2020: THE YEAR OF MANUFACTURING TIDBITS

DIRECT-TOCONSUMER MANUFACTURING by THOMAS R. CUTLER

Half of all manufacturers are building direct-toconsumer channels, because today’s shoppers prefer to buy directly from brand manufacturers versus retailers. Direct-to-consumer manufacturers are expected to grow almost 20% per year, for the next five years, doubling the gross revenue in just a short five-year time span.

will go elsewhere. This 24/7 information is best accomplished with an automated booking engine. With a unique auto-booking engine, inventory is tracked in real-time, automatically allocating available material and finished products to fulfill orders; if the order priority changes, inventory will be redistributed to fit the new production schedule.

Small manufacturers “get it.” They know how the consumer shops on-line. They are desperately seeking the must-have tools for scaling directto-consumer brands and Katana cloud-based manufacturing software is taking the lead by building integrations with popular e-commerce sales channels (such as Shopify and WooCommerce) and accounting tools (QuickBooks and Xero) to support smooth and automated workflows.

Visual and modern interfaces are no longer negotiable. Just as the consumer wants to see what

The SaaS model has mitigated the risks and investment required, leaving the upsides of manufacturing process. Real-time inventory updates are critical in the D2C manufacturing environment. Failure to have accurate data ensures disappointed customers who

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Manufacturing Outlook / November 2019