Manufacturing Business Technology articles from April 2007

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from April 2007

IBM buy-up of MRO Software prompts cross-fertilization of IT and EAM solutions.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Assets come in many flavors depending on where you're sitting in the organization. The same can be said for asset-management solutions: Some focus on information technology (IT), while others hone in on the plant floor--and...

Unlocked legacy-system data leads to $850,000 annual savings for Gumlink.
April 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor The 40 packaging lines of Vejle, Denmark-based Gumlink churn out up to 35,000 tons of chewing gum each year. The number of packaging lines reflects the company's business model, explains...

Exiting Chapter 11 just one process expedited by inventory optimization software.
April 1, 2007... By Staff To Arturo Albanesi, inventory optimization software holds out a simple promise: better customer service levels, lower inventories--or both. A Denver-based supply chain solutions engineer with electronics measurement equipment...

Give operators a tool to improve performance, and they'll use it.
April 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor The only way to reduce unit costs and get the most out of plant investments is to have good data about the manufacturing line. But according to Brian Maguire, a VP with performance-management solutions...

Production scheduling leads to fluid processes for coffee supplier Mother Parkers.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Even the most ardent caffeine addicts would find the complexity of a coffee-packaging operation an eye opener. Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee roasts, grinds, and packages hundreds of coffee blends for leading grocery and restaurant...

In brief.
April 1, 2007... by Staff New capabilities found in Cincom Systems ' Sales Configurator and Socrates software include more localization features, double-byte character set languages for manufacturers with operations in China and other Asian countries, and...

The health of U.S. manufacturing may hinge on insurance reform.
April 1, 2007... By Sidney Hill, Jr., executive editor Since our mission at MBT is illustrating how the intelligent use of information technology makes it easier to conduct the business of manufacturing, we generally don't talk politics. But there will be...

Defining the right performance targets is a matter of industry and scale.(Company overview)
April 1, 2007... By David Caruso, Caruso and Assoc. Correcting operational problems is one thing, but having better advance warning of impending problems is equally important--if not more so. Hence the interest in key performance indicators (KPI) and the...

Distribution software lets manufacturer sell direct to end users--without cutting distributors out of the loop.
April 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor Selling snowmobile components and service parts is a tricky business for TeamFAST , an Eveleth, Minn.-based parts manufacturer. Says President David Karpik, "Our aftermarket products can improve...

New Microsoft alliance seeks to leverage BPEL 2.0, BizTalk Server around process-based solutions.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Seeking to bring business process management (BPM) to the masses, Microsoft is putting forth a new alliance to coalesce third-party BPM vendors around BizTalk Server, Office 2007, and the recently unveiled Windows Workflow...

Oracle rounds up content management, governance, and compliance apps in one tidy package.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Oracle recently consolidated a number of applications and compliance-related processes from its ERP products into the Oracle Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) suite. There are solutions for content management and data...

Unique modeler identifies business decisions with the greatest financial impact.
April 1, 2007... By Staff River Logic 's Enterprise Optimizer (EO) enables companies to arrive at smart decisions by making the financial impact of variable choices considerably more self-evident. The ability lies in the application's modeling engine...

In brief.
April 1, 2007... by Staff Recent integration of the Acumence Manufacturing Business Intelligence solution with the Oracle E-Business Suite using Oracle Fusion Middleware enables real-time visibility into manufacturing, operational, supply chain, planning,...

Enterprise profit optimization solutions unearth the real cost of manufacturing.
April 1, 2007... By Staff The results of a study conducted by enterprise profit optimization specialist Maxager Technology confirm that while many manufacturers believe it's important to measure the speed at which products are made, few actually have the...

3PL's import/export trading platform eases transactions between U.S. and China.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Recent progress among major trade partners--particularly China--to align international standards for electronic signatures and payment is yielding a platform for e-commerce payment systems. B2X Corp. , a third-party logistics...

Trading partner advantage is big motivator behind B2B operations outsourcing.
April 1, 2007... By Staff An apparent shift in the motivation behind B2B operations outsourcing is under way, moving from a tactical, cost-cutting focus to one of enhanced business value. Why exactly do companies outsource their B2B operations? Cost,...

The new rules for global supply chain management.
April 1, 2007... By Sidney Hill, Jr., Executive Editor Andy Joyner remembers when manufacturing was a simple business. "We used to build a circuit board and ship it to the customer," says Joyner, operations planning manager for Jabil Circuit , a St....

Rise of user-friendly devices propels strategic use of wireless technology.
April 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor Nearly half of all large U.S. and European businesses currently have at least one project involving wireless technology under way, according to research by Boston-based Yankee Group . Most of these...

Plant forum addresses control-system security.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Control-system security has come a long way in a short time. And so has its complexity, given manufacturer's growing desire to give enterprise systems access to data contained in control systems. A further complication is the...

