SigmaWay Blog

Lean Manufacturing is a business improvement philosophy which focuses on the needs of customers. Lean Manufacturing originated from the Toyota Production System. When a company reduces wastes, many other benefits are achieved. One of the basic advantages of implementing lean is that it helps in getting more work done with less people.
Lean manufacturing helps to reduce costs, eliminate waste, increase productivity, maintain high levels of quality and thus increase profit.
Read more at: http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/lean-six-sigma-business-transformation/articles/why-does-your-business-need-lean/

The factors currently stressed by predictive analytics, in talent management are:
1. Recognition of potential employees with a flight risk.
2. Recognition of selection factors which can predict the performance of the newly hired employees.
3. Prediction of the productivity initiation time of employee studies.
With the evolution of predictive analytics, new factors that can be expected to be focused on, in the near future include:
1. Projection of the revenue pay-off of a company’s talent programs.
2. Projection of the company’s corporate revenue and labor cost ratio.
3. Projection and comparison of performance indices of a company’s managers, teams and employees.
4. Projection of employee replacement costs.
5. Prediction of upcoming productivity issues and opportunities in the firm.
6. Prediction of the feasibility of new technology solutions.
7. Prediction of diversity bottlenecks.
To know more, visit:

http://www.ere.net/2015/03/09/the-future-of-predictive-analytics-the-next-generation-of-talent-metrics-to-consider-part-1-of-2/

The success of the startup is not dependent on the idea, but it depends on getting the customers. As a startup, getting customers is one of the biggest challenges. 
Jeff Foster (Co-Founder and CEO of Tomoson), discussed about few tips to get your first 1000 customers. Some of them are:
• Setup a waiting list
• Use personal network
• Target online publications
• Get bloggers on your side
• Build suspense
• Work with early adopters
• Create high quality content
• Offer a free product option
• Incentivize customers to sell your product
• Online advertising
Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247049

According to the recent survey by ING, 81% of PR professional feel that they can't do their jobs without social media and 58% of them admit that they feel safe in using social media. This shows how much social media impact public relations. Ronn Torossian (Public Relations Executive and CEO of 5W Public Relations), discussed about how social media is changing the working of PR. They are:

• More direct contact with people
• Creating unique and engaging content
• Integrating services
Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/public-relations/impact-social-media-pr-01245327

Big Data and Predictive Analytics are booming and Indian recruitment agencies are jumping on board to hire more and more Data Analysts. According to a TeamLease report, the key trends that will dominate the recruitment industry over the next six months include Information Technology (IT), engineering. It is also predicted that startups will be key hirers and adoption of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) will increase. The nation is quickly realizing the importance of Big Data and Predictive Analytics and both large companies and start-ups are beginning to employ Data Analytics into their workings. The fields where Data Analytics will primarily be required include market risk analytics, facility management and mobile applications employing data sciences. Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Big-data-and-predictive-analytics-likely-to-dominate-recruitment-TeamLease-report-says/articleshow/47588357.cms

Flipkart , an e-commerce co., has decided to focus on social media, mobile interface and data mining to boost its position in the online retail market.  Data mining and technology improvements are going to take up a major role in the coming days. Up gradation in infrastructures and data centres are essential to maintain its position in the market.  The company also expects to achieve $8 billion dollar sales thus utilizing every resource at its disposal.  To know more, please follow:

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-04-13/news/61102918_1_mukesh-bansal-binny-bansal-billion-day

Health insurance carriers are currently in a dilemma, whether to purchase an analytics platform, assemble a platform and then use it. Lack of proper infrastructure is a big hindrance for analytics in healthcare system, dominated by paper-based transactions and the dearth of their electronic imprints. Since health contracts are based on the payment of money, depending upon the health status of patients, health insurers have an incentive to build an analytics platform. Currently, the healthcare insurance companies, who are willing to purchase analytics platforms, have limited options to choose from. While options are being worked upon, healthcare insurance lags behind property and casualty carriers, who are not restricted by intricate security measures and government hindrance. Read more at :

http://www.insurancetech.com/2015-outlook-analytics-in-health-insurance/d/d-id/1318241?

