Manufacturing Business Technology articles from February 2005

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from February 2005

Those halcyon days in a dirty, stinkin' steel mill.(Up front)
February 1, 2005... When I was a kid in college, I worked summers in the steel mills southeast of Chicago. It was good money for the time--more than $12 an hour in the early 1970s, as I remember. One summer, they had me sandblasting and grinding welds on girders....

User conference featured promises--and questions--about Oracle's commitment to PeopleSoft users.(Open Arms At Openworld)
February 1, 2005... Now that Oracle has acquired PeopleSoft, it can devote more attention to what some industry observers believe could be an even more difficult task: winning the trust of PeopleSoft's customer base. Several statements at OpenWorld, Oracle's...

Booz Allen says it's better to play nice with your suppliers.(2005 Cost Cuts)
February 1, 2005... An annual "review letter" of industrial manufacturing trends from consulting firm Booz Allen, Hamilton, N.Y., points out that while 2004 was challenging, it saw the beginning of a recovery in industrial capital investment, and some U.S....

Global Siemens commits local resources to tsunami relief.(Corporate)
February 1, 2005... Siemens AG, which employs 423,000 people in 192 countries, is using its unique capabilities to aid victims of the catastrophic tsunamis in Asia. As a global company, Siemens has committed to sing its local presence in the countries affected by...

UGS buys Tecnomatix.(Operations)
February 1, 2005... Product life-cycle management (PLM) vendor UGS and manufacturing process management solutions provider Tecnomatix Technologies announced a definitive agreement whereby UGS will buy all outstanding equity in Tecnomatix for $228 million cash. ...

XML not the only game in town.(Information Technology)
February 1, 2005... XML (short for eXtensible markup language) is the most common tool for creating Web services, but it's not the only one. In fact, in some cases, XML--which transmits information as electronic documents--isn't even the best choice for creating...

Pricing in a global market remains top executive concern.(The Confidence Index)
February 1, 2005... "A weak dollar, volatile oil prices, and geopolitical uncertainty" have eroded the collective confidence of 16,500 business executives from 148 countries surveyed in the annual McKinsey Global Confidence Index, released year-end 2004. ...

Semiconductor industry, mobility, and warehouse automation studied.(Market Projections Potpourri)
February 1, 2005... The semiconductor industry is entering another slump, although nothing like what preceded 2004's outstanding growth, according to In-Stat, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based business unit of Reed Electronics Group. Revenue is projected to decline by 5.7...

"Lean and Clean" auto industry pilot expands to other verticals.(The Green Supply Network)
February 1, 2005... Efforts launched collaboratively last December by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Commerce Department, and industry seek to lessen the environmental impact of small and midsize manufacturing suppliers while boosting...

Frost & Sullivan's Excellence Awards showcase India's capabilities.(World-Class Manufacturing)
February 1, 2005... World-class manufacturing performance excellence in India was showcased last December at the first-ever India Manufacturing Excellence Awards (IMEA), held in Mumbai and sponsored by global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. Awards were presented...

The spotlight is on lean manufacturing and RFID.(National Manufacturing Week)
February 1, 2005... National Manufacturing Week (NWW)--a collection of eight trade shows coming to Chicago's McCormick Place the week of March 7--will carry the theme World-Beating Manufacturing. And with that theme, bet on lean manufacturing and RFID to be the...

Offshoring and open source will lead to new business models.(Globalization Of The IT Industry)
February 1, 2005... M.R. Rangaswami, managing director, Sand Hill Group, has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. When the ERP boom was on, M.R.--as he is universally known--held marketing management positions at Oracle Corp., Avalon...

Bulletproof the investment plans.(In perspective)
February 1, 2005... How can any manufacturing executive today confidently back new initiatives and be sure the economic winds of change will bear in the same direction long enough to get funding and finish the project? While pundits predict a strong economy...

How much is that software really worth?(In perspective)
February 1, 2005... Given the rapid growth of Salesforce.com, you might think CEO Marc Benioff and his crew's idea to rent--rather than sell--software was a pretty novel one. In fact, Salesforce.com's innovations are mostly in the way that it packages its...

A safe haven: Emerson, Lucent innovate and collaborate with partners using PLM, workflow.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2005... At the heart of most any new product development project is a digital CAD model of the product. Surrounding that all-encompassing model, however, is a hodgepodge of other content--from quality and manufacturing specifications to marketing...

Where next for enterprise applications? One manufacturer's story amidst a market in transition.(Applications & Services)
February 1, 2005... When it comes to having and holding an enterprise system the experience of Basic American Foods (BAF), Walnut Creek, Calif., is in many ways typical. "Many of the vendors we first looked at aren't around anymore," says Joe Behrendt, CIO....

Splitting ERP maintenance into components could lower costs.(Application Maintenance)
February 1, 2005... Ongoing mergers in the ERP software space have some users reexamining their ERP investments, including maintenance. But short of dropping maintenance or switching vendors, what tactics can be applied to get better value from ERP maintenance...