Enterprise Service Bus switches into drive as markets reach $190M-plus.
April 1, 2007... By Staff The need to develop closer links with customers and suppliers is driving demand for Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) technologies. An ESB is a platform for creating composite applications, which are bits of functionality pulled...

Cisco's latest manufacturing solutions combine Wi-Fi and RFID.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Cisco Systems is making a strong statement about its intent to serve the manufacturing sector with release of a set of wireless solutions targeting four vertical industries. The solutions, unveiled in January, combine Wi-Fi...

Cisco buys Reactivity for complementary firewall support.
April 1, 2007... By Staff To beef up its application-oriented networking (AON) strategy, Cisco Systems recently acquired firewall technology vendor Reactivity for $135 million. Reactivity's products are stand-alone appliances that parse and inspect...

Aras brings open source model to PLM practitioners, Microsoft users.
April 1, 2007... By Staff The open source software movement has spread to the product development space--and in a somewhat surprising fashion. In January, product life-cycle management (PLM) software vendor Aras made its Microsoft-based Innovator...

Salesforce.com unveils Apex development environment.
April 1, 2007... By Staff In a technology preview of Salesforce.com 's new Apex programming language for developing applications against its on-demand environment, the customer relationship management (CRM) vendor also unveiled an Eclipse-based tool kit to...

Getting closer: IBM and Lawson bring ERP to midsize food & beverage makers.
April 1, 2007... By Staff When Lawson Software acquired Intentia, one clear synergy was a commitment to software developed on IBM platforms--especially System i, formerly known as the AS/400. So it's not surprising that Lawson is expanding its...

Database auditing solutions support compliance programs, internal security efforts.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Keeping accurate corporate records has always been a business priority, but new reporting requirements associated with Sarbanes-Oxley (Sarbox) and other government regulations make it mandatory. And that means more business for...

SAP applications ecosystem spawns new capabilities, performance opportunities.
April 1, 2007... By Roberto Michel, senior contributing editor When discussion steers toward concepts such as partner ecosystems and integration middleware, the business imperatives behind the concepts can get lost pretty easily. But not for Tom Alloway and...

Microsoft Dynamics faces up to the realities of manufacturing.
April 1, 2007... By Kevin Parker, editorial director For anyone who follows the enterprise resources planning (ERP) market, it's interesting in the extreme to see Microsoft's take on these large business systems--both how they're used and how they're...

Vista's uptake on plant floors will be based on security, graphics, and ... Office 2007.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Just how fast will Microsoft Corp. 's Windows Vista operating system (OS) catch on among manufacturers? The answer depends on whether you go strictly by early analyst projections, or factor in intangibles such as the push Vista is...

Right Hemisphere patents graphics system.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Receiving a U.S. Patent for a "digital asset server and asset management system," Right Hemisphere says it now has a graphic file management system that allows users to control the complexity, flow, and quality of enterprisewide...

SMBs switching to QuickBooks.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Frustrated by the high cost of conventional ERP systems and their complex interfaces, more than 6,000 growing businesses and midmarket companies reportedly switched to Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions from other more...

Sensicast delivers Web 2.0 SaaS.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Sensicast Systems says its SensiNet Services let plant and facility managers use temperature-, energy-, and moisture-monitoring applications over the Internet without having to locate the applications within their own network...

Positive attitude pervades "Microsoft in manufacturing" user group.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Erik Goode is chief architect of the plant controls group at Cargill , a food and agricultural products manufacturer. As such, Goode has an abiding interest in use of Microsoft technology in production environments, and serves as...

Leadership issues, ill-defined processes seen as major factors behind decision dysfunction.
April 1, 2007... By Staff While companies are keeping their eye on plant and supply chain operations, they'd best expand their efforts to include optimized decision-making, says a study by the Palo Alto, Calif.-based DecisionROI Institute and the Business...

Time & attendance specialist Kronos serves up manufacturing-focused workforce management solution.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Most people know the name Kronos for human capital management, and its widely adopted time & attendance solutions. But as David Caruso, principal of Caruso & Associates , a Mass.-based manufacturing system consulting practice,...

Trade issues cause schism between NAM and American manufacturers.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Two new industry associations have emerged in the wake of a National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) board vote last fall, which actually went against an earlier membership vote. At issue is support of legislation in...

Secure, on-demand document sharing blooms in SpringCM SaaS model.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Content management might sound staid--unless you talk with Christine Mason, president and CEO of SpringCM . "The CM stands for content management, but Spring works in so many ways," she says. "Spring board, for collaboration;...

In brief.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser will advance an alliance to develop solutions for the process industries in three areas: technology innovation, asset management, and engineering services. The alliance seeks to more...

Analysts, researchers place their votes for software leadership.
April 1, 2007... By Staff Pilgrim Software is 2007 North American Enterprise Compliance & Quality Management Company of the Year in the life sciences industry, as named by New York-based Frost & Sullivan . Life sciences customers look for quick...