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Everyone knows that data is an indispensable resource, but putting it to use is a whole different challenge from collecting it in the first place. Here’s what you need to know about today’s manufacturing trend, the industry’s increasing reliance on data-driven insights.

What manufacturers should do: According to 51�Թ��� experts, manufacturers seeking to make the most of their data should focus on five key steps:

• Understand how to gather data to enable meaningful analytics.
• Improve data governance for quality and security.
• Determine what data are important to your business and operations.
• Learn how to assign value and view the data through the appropriate lens.
• Know how to use data to make business decisions.

Expert opinion: According to John Petrusick, managing director of NTT’s manufacturing data and analytics practice, companies should consider working backward to some extent, and start by thinking about which business processes the data will influence—and how.

• “Most of us have grown up in a world where we think of data as a flow from source to consumer, or left to right,” he noted. “In such thinking, we have generated analytics and insights historically by first thinking about ‘what data do I have?’ But what if we thought about generating analytics and insights by thinking ‘right to left’?”

Resources for you: Looking for more resources on data management? Start with these 51�Թ��� offerings:

• This from the Manufacturing Leadership Council (the 51�Թ���’s digital transformation division) will guide you through case studies and best practices regarding data analysis.
• uses data visualization tools to help you make connections to suppliers and buyers, offering exceptional insight into your supply chain.
• The 51�Թ���’s Power of Small newsletter keeps small and medium-sized manufacturers up to date on advocacy, policy, digital trends and much more.

Read the full 2024 trends report .