The Business Case for Materials Information Technology

The impact of materials information on productivity, innovation, cost, and risk in the engineering enterprise

If your organization makes or designs products, it uses materials. Information about these materials is critical, often with multi-million dollar impact. Yet many organizations have no systematic, enterprise approach to this information, despite resulting risks, costs, and missed opportunities. This paper examines why these problems occur, the business case for solving them (across areas including materials and process teams, design, purchasing, regulatory compliance, and technical marketing), and how leading manufacturers are now meeting this challenge.