IT intelligence and consulting firm INPUT says that top performing European high-tech manufacturers spend substantially less on IT than firms which are not as successful. The unexpected finding comes in the latest report in INPUT’s IT Market Forecast program.
The new report, entitled “European High-Tec Manufacturing IT Software & Services Market: 1997-2002,” analyses IT spending by product, and compares the levels to those in other industries. It also forecasts IT expenditures for high-tech manufacturing firms until the year 2002.
“We expected to find that the high-tech manufacturing sector would spend a larger percentage of its total output on IT than most industries,” said Peter Lines, VP, and IT Software & Services Program Manager. “Our findings confirm this. What really surprised us, however, was the fact that top performing high-tech manufacturing firms spent as much as 25 percent less than less successful firms.”
INPUT suggests that the lower spending levels are the result of management philosophies that “emphasise excellent execution over innovation.” Lines added that it was more important for the successful companies to offer the right products than to be first in the market.
“Best practices in high-tech manufacturing include slow adoption of new IT and automation technology, business process simplification and collaboration with IT and ERP vendors,” he said. “These companies recognise that it is impossible to maintain state-of-the-art systems in every area of their business and they set their IT priorities accordingly.”
INPUT in the UK has offices in Slough, Berkshire. Further details about
the report are available direct from INPUT at +44(0)1753 530444.
