Facing increasing pressures from globalization and a sagging economy, manufacturers are between a rock and a hard spot. And many of them see business intelligence (BI) as an escape route. As one observer puts it, "A lack of information is what got us into this mess in the first place, so we had better start converting raw meaningless data into meaningful and actionable information so we can get out of this mess sooner rather than later."

But does BI hold the answers for every manufacturer? How does BI differ from manufacturing intelligence? How can a manufacturer calculate the ROI from a BI implementation? How important is the quality of the data the BI system is parsing? There are many BI tools out there; how does a manufacturer know which are the right ones?

This eBook will answer these questions:

• Can business intelligence software help manufacturers improve efficiency?
• How should manufacturing organizations make the case for business intelligence?
• How should manufacturers get started with business intelligence software systems?
• What are the best practices for evaluating BI tools for manufacturing?

Sponsored by: Epicor, IQMS & Sage