New IFS president says focus is key to long-term prosperity.(Management Moves)
February 1, 2005... Early in 2004, IFS, a Scandinavia-based enterprise vendor with 2003 revenues of more than $300 million, said it would refocus its efforts on some key manufacturing industries, and make greater use of partnerships in meeting its customers'...

Is 3D manufacturing for you?(Complex Production Scenarios)
February 1, 2005... "Maybe, maybe not," says Alex Houtzeel, president of HMS Software, a vendor of manufacturing information systems for complex production environments. "Particularly in environments such as aircraft manufacturing, the ability to 'see' parts...

Siebel CEO plans to "reignite growth".
February 1, 2005... Roughly six months after taking over as CEO, J. Michael Lawrie is unveiling his plans for keeping Siebel Systems on top of the CRM software market. Core strategies include catering to medium-size companies, creating more industry-specific...

The a priori of product profitability.(In perspective)
February 1, 2005... Manufacturers work hard to reduce costs. They rack their brains to increase revenues by being innovative. Software applications reduce the time and cost of nearly every activity in a company--from designing, making, and moving products to...

Sarbanes-Oxley isn't the half of it: holistic approach to compliance reaps rewards beyond avoiding fines or staying out of jail.(Business Performance)
February 1, 2005... "I don't know how these manufacturers keep up with what's out there," says Jay Jeffreys, program manager for e-compliance solutions with manufacturing enterprise software vendor Wonderware. "What's out there" refers to the alphanumeric soup of...

Bioterrorism compliance is part and parcel of enterprise implementation at Berner Foods.(Business Performance)
February 1, 2005... Meeting regulatory requirements doesn't necessarily have to be an expensive, companywide pain. Berner Foods--a Dakota, Ill.-based maker of process cheese sauces and spreads--thought it had the pieces in place to comply with the Bioterrorism Act...

Northrop Grumman CIO talks collaborative CAD and data management.(Product Life-Cycle Management)
February 1, 2005... Aerospace & defense product development is more high-tech than ever, requiring a large degree of intercompany collaboration. Developing the U.S. Navy's next-generation destroyer--the DD(X)--is no exception. Manufacturing Business Technology...

Aras KPIs offer means of measuring impact on product development.(PLM Metrics)
February 1, 2005... Product life-cycle management (PLM) software has proven itself as a tool for improving productivity. Now vendors are enabling solutions to measure exactly how much they can improve product development processes. The hope is that by offering...

Could optimization be the "next frontier" in warehouse management?(Supply Chain Execution)
February 1, 2005... At ProMat 2005, held in Chicago in January, most everyone was talking about RFID--no surprise there. But amid all the chatter about read rates and tag prices, one voice was preaching a contrarian gospel: warehouse optimization. John P....

Vendors aim to put CPG packaging data under tight wraps.(Integrated Packaging Management)
February 1, 2005... Targeting what experts call an unmet need in consumer packaged goods (CPG), 3M and Deloitte Consulting have teamed up on packaging information management. The vendors--3M with its software for packaging information management and Deloitte with...

Emptoris.(Business performance in brief)
February 1, 2005... Emptoris has acquired supplier assessment solutions vendor Valuedge in a move to expand Emptoris' supplier management suite to include supplier quality tools, and spend analysis, online supplier negotiation, optimization-based bid analysis,...

Edge Dynamics.(Business performance in brief)
February 1, 2005... Edge 2.0 commerce optimization software from Edge Dynamics optimizes a manufacturer's incoming order stream to maximize financial performance and enforce operations compliance by eliminating costly channel problems such as speculative buying,...

Advanced Technology Services.(Business performance in brief)
February 1, 2005... Advanced Technology Services (ATS)--a Peoria, Ill.-based managed services provider for production equipment maintenance, IT infrastructure support, and industrial parts repair for manufacturers--received the 2004 Torch Award for Marketplace...

Piggly Wiggly's doing it: cost of EDI services drops as Internet-based EDI grows; endgame not yet in sight.(Integration & Infrastructure)
February 1, 2005... Traditional EDI will one day be eclipsed by Internet EDI," says Mike Croxton, senior VP, Inovis USA. As Internet security encryption and virtual private networks (VPNs) get better, manufacturers are adopting Internet-based methods to...

Avoid RFID failures by starting with clean internal data.(Data Synchronization)
February 1, 2005... "Garbage in, garbage out" has been the watchword among database managers since proto-computer maker Charlie Babbage learned long division. Now new evidence hints at the scope of the problem, even as synchronization solutions aim to halt...

Salesforce.com touts custom, vertical solutions without the overhead.(Hosted Software)
February 1, 2005... Salesforce.com believes the latest generation of its CRM suite answers any objections that have been raised about the hosted software business model. The vendor unveiled this new release, dubbed Winter 05, last November. "The main...

Paper supplier calls on Cisco to bridge gap between production machines, facilities.(Case-In-Point)
February 1, 2005... Corrugated Supplies, which makes specialty paper and cardboard products used in custom packaging and displays, has a knack for using technology as a competitive weapon. In fact, the Bedford Park, Ill.-based company can charge higher prices than...

