In my experience, I believe that staying informed about the industry is one of the most important aspects. The first and biggest reason is knowing your competition how one can make sure that our product is best in its market. Second, and something directly related to the current situation of my company is being up to date with the industry suppliers and other entities connected to the company. My company is going through qualifying a new supplier for an important component and knowing the current market and what available helped us find a similar and effective component to the discontinued one. Lastly, being well informed about the industry will also ensure that customer needs are continually met.