Manufacturing Business Technology articles from April 2005

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from April 2005

Oh, what a time it was!(Up front)
April 1, 2005... This spring marks the fifth anniversary of the Internet bubble's bursting, and I'm just back from another National Manufacturing Week (NMW), held here in Chicago, as it is every year. It was five years ago at NMW that I experienced a...

Linux goes enterprise, but legal issues remain.(LINUXWORLD 2005)
April 1, 2005... Citing surveys showing more than half of all CIOs expect Linux to become the dominant IT platform by 2007, Novell Chairman and CEO Jack Messman opened LinuxWorld 2005 claiming the open-source operating system is ready for the enterprise...

Despite reports to contrary, Deloitte says CIO role still growing.(CIO TRANSFORMATIONS)
April 1, 2005... New York-based Deloitte Consulting's CIO Advisory Services has identified the top 10 challenges and opportunities that define the changing role of the chief information officer, or CIO. Given the transformational rote of IT as an enabler of...

Correction.(Views from the front)(Correction Notice)
April 1, 2005... A source line on page 28 of the March issue of Manufacturing Business Technology (in the article titled Plant-floor security, by the numbers) was incorrectly attributed. It should say SFW LLC.

Lilly name will fade away, but founder's vision should live on.(CORPORATE)
April 1, 2005... In October 2004, Infor Global Solutions purchased Lilly Software, the brainchild of Dick Lilly, a material requirements planning pioneer who grew his company into a $40-million enterprise software vendor to small and midsize manufacturers based...

How to quantify agility.(OPERATIONS)
April 1, 2005... In an earlier era of mass production, it was relatively easy to measure performance--you just needed to know how many or how much you made, and how long it took. But in an age of mass customization, the goal isn't brute-force production of mass...

IBM acquires middleware vendor Ascential.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2005... In a deal expected to close Q2 2005, IBM is buying middleware vendor Ascential for $1.1 billion. The purchase adds Ascential's real-time data staging and transformation tools to IBM's data integration portfolio, which boasts unified query,...

Celanese's improvement goals in tune with times, conference theme.(PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN MANUFACTURING)
April 1, 2005... Brenda Hightower, manufacturing business systems manager for Dallas-based Celanese Corp., sees value in delivering real-time key performance indicators (KPIs) to managers. Celanese--an industrial chemical company with about 9,500 employees--had...

True product data integration remains elusive, yet users stay committed.(PLM IN AUTOMOTIVE)
April 1, 2005... A decade after the concept was introduced, product life-cycle management (PLM) has momentum and maturity. Since 2001, publicly traded PLM vendors have outperformed the NASDAQ. Two vendors--UGS Systems and Dassault Systemes--broke $1 billion in...

Solutions--and complications--emerge for RoHS directive.(ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE)
April 1, 2005... It's taken a while, but by now many American manufacturers are aware of Europe's latest environmental legislation. What's less clear is how best to comply: the spirit might be willing, but the systems are weak. The Restriction on the Use...

Food traceability--here and there.(Views from the front)
April 1, 2005... Just two weeks after new European Union food traceability legislation came into effect Britain had its worst food contamination scandal in years. While the affected foodstuffs were tracked, it took almost two weeks to complete the process. That...

Lack of scale inhibits competitiveness of China IT industry.(GLOBAL SOFTWARE & SERVICES)
April 1, 2005... Though China's revenues from software and IT services rose an average of 42 percent per annum since 1997--reaching $6.8 billion in 2003--its IT industry is only about half the size of India's. A new quarterly report from New York-based McKinsey...

NetSuite reports top rankings in Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research's TechRankings study, Hosted Sales Force Automation (SFA).(Views in brief)
April 1, 2005... NetSuite reports top rankings in Cambridge, Mass-based Forrester Research's TechRankings study, Hosted Sales Force Automation (SFA). NetSuite outscored competitors in the sales management category, and in other important functions of SFA,...

