Did you know that manufacturing leaders are 2.5 times more likely to put data and technology investments ahead of cost reduction efforts? There’s a good reason: Making data-driven decisions—supported by artificial intelligence applications—can help manufacturers realize efficiencies that deliver cost savings. But manufacturers need more than internal data to achieve real value; third-party data provides complementary insights, a frame of reference to help you understand not just what the data says, but why. So, what types of third-party data should you source?
All the News You Can Use
News represents a huge body of text data that manufacturers can use to inform decisions and optimize performance across the business. Licensed and open source news from print, broadcast and web sources worldwide, along with social commentary from industry and thought leader blogs, can help you take the pulse on a wide range of topics. As Irish actor James Ellis once noted, “Newspapers are the world’s mirrors.” Incorporating news data in your analysis offers important context to complement internal data.
- Identify emerging consumer trends to inform marketing, sales, or product/service innovation.
- Explore historical news data to better understand the influence of newsworthy events on performance.
- Maintain ongoing competitive intelligence by capturing timely news mentions of key market players to keep your sales team updated.
Whether you want to analyse news data to predict potential supply chain disruptions or to keep the pulse of consumers, accessing an unrivalled collection of enriched news data supports these and a wide range of other needs.
ESG Ratings and News for Environmental, Social and Governance Insights
More than a decade ago, Harvard Business Review wrote that ESG reports were “as rare as penguins in the desert.” Today, it’s a different story. Environmental, social and governance standards rank high in today’s business environment. That’s where ESG-specific data can help. Rather than hunting across the open web for individual ESG reports, ratings and more, you can take advantage of aggregated ESG ratings based on analysis of hundreds of sources including SRI analysis firms, NGOs, government agencies, news feeds, social networks, non-profits and publishers. Similarly, ESG news data creates a targeted feed for analysis and insights.
- Incorporate ESG ratings into your decision making process to assess the long-term sustainability and reputational risk potential posed by investments, suppliers and business partners.
- Use ESG news to keep up on the latest developments in ESG and manufacturing, including new regulations, best practices and industry trends.
- Stay ahead of the curve on identifying potential regulatory, reputational and strategic risks and opportunities to improve ESG performances.
By improving visibility into environmental, social and governance factors, manufacturers can implement sustainable business practices that can ultimately help you improve your bottom line.
Company, Market, and Industry Data to Enhance Performance
Where does your organization stand in the marketplace? What’s happening across the industry worldwide? When you want answers that give you the big picture or focus in on the most relevant details, data about the competitive landscape, your markets and industry provides incredible value.
- Use company data such as financial statements to identify areas of strength and weaknesses among key competitors or suppliers.
- Gain valuable insights from market data, including competitor activities, market trends, and consumer preferences. For instance, market data analysis can help you find the most promising markets for your products.
- Dive deeper into industry data to understand overall manufacturing sector performance, such as product trends, emerging technologies and more to enhance operations.
By using company, market, and industry data, manufacturers can gain a competitive edge, make informed decisions, and improve performance. This information can also help you identify new opportunities for growth and innovation, and adapt to changes in the market.
Regulatory Data to Mitigate Risk
The regulatory landscape in manufacturing is constantly evolving. For example, the rising interest in ESG extends to regulators around the world. With a growing number of new or proposed disclosure rules requiring organisations to disclose climate and social impacts—even in relation to non-controlled ventures—you need access to a wide range of data. Plus, there’s the “G” or governance factor to consider.
- Stay alert to announcements related to pending regulations so you can prepare for coming laws.
- Access lists covering sanctions, watchlists, blacklists, politically-exposed-persons to assess third-party risk exposure related to changing sanctions regimes, anti-bribery and corruption laws and more.
In addition to protecting your organization from compliance shortcomings, you can also reduce potential reputational risks that accompany governance failures or a non-compliant third party you associate with.
Patents Data to Inspire and Direct Innovation
Enable analysis of patents across your industry with data gathered from 100+ patent authorities around the world. Patents data can help you in numerous ways.
- Analyse patents data to identify emerging trends in the market and stay ahead of competitors.
- Explore the types of patents being filed within your industry to identify areas of innovation and potential growth.
- Identify new technologies and innovations in other industries that could enhance your own products and inspire new products that meet the changing needs of the market.
By analysing patents data, manufacturers make informed decisions about research and development, marketing, and strategic planning.
Want a single source to tap into all these data types? Talk to us about Nexis® Data as a Service to see what’s possible.