4 reasons 2024 is the year to invest in metals technology

One of the key takeaways from the 2023 SMU Steel Summit was the emphasis on cutting costs through automation, especially in inventory management. By automating manual tasks like tracking inventory, businesses can save on labor costs and achieve more accurate inventory management.

As metals leaders focus on creating a better customer experience and meeting customer demands, efficiently managing inventory helps companies have materials they need on hand. The right metals technology can help streamline inventory management and automate administrative and manual tasks, giving metals leaders the cost-effective tools they need.

The advancement of generative artificial intelligence (AI) creates new opportunities for metals businesses. Teams can use machine learning tools to more quickly and accurately perform arduous, manual tasks such as demand forecasting, which commonly involves intricate and complex spreadsheet formulas.

As advanced technology evolves and opens the door to greater possibilities, metals companies can begin implementing these tools with pilot projects. While the knowledge gap might seem inconsequential today, the longer leaders wait to integrate advanced metals technology solutions, the more difficult it will be to catch up in the future.

For the second year in a row, the Crowe “2023 Technology in Metals Survey Insights” report revealed adoption uncertainty as the number one challenge metals leaders face on their digital transformation journeys. Without getting employees and key stakeholders on board, metals companies can miss out on the full benefits that metals technology offers.

As metals companies make technology investments to address business issues, it’s critical to establish employee feedback loops and create an ongoing organizational change management plan to support and empower employees as they use technology to create innovative solutions. The sooner metals leaders start getting their employees up to speed, the sooner they can implement metals technology solutions that help them make informed decisions, create opportunities, and save money.

Metals leaders must make strategic decisions to achieve real business impact such as increased efficiency, better quality performance, or improved margins. However, the key to making informed decisions lies in business data that is often disorganized and stored in disparate systems. The right technology can help centralize and standardize data as well as provide actionable insights that can help metals leaders gain confidence in their next steps.

If metals leaders wait another year to invest in the metals technology that helps them organize and synthesize business data quickly and effectively, they might risk logging another year’s worth of low-quality data that could hinder their growth and success in the future.