Odyssey Logistics & Technology.(Views in brief)
April 1, 2005... Odyssey Logistics & Technology recently closed the sale of more than $11 million in new preferred stock, led by European investor LogiSpring. Odyssey will expand multimodal logistics services to chemical and process industries in European and...

Pelion Systems.(Views in brief)
April 1, 2005... Pelion Systems, a vendor of manufacturing process optimization (MPO) solutions, gained recent funding from UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund to ramp up system expansion efforts. Pelion MPO is powered by lean and flow algorithms supplemented with...

MCA Solutions.(Views in brief)
April 1, 2005... Service planning & optimization (SPO) applications vendor MCA Solutions announces a European office for companies looking to drive increased customer satisfaction by improving the performance of their aftermarket supply chains. SPO solutions...

Wal-Mart CIO says suppliers are reaping benefits from tagging program.(RFID WORLD 2005)
April 1, 2005... Linda Dillman, executive VP and CIO of Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., says the retail giant's RFID program is working and producing benefits "for everyone involved." Dillman, who made that statement during her keynote address at RFID World...

Campbell Soup uses caution, uncovers realities of emerging RFID technology.(Views from the front)
April 1, 2005... Most of the 3,000-plus people at RFID World 2005, held in Dallas in early March, were manufacturers seeking to learn how their companies could benefit from the technology. Some of them may not have liked what they heard. "In the short...

Enterprise software: still in the stone age.(In perspective)
April 1, 2005... While some of us who make our money in the enterprise software circuit like to believe we are working in a glamorous and progressive industry, we should really rethink that position. In fact, when you look at the vast majority of software...

Linux use grows by means of two diverging paths.(In perspective)
April 1, 2005... Addressing a Gartner Group conference several years ago, my colleague and fellow columnist Erick Keller remarked that even in organizations that have embraced SAP, chances are that system comprises only 30 percent to 40 percent of the existing...

Best practices make perfect: establish a core infrastructure; build better processes around it.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2005... The technology to manage a global operation has come a long way at Knowles Electronics during the last three years. First, the Itasca, Ill.-based company installed a global, single instance of an enterprise software suite for visibility over...

Lean, in the most general sense: serious lean adopters move initiatives beyond the factory cell to maintenance, the front office, and the supply chain.(Applications & Services)
April 1, 2005... "Lean thinking always works when applied in a comprehensive way," say James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones in a 1996 Harvard Business Review article titled Beyond Toyota: How to Root Out Waste and Pursue Perfection. While most lean initiatives...

UGS partners with HP, Capgemini to bolster PLM clout.(APPLICATIONS & INTEGRATORS)
April 1, 2005... Product life-cycle management (PLM) software vendor UGS's new consulting partnerships--including one with Hewlett-Packard (HP)--point to a couple of market realities. For one, with UGS out from under the wing of former parent company Electronic...

Visiprise and SAP collaborate for discrete solution.(INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING)
April 1, 2005... Manufacturing execution system (MES) vendor Visiprise and ERP giant SAP have announced an agreement wherein Visiprise will port its flagship product. Visiprise Manufacturing, to SAP's NetWeaver Application Server. The vendors also are forging...

Agile acquires Cimmetry; rounds out product management portfolio.(DESIGN VISUALIZATION)
April 1, 2005... The acquisition of Cimmetry Systems by Agile Software, first announced in February, is indicative of the perceived need on the part of vendors and users alike for mechanisms that more easily allow sharing design information--electronically and...

Incuity puts plant-floor data in BI context.(MANUFACTURING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2005... DataWorks Systems--whose founders say they were part of the development team that came up with Wonderware's ActiveFactory and IndustrialSQL plant-floor applications--is releasing a product called Incuity, described as a "real-time enterprise...

Workflow furnished by third-party vendor may be justified.(In perspective)
April 1, 2005... How much time do manufacturers spend entering routine ERP transactions? How many decisions based on ERP data are delayed while people use e-mail, phone, and fax to collaborate, or to gain an approval? Whatever a company's specifics, it's safe...

