Technologies Manufacturers Need to Streamline Operations

The pandemic has deeply affected every industry across the globe, from healthcare to manufacturing. Indeed, customers are now demanding more products, like electronics as well as furniture, and businesses are scrambling to meet demands by putting pressure on manufacturers. In fact, a survey featured on Forbes found that manufacturing companies noted significant growth in company revenues last year – a trend that will very likely continue in 2021.

However, manufacturers, too, are feeling the brunt of the pandemic’s effects, whether that’s delays in the supply chain or the lack of workers to manage machines. Luckily, the right technologies can help you make the most out of your current resources.

Here are some of them:

Design software

Product designs aren’t made and approved in one go. Because of the revisions from managers, clients, and sometimes stakeholders, the design process can cause delays early in your production cycle. Thankfully, the right design tool can speed things up.

For example, Autodesk’s CAD platform allows architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) manufacturers to share, manage, and review AEC equipment models in the cloud. This lets them design equipment much faster. Similarly, Altium 365 helps electronic manufacturers collaborate by storing all PCB design tools and data into one platform. Anybody with access to the software can view, search, cross-probe, and comment on projects, which lessens the back-and-forth between designers. Depending on the industry you manufacture in, there’s a tool that can help streamline your design process.

MES Software

Manufacturing execution systems (MES) software is a type of information system that tracks the movement of manufactured goods in factories. This grants users real-time visibility into their company’s operations, which can be a great source of insight.

For instance, it could let you know about potential causes of bottlenecks like malfunctioning equipment, employee schedule gaps, and more. The added visibility into your resources, like materials and labor, can also help you create strategies that will let you maximize what you have. Cantier MES even offers additional solutions like robotic process automation, enterprise resource planning tools, and other software that can be integrated into its network. If you’re a multi-site organization, MES can also be used to standardize processes and observe them in one location.

QMS software

Before they can be sent out to the market, any manufactured product needs to go through a series of approvals by industry regulatory boards like the FDA or Department of Transportation. You might better recognize it as the quality management system (QMS).

Unfortunately, though it is necessary, there’s a lot of documenting, auditing, and other activities that go into QMS approval, which could cause delays in the last part of your manufacturing cycle. QMS software like Micro Focus and Pilgrim can help you comply more efficiently by giving the company a centralized location to manage documents, ask for signatures, organize complaints, and more. Manufacturing delays can be caused by a number of reasons like the back-and-forth of design reviews or using an Excel sheet to paste and track your audits. Finding the right technology that can streamline these processes is going to help you a lot in the short and long term.

Written by Helen Stradley

Advantages of a Postgraduate Degree in Business

You might be wondering: Why apply for postgraduate studies when there are success stories like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, who are all college dropouts? Well, they’re the exception rather than the rule. Plenty of CEOs have postgraduate degrees in various fields. You have people like Mary Barra of General Motors with an MBA, Randall Stephenson of AT&T with an MA in accounting, and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway with an MA in economics.

If you need a little convincing, we’ll be laying out five advantages of pursuing postgraduate studies in this article.

1. Increased potential for career advancement

A postgraduate degree can help you move up the corporate ladder to higher-ranking positions. This includes managerial positions and leadership roles, where you’ll have to handle a team and delegate tasks. In a highly competitive job market, a postgraduate degree, especially an MBA, could be what separates you from others who aspire to climb the ranks of the corporate ladder. To recruiters, it’s proof that you’re equipped with the necessary skills to lead others — and the company — to success.

2. Network-building opportunities

Regardless of what postgraduate degree you choose to pursue, you’ll be surrounding yourself with like-minded people. It’s the perfect time to make connections, especially since you’ll be interacting with professionals in the field. It goes without saying that networking is a valuable tool in the business world — you can open up doors to partnerships, mentorships, and get an ‘in’ with industry leaders.

3. Improved communication skills

In the academe, you’ll be communicating with your lecturers and course mates on various projects. Postgraduate degrees are the time to showcase your knowledge and experience in your respective field, so this will be an excellent opportunity to put your speaking, listening, and collaborative skills to the test.

But that’s not all. You can also choose to take up a track designed specifically for communication, and pursue a master’s degree in the subject. After all, the abilities to effectively communicate a message and persuade an audience are sought after in any field. With this postgraduate degree, you can become a communications specialist, PR manager, or even a marketing director.

4. Specialized tech knowledge

Many professionals also pursue further studies to build specialized skills, specifically ones that are pertaining to tech. We are living in a data-driven world and anyone with advanced tech skills in analytics is primed to succeed and lead. Every business collects and stores data, and it’s up to data professionals to make sense of that information so it becomes usable. That’s why earning a master’s degree in this field could open you up to the many viable careers in data analytics. Whether as a data engineer, digital marketer, or management analyst, you’ll have an in-demand skillset that’s applicable to a wide range of industries, from healthcare to finance and all the way to marketing.

Plus, there are plenty of data scientists who became CEOs, like Sebastian Thrun of Udacity and Thomas Thurston of Growth Science. With data-driven thinking, leaders can zero in on the facts and data, making for more objective solutions.

