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Cash is King, but Data is Queen – and She’s the Most Powerful Piece on the Board

by | Aug 5, 2025

The queen in highlight. Pieces of chess game, image with shallow depth of field.

Summary

In today’s fast-moving manufacturing world, cash keeps operations afloat—but data is the queen that empowers smarter decisions, smoother supplier and customer agility, and stronger overall strategy.

The adage “Cash is King” remains one of the most important principles in business—especially in manufacturing. Cash keeps the doors open, machines running, and employees paid. But in today’s fast-moving, data-driven economy, there’s a new contender for the crown: Data is Queen. And just like on a chessboard, the Queen is the most powerful piece. She sees the whole field and enables smarter, faster, and more strategic moves.

In a time of ongoing supply chain shifts, unpredictable customer demand, and tightening margins, manufacturers can no longer rely on relationships or routines alone. To remain competitive and solvent, they must align cash management and data-driven decision-making.

Read this article in full here.

Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center

Since 1991, the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center has assisted Michigan's small and medium-sized businesses to compete and grow. Today, we are celebrating 30 years of building super highways of competitive success for our clients, where there were once only slow and lonely dirt roads. Now, we stand ready to face the future with bountiful optimism, focused purpose, strong determination, legions of support staff and inspired creativity.‍

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