Harness company knowledge: content management solutions serve the enterprise, the supplier, and the customer.(Business Performance)
April 1, 2005... Artesyn Technologies is good at designing power conversion equipment. Only recently, however, did the Boca Raton, Fla.-based engineering company master the art of managing the documentation associated with its designs. "We were losing too...

EPM software sales rising as margin for error decreases.(ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT)
April 1, 2005... "If you're in manufacturing and aren't using a business intelligence [BI] dashboard to see what's going on, you should be wondering why," says Patrick Morrissey, worldwide director of enterprise performance management (EPM) marketing at...

Demand for real-time performance data taxes plant-floor networks.(INDUSTRIAL NETWORKS)
April 1, 2005... The growing need for real-time information about shop-floor operations is fueling demand for more robust industrial networks. At the same time, proliferation of devices being installed to transmit real-time data makes it difficult to keep...

Gates Corp. evolves BI cubes into Web-based sales analysis tools.(CASE-IN-POINT)
April 1, 2005... With a 25-year history of using business intelligence (BI) software, Gates Corp. is no newcomer to decision-support tools. Yet the Denver-based manufacturer of automotive belts and hoses has taken BI to the next level, rolling out a Web-based...

Answerthink offers an automated Sarbanes-Oxley controls assessment service for evaluating how effectively companies are using controls capabilities within Oracle, PeopleSoft, and other leading ERP systems.
April 1, 2005... Answerthink offers an automated Sarbanes-Oxley controls assessment service for evaluating how effectively companies are using controls capabilities within Oracle, PeopleSoft, and other leading ERP systems. The service improves business...

Data Jungle helps casual users hack away at data trees.(BI EXTENSIONS)
April 1, 2005... As more companies adopt business intelligence (BI) strategies, there comes the painful discovery that all-encompassing suites from top-tier vendors don't always meet their needs. That's why some manufacturers--particularly midsize ones--are...

Ask AberdeenGroup: why have manufacturers turned to outsourcing?
April 1, 2005... The need to reduce operating costs; improve return-on-investment (ROI); and more quickly enter and exit markets has made manufacturing outsourcing a strategic staple in electronics, automotive, and durables industries. AberdeenGroup's...

Acquisitions spark need for integration: companies experienced in M&A activity say standard platforms ease the transition.(Integration & Infrastructure)
April 1, 2005... Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity is a fact of business life, and with it comes the need to integrate information systems. "It would be nice if all companies had the same technology, but that's not how the real world works," observes...

Open-source technology revives Novell.(THE LINUX EFFECT)
April 1, 2005... Linux is proving to be a virtual lifeline for Novell, whose NetWare operating system for desktop PCs and local area networks has been steamrolled by Microsoft Windows. Novell's association with Linux began with its January 2004 acquisition...

In support of contract-driven Web services management and service-oriented arichitecture (SOA) governance.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... In support of contract-driven Web services management and service-oriented architecture (SOA) governance, Infravio's business services registry--called Infravio X-registry--is certified for SAP NetWeaver via an SAP Enterprise Portal iView for...

Best Software program sprouts Peachtree add-ons.(BUSINESS SYSTEMS FOR THE MIDMARKET)
April 1, 2005... Best Software's Peachtree accounting and inventory control software package doesn't have the functional breadth of an enterprise suite but Best believes a new program will beef up Peachtree solutions via tight integration with partner products....

Offshoring boosts salaries in India, but not enough to stop the trend.(IT SALARIES)
April 1, 2005... As more IT activity is outsourced to India, employers are facing some of the difficulties that hit U.S. companies in the late 1990s: high wage costs, rising labor turnover, and employee demands for improved working conditions. In contrast, IT...

ALTERthought.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... ALTERthought's ElementBox, a catalogue of open-standards software, now includes Web services capability and service-oriented architecture support. ElementBox integrates business processes and forms the underpinnings of a framework to achieve...

Honeywell is standardizing its automation project engineering on SmartPlant Instrumentation, an engineering solution powered by Intools from Intergraph.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... Honeywell is standardizing its automation project engineering on SmartPlant Instrumentation, an engineering solution powered by Intools from Intergraph. The two companies are integrating SmartPtant Enterprise with Honeywell's latest process...

