Articles by David Bailey
Manufacturing Compliance Whiplash: How Fractional CIOs Keep You Ahead of Regulations
Manufacturing companies face an unprecedented wave of regulatory changes in 2026. From FDA Quality Management System Regulations to expanding sustainability requirements, the compliance landscape shifts faster than most internal IT teams can adapt. This regulatory whiplash creates a perfect storm where traditional IT leadership struggles to keep pace with evolving requirements. Fractional CIO manufacturing services…
Why Predictive Maintenance Fails Without Good IT Data: And How to Fix That Fast
Predictive maintenance initiatives fail in 60% of manufacturing operations due to fundamental data quality issues. Poor-quality data causes systems to generate false alarms and miss actual failure predictions, undermining the entire reliability strategy. The accuracy of predictive maintenance depends on three critical factors: relevance, quantity, and quality of collected data. Without these elements working together,…
How Poor Vendor Management Sabotages Your Tech Investments: and What Great Manufacturing IT Directors Do Instead
Manufacturing leaders invest heavily in technology to stay competitive. ERP systems, MES platforms, IoT sensors, and cloud infrastructure promise efficiency gains and cost savings. Yet many manufacturers watch their tech investments deliver disappointing results: or worse, create new problems that hurt production. The culprit isn't usually the technology itself. It's poor vendor management. When you…
Is IoT Securing Your Shop Floor or Creating New Risks? The Modern Manufacturing IT Security Review Explained
Manufacturing leaders face a critical question when planning their digital transformation: does IoT technology secure operations or expose them to new vulnerabilities? The answer requires examining current security realities rather than marketing promises. The IoT Security Reality Check IoT is currently creating significant security risks rather than securing manufacturing shop floors. Despite operational benefits, manufacturers…
The 7 Most Important Things to Make Your ERP Work Effectively in Food & Beverage Manufacturing in 2026
Having spent over a decade working across food manufacturing at Kanes Foods, St Pierre Group, and Real Good Food PLC, I've seen ERP implementations succeed spectacularly: and fail just as dramatically. The difference rarely comes down to the software itself. It's how you approach the implementation, what you prioritise, and whether you truly understand the…
The Manufacturing SME's Quick-Start Guide to AI-Ready IT Reviews: First Steps for Digital Transformation
Most manufacturing SMEs know they need to modernise their IT infrastructure, but many don't know where to start. You've heard about AI transforming factories, smart manufacturing, and Industry 4.0, but your current systems feel light-years away from that reality. The good news? You don't need to overhaul everything overnight. Manufacturing digital transformation succeeds when you…
Supply Chain Chaos Got You Down? Manufacturing IT Vendor Management Audits That Actually Reduce Risk
Your manufacturing operation depends on dozens of IT vendors. From ERP systems to cloud hosting, from backup providers to security services. When these vendors fail, your production line stops. When they have security breaches, your data gets compromised. When their systems go down, your supply chain grinds to a halt. The solution is not to…
Stop Throwing Money at Outdated ERP Systems: 7 Manufacturing IT Strategy Workshop Questions Every CEO Should Ask Before 2027
Manufacturing CEOs face a critical decision point. By 2027, over 80% of ERP systems will be cloud-deployed, and companies still running legacy on-premise solutions risk falling behind competitors who leverage AI, IoT integration, and real-time data analytics. The question isn't whether to modernize your ERP system: it's whether you're asking the right strategic questions before…
MRP and MES Integration Nightmares: ERP Consulting and the Secret to Ending Costly Production Downtime
Manufacturing leaders know the pain all too well. Your MRP system says you have enough raw materials, but your MES shows a completely different story on the shop floor. Production grinds to a halt while your team scrambles to figure out which system is telling the truth. This scenario plays out in factories across the…
Are Your Manufacturing Data Silos Killing Profits? 5 IT-OT Integration Planning Steps to Bridge the Divide
Your factory floor is generating mountains of data every second. Your ERP system holds crucial business intelligence. Your quality management system tracks critical metrics. Yet somehow, when you need answers fast, you're still waiting hours for someone to manually pull reports from three different systems just to understand what happened yesterday. This isn't just frustrating:…