5. Problem-solving and risk management training

Every business is bound to run into problems, and solving them takes skill. Pursuing a postgraduate degree can help you hone your critical and creative thinking skills, which, in turn, can improve your problem-solving and risk management capabilities.

Entrepreneurs looking to build on this particular skillset can choose to pursue an MBA. This course tackles a broad range of topics that fall under business fundamentals and provides its students with the knowledge they need to take on managerial roles. However, it is different from other business-related courses in that it is more general in scope. For instance, a master’s in finance focuses less on the business aspect and more on theoretical concepts in finance. As such, it would be a better choice for entrepreneurs who want to focus more on providing finance-related solutions. In today’s job market, you need to take every opportunity you can to get ahead of the competition. And one guaranteed way to set yourself apart is to enroll in a postgraduate course. Whether it’s a course in marketing, communications, or finance, a postgraduate diploma can make you a more appealing candidate in the business world.

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A Comprehensive Guide to Homeowners Insurance

One doesn’t simply do with a home insurance policy. One NEEDS a perfect home insurance coverage plan. Your house is undoubtedly your most prized possession and one of the most valuable assets you have. You have put in your hard work and a lot of money into constructing your dream home. Any catastrophic devastation caused due to natural calamities like earthquakes will shake the entire foundational structure of your house. Your home may also be completely uninhabitable. It is only to protect you from such unforeseen circumstances that homeowners insurance becomes indispensable, for not just owners but also tenants. In the case of any damage, the emotional and financial burden of rebuilding it or reinstalling its contents is appalling.

We have compiled a handy homeowners insurance guide for your convenience.

What is Home Insurance?

Home insurance a.k.a homeowners insurance is a distinct type of property insurance that covers the house from various different kinds of dangers like perils, damages, accidents, and thefts. It covers losses and damages to not just an individual’s residence but also furnishings and other assets. You can buy a homeowners policy for a stipulated tenure with it being effective only for that tenure.

So, it’s safe to assume that homeowners insurance is also a type of term contract. When the stipulated period is over, you will have to renew the insurance plan if you wish to continue. To ensure that you get coverage under a comprehensive home insurance policy, you will need to pay a premium to the insurance company.

When a claim is made on any incident, the homeowner will be required to pay a deductible which is the out-of-pocket costs for the insured. Since there are a number of comprehensive home insurance policies at your disposal, as a customer, you can make use of any third-party financial website to compare them and choose one that is best suited to your requirements and your budget.

In some cases, home insurance is mandatory. For instance, if you have a mortgage your lender is most likely going to require you to have homeowners insurance. Before funding your mortgage or refinancing, the company will typically ask you to offer any proof stating your home is adequately insured. Why? Because the lender wants to be certain that its investment is protected if damaged or destroyed by a fire or other risks. Your mortgage company may also require other kinds of insurance that may be based on where your home is located. If it is located in a high-risk flood zone, for instance, you may have to have flood insurance.

The Ideal Homeowners Policy — Protecting More than the House

While any standard homeowners policy will help protect your house, it also ideally should help cover more than just the physical structure. From your personal belongings to the shed in your backyard or even medical bills in case someone is wounded or injured on your property.

Here are a few additional coverages that standard home insurance should include:

Dwelling Coverage

If a covered peril damages your house or any other attached structure, say a garage, dwelling coverage will help pay for repairs. The amount of dwelling coverage you would need is calculated by the square footage of your house and what it would typically cost to rebuild it. This is, of course, not the market value of your home necessarily.

Other Structures Coverage

The other structures coverage in your home insurance plan helps pay for replacement or repairs for various detached structures on your property like a shed or a fence increase if they are damaged or destroyed by a covered peril.

Personal Property Coverage

This will help cover the costs of the damage caused to certain belongings like electronics or furniture that are stolen or damaged by a covered loss.

Liability Coverage

If you or any of your family members are found legally responsible for accidentally damaging someone else’s property or injuring someone, liability coverage will help pay for the related repair costs and also legal fees in addition to covering for the medical bills.

Living Expenses Coverage

In case you cannot stay in your home after a fire or other perils covered by the claim, your homeowners insurance coverage will help pay for temporary living costs such as hotel bills.

What Are Excluded from a Policy?

Typically a dependable homeowners insurance may not apply to damage caused by flood, water that backs up through sewers or drains, surface water, earth movement, war, nuclear damage, etc. Personal liability and medical payments do not apply to the operation, ownership, use, etc. of any automobile, aircraft, RV, watercraft powered by more than 50 horsepower motor, and bodily injury or physical damage caused by an intentional act of the insured.

Whether your home insurance policy pays for the replacement or just the actual cash value of your possessions you will anyway be paid for personal property that you can show you owned at the time of loss. It is a great idea to keep an up to date inventory in a secure place. Also, to help you remember what you had (this may sound relatively easy but it’s not- you’d be surprised!), it is helpful to take videos or pictures of each room. A complete review of your policy is perhaps the only possible way to determine what property is covered and what perils are insured against.

The Three Levels of Coverage

A comprehensive home insurance coverage plan will cater to your needs across three levels, at least.