Sigmaway consultants have worked with clients in benefits solutions workspace providing analytics on healthcare plans. For more details visit

http://www.sigmaway.us/

In coming years, Data generated by IOT devices are predicted to increase more than the available capacity to store, and all data that's generated is not useful for analysis. Only limited part of it is useful. 

According to Computer Business Review(CBR) magazine, there are some data generating areas. It is important to know what data from which area is precious and what is not. Following are the ten of the biggest data generating areas. To know more about these areas, read: 

http://www.cbronline.com/news/internet-of-things/10-of-the-biggest-iot-data-generators-4586937

There are variety of languages and modeling packages available at the dispense of any predictive modeler. In most surveys capturing the trends and usage of various packages and software tools, R and Python occupy the top positions. Surprisingly these are both command line languages. The reasons for this are many. But what are advantages of using command line languages like R and Python or GUI based packages? Which user interface is useful to what kind of programmers? What is the market share of usage of these packages? Which one among them is most useful for a job aspirant? To know answers read

http://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/patimes/what-programming-do-predictive-modelers-need-to-know-0408152-2/

Companies are collecting datasets to have a competitor advantage in the market. But what exactly are they doing with the collected data? And how are they dealing with the ever increasing data that is inrushing their servers or storage units? 

To answer any of above question, we need to know about a process called Data Mining. Data Mining is a process used to analyze raw information to try and find useful patterns and trends in it. Basically a data miner’s job is to make some sense out of the huge pile of data that is available. There are a lot many techniques available to do this. If you want to know more about data mining and these techniques go through: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5947-data-mining.html

Like everything else, businesses must also do yearly cleaning of their contents to remove redundant, obsolete and trivial data from their systems commonly known as ROT. This ROT makes it difficult to find data which are important and useful. A few tips to do this daunting tasks of data cleaning given by experts are: • Identification of relevant and critical data for the business from the identified repositories with the help of Subject Matter Experts (SME)

• Analyzing data in these repositories which are suspected to be important with the help of SMEs, automated processes and leveraging software.

• Establishing metadata for finding and retrieving documents, access control, privacy policies and potential business value

• Metadata needs to be classified for all documents in the repository. This classification process reveals the ROT.

These essential chores can lead to cost-effective information governance by eliminating ROT.

Read more at: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/do-your-chores-clean-out-your-data-029232.php

We are all very used to Power outages in our daily lives but little do we know about the impact it causes on a large scale. Power outages have the potential to put an economy on a downward trend. Addressing the issue of Power outages are being done lately through various technology advancements.One such advancement in this field is to use grids that are smart and automated. Smart grid technologies are enhanced with grid communication by employing grid radios, which are connected in mesh type of layout. They automatically switch lines and isolate faults in few seconds which otherwise take hours to restore power. The selection criterion in accepting these communication technologies is based on their reliability, performance and future proofing. 

In order to build a complete smart electrical network we have different technology suites employed at different stages, and these technology suites are may not n\be from the same company, which means the companies must ensure that their products are capable of running simultaneously side by side. 

Read more at http://www.clickgreen.org.uk/opinion/opinion/126074-how-smart-city-technology-will-reduce-the-impact-of-black-outs

Human capital is one of the most important assets for success. And to survive in this dynamic world, companies need to rethink their human capital strategies. Companies need to focus on identifying leadership, learning and development, culture and engagement, reinventing HR and performance management. It is time for the HRM department to redefine its role and focus on finding, nurturing, retaining the talent into their organizations. According to the annual Global Human Capital Trends survey 2015 India report, performance management and talent acquisition are considered important challenges in the short run and learning and development along with HR and people analytics are considered as long term challenges. Read more at: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/industry/jobs/leading-in-the-new-world-of-work/81532/

B2B firms can learn from the long journey of B2C firms with mobile apps and learn how to maximize customer engagement and revenues."-Uma Ganesh (CEO, Global Talent Track) Mobiles forced large B2C companies to make mobile marketing and apps as the integral part of their marketing strategy. Apps have already exceeded the web when it comes to consumer time spent. But in case of B2B firms, decision makers use traditional means rather than mobiles across all touch points, including apps, websites, landing pages, email and social media. In building an app, a company need to invest money. In order to make the app work for marketing, it is important to plan that will lead to convenience and customer delight. To know more, follow this link: http://www.financialexpress.com/article/industry/tech/success-with-mobile-apps-in-b2b-marketing/81549/

