Maintenance, The Top 5 Supply Chain Vendors, Training The Aging Workforce and Manufacturing's Most Powerful

Online, June 1, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Norwich, UK (28, May, 2010) - Manufacturing Digital has gone and done it; we have attempted to list the top 10 CEOs in the Manufacturing industry today. Any list like the one we have assembled for our June issue (out June 1, 2010) is subjective and difficult to write. Everybody has an opinion. Who is a better CEO, Jeffrey R Immelt or Alan Mulally? And is Martin Winterkorn better than Akio Toyoda?

Our attempt to answer this, by forming something of a definitive list, might surprise you. Some of you will almost certainly agree with, others of you won't, but these 10 leaders all have one thing in common: They've delivered excellent(-ish) results.

Is this a popularity contest? We'll let you decide...

The June issue also looks at the benefits of contract maintenance and tries to determine whether it can lead to significant savings, how you can train an aging workforce and our readers cast their vote on the top 5 supply chain vendors. And we have all the top class company reports you have come to expect.

From Outsourcing pros and cons: Contract maintenance or not?: "...Schedule optimization, on time delivery, product quality, and direct labor productivity are all greatly impacted by your maintenance team performance. Successful JIT and lean manufacturing are nearly impossible to manage without reliable equipment. Unfortunately, changing the plant maintenance culture and implementing best industry maintenance practices is a difficult, time consuming and costly process where more companies fail than succeed. Yet, despite the obvious advantages, outsourcing can be a fraught affair, as many businesses have already discovered, and there are many pitfalls."

From Training the ageing workforce: Old dogs and new tricks: "...Contrary to popular belief, statistics show that older workers are just as capable of acquiring new skills and knowledge as their younger counterparts. This is good news for today's fast moving manufacturing sector where working practices and technologies need continuous updating if companies are to retain their competitive edge. So what are the secrets to successfully training a workforce that would previously have been easing down to retirement?"

From Supply chain software: The Top 5 vendors: "...Oracle was your top pick. You praised it - specifically it's E-Business Suite - for "focusing on innovation and results" and "how they can benefit customers". What can Oracle do for you? Well, it enables you, first off, to optimize production capacity, from raw materials through final product, regardless of manufacturing methodology, providing a single, accurate view of the manufacturing process."

From Manufacturing's Top 10 CEOs: "...Toyota's problems in 2010 have been well documented. Things are in disarray and sales have dropped off following a highly publicized recall. But it is slowly crawling back into the consumer's good graces thanks largely to enticing incentive offers. It remains the world's biggest automaker and is amongst the world's largest companies overall."