Actual Cash Value

Covers the cost of the house and the value of your belongings after deducting depreciation — that is, how much are the items currently worth.

Replacement Cost

In order to help you repair or rebuild your home up to the original value this covers the actual cash value of your home and possessions without the deduction for depreciation.

Guaranteed (or extended) Replacement Cost/Value

The most comprehensive, this inflation-buffer policy pays for whatever it costs to rebuild your home or repair damages — even if it’s more than your policy limit. Although certain insurers may offer an extended replacement (it offers more coverage than you purchased), there is a ceiling. Typically, it is 20% to 25% higher than the limit.

Thus, homeowners insurance is definitely not a luxury but a necessity. It protects your home and possessions against damage or theft.

Committed to excellence and backed by a thoroughly motivated team, Dickey McCay excels at creating the perfect, affordable homeowners insurance policy tailored to fit your lifestyle and needs. If you want to leverage state of the art home insurance coverage provided for Blue Ridge, GA, Murphy, NC, McCaysville, GA, Copperhill, TN, Blairsville, GA, Andrews, NC, and Tellico Plains, TN, get in touch today. They implement thoroughly client-centric solutions to protect your most valuable asset. United by a love for insured, safe homes, Dickey McCay hopes to channelize it towards the goal of serving conscious customers like you with a hassle-free, seamless and enhanced customer experience.

Four Tech Skills You Should Start Learning During Quarantine

Being in isolation gives people enough time to think, reflect, and spend time with their loved ones. However, since many people lost their jobs because of employers’ new demands, dealing with expenses has become a struggle. Nowadays, the need for remote workers is skyrocketing, and learning in-demand programming skills will increase your job opportunities.

Remote learning has become popular these days, and online coding bootcamps are providing students with the right tools to get back in the game. If you’re thinking about starting a new learning process, you should read this article. The four tech skills listed below are among the best tools to learn during the quarantine. They are easy to learn and will help you prepare for any challenge that might come up in the future.

JavaScript

If you seek to change your lifestyle during quarantine, you can’t stop learning JavaScript. It’s become essential for developers and companies. It’s excellent for front as well as back end development and makes it easy to build sites. JS frameworks allow tech professionals to save time on coding and stay focused on the design. Learning JavaScript enables you to be a jack of all trades in web development. Hence, every company across the globe will love to have you on their team.

There are many ways to learn JavaScript and get a degree. However, coding bootcamps are among the most common ways to learn. This is because they allow students to learn from home and receive help from a career support team. If you’re willing to learn JS but need some extra information, don’t hesitate to visit Computer Science Hero’s site. It’ll allow you to know if web development is the right career for you and how you could start.

Web Design

Web designers and web developers often tend to accomplish similar tasks. Nevertheless, web designers usually focus on the UI and layout of web pages. They are the customers’ voice as they need to conduct interviews and surveys to know what users are looking for. Web designers play an essential role in increasing customers’ satisfaction. During their daily work lives, they do graphic design work to improve the appearance of sites and allow companies to meet users’ expectations. For Web designers, learning HTML and CSS is essential.

WordPress is an excellent tool for web design and enables professionals to build websites within minutes and without knowing how to code. It allows developers to use templates or create sites from scratch. Today, it powers over 30 percent of the Internet and learning how to use it will make you an attractive candidate. To learn web design skills, you can enroll in Thinkful’s online coding bootcamps or take online courses.

If you need to know more about what web designers do, what tools you should learn, and how much they earn, you can visit Bootcamp Rankings. It’ll help you to make your decision and determine what’s the best learning alternative for you. Still, don’t forget that big tech companies like Amazon and Google are searching for professionals with web design skills.

Cybersecurity

Learning cybersecurity skills is the best choice you can make during the quarantine. Day by day, tech devices are becoming essential to our lives. But, systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Learning how to deal with rapidly-advancing threats and how to catch hackers will put you on top-notch companies’ radar. Starting a career as a cybersecurity engineer can be challenging. Therefore, enrolling in Flatiron School’s bootcamp is the leap you should take.

Flatiron School is among the best coding schools in the US. The company is dedicated to students’ success. For that reason, they receive help from experts in the field and learn through hands-on projects. During their cybersecurity program, you’ll develop analytical skills that are crucial to standing out from the competition.

Python

Data is becoming more valuable each day, and learning Python will make you an eye-catching employee. Today, most companies seek workers with Python skills not only because they can analyze processes to provide better results but because they can create machine learning solutions to offer more personalized services to customers. In other words, they are key to meet customers’ needs. On the other hand, data scientists have become pretty valuable to companies because they help them make better data-driven decisions.

According to Bootcamp Rankings, data scientists can make, on average, $108,000 per year, and more than 1,000 companies are hiring candidates with data science skills. If you wish to know how to become a data scientist, don’t hesitate to visit the Bootcamp Rankings site. It’ll enable you to understand better how the job is and what you need to work in the data science field.

Conclusion

Spending time at home without being able to go out can be frustrating. Also, if you feel stressed because of your expenses, you should consider learning these skills. They will help you move forward during this tough situation. If money is stopping you from learning, apply for an ISA. Many vocational schools are offering several financing options to help students relieve financial stress.