Sheila Brennan

Program Manager

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Analyst Profile

As Program Manager of IDC Manufacturing Insights' Aftermarket and Service Strategies, Sheila Brennan examines key trends, technologies and best practices in intelligent service and warranty strategies, and how best in class companies use IT in aftermarket operations for competitive advantage. Her research topics include governance models of service and warranty organizations, innovation in MRO, reverse logistics and spare parts inventory management. As part of her research, Ms. Brennan investigates the use of analytics software and the adoption of mobility and cloud computing to improve operations in aftermarket service.

Ms. Brennan blogs in the IDC Manufacturing Insights Community (http://idc-insights-community.com/manufacturing). Her Twitter handle is SheilaB_IDC.

Ms. Brennan has over 15 years of experience in process design, performance measurement, product development and quality management, with a strong focus on efficiency, KM and manufacturing.

Ms. Brennan’s most recent experience involved launching and managing the Manufacturing Peer Forum at AMR Research, where she facilitated best practice sharing for F1000, manufacturing, supply chain, operations and IT executives. Prior to this she conducted dozens of benchmarking studies for AMR and PRTM’s benchmarking groups, measuring the impact of best practices and technology on operational performance to deliver prioritized recommendations for improvement to manufacturers. 

Preceding this, Ms. Brennan was the Director of Quality and Programs at a specialty valve manufacturer, and spent several years providing management and process consulting to manufacturing and design groups concerning their product development and quality management systems. As the Program Developer for a semiconductor manufacturer in their automotive business unit, she was in charge of compliance to QS-9000, PPAP and customer specific requirements for design and engineering.

Ms. Brennan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and a Master of Science in Engineering Management, both from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Research Authored by Sheila Brennan

Perspective: Design for Manufacturing Software Delivers Improved Yield, Time to Market Sheila Brennan May 2013 - Doc # MI241091    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective discusses the merits of DFMPro — a design for manufacturability (DFM) software from Geometric — through its application at a communications equipment manufacturer. purchase document

Perspective: Technician Incentives May Increase No-Trouble-Found Rates, Warranty Cost Sheila Brennan May 2013 - Doc # MI240992    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective recaps an SAE World Congress panel discussion of technician challenges in service events and the downstream effect on service metrics, warranty cost, and customer loyalty. purchase document

Perspective: Reaching Critical Mass with Driverless Vehicles Sheila Brennan Apr 2013 - Doc # MI240489    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective discusses IDC Manufacturing Insights' views on the challenges related to commercializing and realizing the benefits of the autonomous vehicle. purchase document

Methods and Practices: Service Information Is Critical to Combat Increasing Vehicle Service Complexity Sheila Brennan,  Joe Barkai Mar 2013 - Doc # MI240236    Methods and Practices This IDC Manufacturing Insights report discusses the findings from a worldwide assessment of the current situation and potential challenges associated with the impact of increased vehicle complexity and electrification on service readiness,... purchase document

Connected Vehicle Ecosystem: Drivers (and Barriers) of Adoption Sheila Brennan,  Joe Barkai Mar 2013 - Doc # MI240289    Insights Presentation This Insights Presentation delineates IDC Manufacturing Insights' connected vehicle industry model, the roles of stakeholders, and the challenges facing the industry in driving adoption and creating profitable business models. The connected... purchase document

Connected Vehicle Ecosystem: Who's in the Driver's Seat? Sheila Brennan Mar 2013 - Doc # DR2013_BS2_SB    Event Proceeding The following was presented at the IDC Directions conferences in Santa Clara and Boston in March 2013.

EMEA Manufacturing 2013 Top 10 Predictions Pierfrancesco Manenti,  Lorenzo Veronesi,  Craig Simpson,  Sheila Brennan,  Robert Parker,  Kimberly Knickle Feb 2013 - Doc # MIVC01V    Top 10 Predictions IDC Manufacturing Insights conducted a number of interviews and extensive surveys among EMEA manufacturing organizations to ascertain what 2013 will hold for enterprises in terms of business trends and technology initiatives. The result is ... purchase document

Worldwide Manufacturing Industry 2013 Top 10 Predictions Joe Barkai,  Sheila Brennan,  Simon Ellis,  Kimberly Knickle,  Christopher Holmes,  Pierfrancesco Manenti,  Craig Simpson,  Robert Parker,  William Lee, Ph.D.,  Heather Ashton Dec 2012 - Doc # MI238805    Top 10 Predictions This IDC Manufacturing Insights report presents IDC Manufacturing Insights' annual top 10 predictions.Bob Parker, group VP of research, said, "Large manufacturing firms are enjoying a healthy recovery. While uncertainty and the specter of a... purchase document

Smart Services and Aftermarket Strategies Top 10 Predictions Sheila Brennan Dec 2012 - Doc # MI238803    Insights Presentation This IDC Manufacturing Insights Presentation predicts that, in the coming year, brand owners and product manufacturers will take steps to capitalize on the fact that superior service of customer-owned assets contributes significantly to cus... purchase document

Methods and Practices: Rethinking Smart Technology Investments for Optimizing Maintenance Strategies Sheila Brennan,  Joe Barkai Nov 2012 - Doc # MI237349    Methods and Practices This IDC Manufacturing Insights report defines the taxonomy for planned maintenance techniques and reviews the benefits, risks, and investments associated with advanced maintenance strategies. It also considers the steps for developing an o... purchase document

Perspective: Service Readiness as a Key Business Practice Sheila Brennan Oct 2012 - Doc # MI237333    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective discusses the challenges in service readiness at repair facilities supported by data from a recent global survey and presents Toyota's service support model to help address these challenges. purchase document

More Research authored by Sheila Brennan