When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), one of the biggest challenges is managing the data created by devices and their flow in and out of the system a developer creates. This data is vital for an efficient system. The initial step is where the data is created and enters the Internet. In the second step, a central system holds on to this data, organizing it constantly. In the third stage old data is sore for future needs. NoSQL platforms like Cassandra are a suitable fit for IoT systems. Distributed database systems like Cassandra have no 'primary' server that controls the rest. Each node in a cluster can handle the incoming transactions. Read at:  http://www.wired.com/2015/03/internet-things-data-go/

Reinvention is a popular way to reinvent an existing product. This can be done by extending the product line, creating a new product that is designed, executing and messaging to appeal to the new user segment. Reinvention helps in surviving in this dynamic world and helps in tracking new market segment.

Kumar Srivastava (Senior Director of Product Management) in his article at entrepreneur.com, talked about questions asked before starting a replacement cycle because entrepreneurs need to understand in detail what has changed in the user’s world. Questions are:
• Has the user base changed or evolved?
• Has the purchase and onboarding decision process changed?
• Has the interaction mechanism or value chain changed?
• Have the experience expectations changed or evolved?
• Have the support and training expectations changed?
Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246539

With so much technology advancement in real estate business, finding the right digital marketing strategy for your real estate business is creating disruption not only for brokers, but also for agents. 91% of realtors use social media in their business and 45% of realtors want more technology from their brokers. To build an effective digital strategy, broker needs to provide right software and training to their agents. Matthew Barba (CEO and co-founder of Placester) in his article "6 strategies to kick your broker marketing into high gear" discussed about 6 strategies to help brokers in marketing. They are:

• Take the lead and help your broker in deciding the right technology and provide solutions to their problems.
• Educate yourself and your brokers.
• Use the right tool for your job.
• Work as a team with your agent.
• Recruit wisely.
Read more at: http://www.inman.com/2015/06/04/6-strategies-to-kick-your-broker-marketing-into-high-gear/

The global healthcare big data market is set to grow at 17 percent compounded annually according to the predictions of ResearchFox Consulting. Predictive and prescriptive analytics shall be the main area of focus in the United States. The Internet of Things (IoT) Industry is likely to get a big push from internet-enabled blood pressure monitors, mHealth apps, and wearable technologies. With the increasing need for interpolation of health data, improved healthcare coordination and robust big data analytics are becoming highly essential. Healthcare is in need of accurate data, real-time insights into patient care, and a better understanding of population health management, big data analytics is expected to gain importance. Read at: http://healthitanalytics.com/news/healthcare-big-data-analytics-driving-billions-in-market-growth

In the present scenario, the retailers who are combining customer analytics, internet of things (IOT) and data innovation to retrieve and analyze data of consumer preferences, are generating the maximum sales. Others are losing out. Customers now-a-days are well aware of their personal data being collected online by firms and hence expect better retail experience in return. That will only be possible when customers are segmented and served, which is done by analyzing their personal data, using data analytics. Big data can also be used in framing a product's optimal price system and inventory management, according to the prevailing or to be prevailed customer preference trends. Read more at:

http://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/grasping-the-value-of-data-analytics-in-retail

The Sports Industry is evolving. With the requirement to be accurate and the presence of data far beyond what humans can perceive and make collective sense of, there has risen a need to be able to observe, process and evaluate the actions of both teams. With the availability of large amounts of data to train the system, we can now accurately predict and develop strategies for the team. Machine learning is already being used to understand the conservative strategies of away teams at the English Premier League. It can also be applied to predict the behavior of individual players such as cricket bowlers in the IPL. Researches are also working on ML Algorithms to identify talented sportsmen based on their psychological characteristics and practice history. Read at: http://www.science20.com/the_conversation/machine_learning_and_big_data_is_changing_sports-155628