IDC Manufacturing Insights is offering a new MaturityScape platform to aid companies in developing effective "next-generation" product-lifecycle management (PLM) strategies.

In the manufacturing environment of today, robotics are now playing a significant role, taking on jobs beyond assembly and helping to drive efficiency, consistency, and productivity across the supply chain.

The transition to "cloud also" or "cloud first" is well under way for manufacturers around the globe, according to survey results from International Data Corporation. In fact, in the United States, 41 percent of manufacturing respondents indicated they are accessing IT resources via the public cloud, based on the IDC Global Technology and Industry Research Organization IT Survey, 2014.

As manufacturers continue to competitively differentiate themselves within various industry settings, after-sales service will increasingly become more important in their overall business and profitability strategy, according to Business Strategy: Spare Parts Planning for Service Excellence, a report from IDC Manufacturing Insights. In fact, many discrete manufacturers can expect to capture upward of 30 percent of revenue from service and service-based product strategies.

Demand sensing and planning applications, currently representing 8.5 percent of overall supply chain management spending, and are expected to climb to 8.7 percent by 2015 largely due to demand volatility.