Dot-com powerhouse poised to prosper from the on-demand trend.(Application Service Providers)
February 1, 2005... USi is a company whose time may finally have arrived. Founded as an application service provider (ASP) in the midst of the dot-com era, it had a booming business hosting e-commerce Web sites. Not surprisingly, when the dot-com bubble burst, USi...

Cisco Systems, San Jose, Calif., is using Acrobat and Portable Document Format (PDF) solutions from Adobe Systems.(Integration & Infrastructure in brief)
February 1, 2005... Cisco Systems, San Jose, Calif., is using Acrobat and Portable Document Format (PDF) solutions from Adobe Systems. Legal department employees are sharing documents with customers and business partners in Adobe PDF, thereby maintaining a clear...

Visiprise is adopting product life-cycle management vendor UGS's Open Manufacturing Backbone (OMB).(Integration & Infrastructure in brief)
February 1, 2005... Visiprise is adopting product life-cycle management vendor UGS's Open Manufacturing Backbone (OMB), a platform UGS says transforms the process of digital manufacturing through an open environment in which third-party software applications can...

Brooks Software announces an agreement to resell AssurX's CATSWeb nonconformance, corrective/preventive action.(Integration & Infrastructure in brief)
February 1, 2005... Brooks Software announces an agreement to resell AssurX's CATSWeb nonconformance, corrective/preventive action, and compliance applications; and will use CATSWeb components in solutions targeted to discrete manufacturers. "Federal...

BEA showcases new SOA platform in China.(Enterprise Process Management)
February 1, 2005... BEA Systems attracted more than 3,000 attendees to its first eWorld China Conference in Shanghai in mid-December, where it showcased several new components of its services-oriented architecture (SOA) offering, including the next-generation...

Do Web services equal service-oriented architectures?(Those Confounding SOAs)
February 1, 2005... Although they are often mentioned in the same sentence, Web services are not synonymous with service-oriented architectures (SOAs). Web services--which provide new methods for accessing and deploying the functionality long-hidden inside...

Search for a safe haven: security solutions serve particularly vulnerable manufacturing and supply chain operations.(Security/Wireless)
February 1, 2005... Five years ago, sign manufacturer Everbrite LLC reckoned it had a surefire way to stop any bad guys from using the Internet to get at its desktop PCs. Internet access was banned, period. With a prestige customer base of Fortune 1000...

EPC's Gen 2 may be "royalty-free" ... but someone has to pay.(RFID Standards)
February 1, 2005... A new standard for manufacturing tags could jump-start widespread adoption of RFID. But it won't happen unless a question is resolved concerning royalty payments to makers of standard-compliant equipment, tags, and readers. This issue...

Mobile collaboration software: unplugs designers from workstations.(Wireless Design)
February 1, 2005... Sometimes the easiest way to get a point across is to sit down with the other person and make sure you're both looking at the same sheet of music. But when the tune being played involves complex computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, and the...

So I was wrong about the Segway.(Back talk)
February 1, 2005... Salesforce.com, the on-demand CRM trailblazer, has 214,000 subscribers spread across more than 13,000 customer accounts. Arena Solutions, which offers product life-cycle management (PLM) software in a hosted model, has posted revenue growth of...

Hot, and getting hotter: technology solutions that ignite savings and support growth.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... It is refreshing to look out at a U.S. business climate that seems to offer a measure of success to American manufacturers. Last year, 2004 was an opportunity for earnings and profits recovery, and in 2005 it's predicted successful companies...

Vertical views: unique perspective to the value chain helps manufacturers become leaders in their industries.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... The 3D Blueprint from Unisys enables viewing cause-and-effect relationships that shape how a company works. The view includes the business vision and operations model, the business process model and patterns, the functional and application...

The lean transformation: companies enact strategic initiatives to achieve and sustain manufacturing excellence.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... The Manufacturing Process Optimization architecture, offered by Pelion Systems, enables companies to visualize factories and opportunities, define and design capabilities, and extend to other factories, suppliers, and customers. **********...

Ask and you shah receive: A & D, automotive, high-tech, medical device, and semiconductor manufacturers lend input to real-time enterprise software.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... Beyond a digital dashboard to see operational performance as it changes, manufacturers need controls to improve performance, and "what-if?" scenario analysis to make sound decisions. ********** The nature of business for discrete...

Learning the value of lean: manufacturing execs see value in QAD solution now deployed in more than 250 sites.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... QAD enterprise software supports lean planning and execution, JIT sequencing, consignment inventory, vendor-managed inventory, 100-percent partner connectivity, and warehousing initiatives. ********** World-class manufacturers...

Closing the loop with MPM: manufacturing process management drives lean manufacturing, Six Sigma initiatives.(Advertisement)
February 1, 2005... Manufacturing process management solutions offered by Tecnomatix provide best-in-class planning, design, simulation, and analysis of production processes. ********** It's been little more than a year now since TecnomatixTechnologies...

Today's enterprise and supply chain landscape: persistent success of top software vendors tied to expertise in viable midmarket niches.
February 1, 2005... Small to medium-size manufacturers don't have the name recognition as the largest companies, but they form the heart of the U.S. goods-producing economy. IT solution suppliers that target these medium-size manufacturers--typically defined...