Hitachi Consulting now supports Universal 3D (U3D), a standard created by Intel, the 3D Industry Forum, and Ecma International for the sharing and visualization of 3D graphics.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... Hitachi Consulting now supports Universal 3D (U3D), a standard created by Intel, the 3D Industry Forum, and Ecma International for the sharing and visualization of 3D graphics. For complex product manufacturers, the short- and long-term cost...

Adobe Systems and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are expanding their relationship to drive document-based work, including a new offering that bundles Adobe Acrobat 7.0 with HP Designjet large-format printers.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... Adobe Systems and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are expanding their relationship to drive document-based work, including a new offering that bundles Adobe Acrobat 7.0 with HP Designjet large-format printers. The solution will allow sharing all...

Software ToolBox has acquired assets and source code of Descartes Systems Sciences' OmniServer OPC and I/O server.(Integration & infrastructure in brief)
April 1, 2005... Software ToolBox has acquired assets and source code of Descartes Systems Sciences' OmniServer OPC and I/O server, a universal driver for gathering data from bar-code and RFID readers, weigh scales, and gauges; and then supplying the data to...

Managing IT assets can be tricky, but the payoff is real.(IT ASSET MANAGEMENT)
April 1, 2005... The American Water Heater Company, Jackson City, Tenn., finds it easy to manage IT assets. "There's nothing for us to maintain," says Senior Systems Administrator Andy Eades. "The software does it all for us." Eades is referring to the...

Leading automotive supplier finds outsourcing is the best communications strategy.(CASE-IN-POINT)
April 1, 2005... As a leading supplier of electronic systems to OEMs in the automotive sector and other industries, Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls understands the value of outsourcing certain functions to qualified specialists. In fact, that knowledge...

From wireless to Wi-Fi: uses for wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi, not hard to find.(Security/Wireless)
April 1, 2005... By now most everyone has heard of Wi-Fi, which stands for "wireless fidelity," and which, among other things, allows wireless, Ethernet-based connection of laptop PCs to the Internet. Wi-Fi hotspots are found in restaurants, coffee shops, and...

RFID's wireless nature makes it state-of-the-art for IBM.(Security/Wireless)
April 1, 2005... According to John Konopoka, a program manager in IBM's Innovation and Strategy Group, wireless is transforming business processes. Konopoka works at IBM's $2.5-billion chip fabrication plant in Fishkill, N.Y., where 300-mm semiconductors used...

Windows not the only target ... new vendors offer patch protection.(PATCH MANAGEMENT)
April 1, 2005... The IT staff for automotive component manufacturer Morton Metalcraft, Morton, Ill., was expending 1,000 hours per year doing manual patches to more than 500 computers spread across five facilities. "And that wasn't applying all the patches...

Scoring system rates severity of threats to computer networks.(QUANTIFYING RISK)
April 1, 2005... The problem with malware--worms, viruses, and spyware--is that there is so much of it. Sorting out the silly from the serious can be difficult. Under the auspices of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), some of the biggest...

Manufacturer takes chance on "free offer," puts VoIP on global network.(TELECOMMUNICATION ADVANCES)
April 1, 2005... Free phone calls over the Internet, a Luxembourg-based company founded by two 'Net heads from Scandinavia, and a peculiar name--it all sounds like something left over from the dot-com days when business plans were four lines scribbled on a...

EPC and RFID power logistics scorecard for Electrolux.(CASE-IN-POINT)
April 1, 2005... Electrolux Home Care Products North America, a Bloomington, Ill.-based manufacturer best known for its Eureka brand of vacuum cleaners, is experiencing a few "eureka" moments of its own when it comes to RFID. The first came when Electrolux...

With RFID, it's smart to ask, "what's in it for me?".(Back talk)
April 1, 2005... Every now, and then I meet someone who at least pretends to be impressed that I write about information technology (IT) for a living. "Wow, you must really be smart to understand all that stuff," this decidedly nontechnical person will say. My...