Manufacturing Business Technology articles from January 2005

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from January 2005

I made Larry Ellison say, "I don't know.".(Upfront)
January 1, 2005... The move to manufacture products in low-cost countries (LCC) is likely to result in around 30 million new manufacturing jobs in India, netting an increase in its exports from $40 billion to $300 billion by 2015. A new study--conducted...

Is India the next manufacturing export powerhouse?(Globalization)
January 1, 2005... The CII-McKinsey study reveals that of the total potential sevenfold increase in Indian exports over the next 10 years, nearly a third of it could be captured from just four sectors: apparel, auto components, specialty chemicals, and electrical...

Inevitable surge in RFID proves out in EPC memberships.(RFID's Tipping Point)
January 1, 2005... The momentum behind RFID is growing strongly, insists Chris Adcock, president, EPCglobal worldwide, who spoke recently with Manufacturing Business Technology. Adcock, who took over last September for Interim President Mike Meranda (Meranda...

Voice communication technologies gaining in-house control.(Corporate)
January 1, 2005... VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)--i.e., getting your phone service over the Internet--is making significant corporate inroads, according to a survey by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based InStat/MDR. Stat/MDR. The percentage of companies using the...

3PLs looking for fair shake in global trade.(Operations)
January 1, 2005... The Association for Logistics Outsourcing (IWLA) is bent on participating in global opportunities resulting from trade liberalization. U.S. logistics industry revenue totaled $936 billion in 2003. Of that total, $593 billion is transportation,...

Gartner says growth in IT offshoring no cause for panic.(Information Technology)
January 1, 2005... U.S.-based companies probably will be sending about $50 billion worth of IT work offshore by 2007, but Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner says that will not significantly damage this country's IT job market. Ben Ping, the Gartner VP who led the...

Correction.(Views from the front)(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2005... A December report on the APICS conference incorrectly stated the number of users for SoftBrands' Fourth Shift Edition for SAP Business One software. The number reported is actually the number of users for SoftBrands' DemandStream product.

CEOs expect bigger bite as two big tax breaks end.(Taxation)
January 1, 2005... Nearly half of 392 CEOs of enterprises identified as "fast-growing" anticipate corporate taxes will rise an average of 18 percent, with 46 percent of the total fearing the jump will be as high as 40 percent, according to results of a September...

Kronos adding functionality to help companies improve employee performance.(Not Just Marking Time)
January 1, 2005... Kronos, a well-known supplier of systems for tracking how much time workers spend on the job, is expanding its product line-up to include solutions that make strategic use of labor-related data. Recent product additions include a...

Electronics industry institutes code of conduct.(Social Responsibility)
January 1, 2005... Last October, a collective of leading electronics industry enterprises put forward a unified code of conduct bearing on a range of labor, environmental, and ethical practices. Spearheaded by Hewlett-Packard (HP), signatories include Dell, IBM,...

Up and running.(Implementations)
January 1, 2005... Campbell Soup Co. will use Formation Systems' Optiva product life-cycle management solution as the product development infrastructure at Campbell's Camden, N.J.-based headquarters, as well as Campbell's Canada, Campbell's Australia, and the...

No touching! RFID and bar codes may be better apart.(Pack Expo 2004)
January 1, 2005... Some 45,000 attendees descended on Pack Expo 2004 in Chicago last November to see the latest in packaging technology. Whether their chief interest was shrink-wrapping frozen food or putting tamperproof caps on medicine bottles, one technology...

Catalyst International and Babush Material Handling Systems.(Laudable RFID launches)
January 1, 2005... * Supply chain execution vendors Catalyst International and Babush Material Handling Systems announce the new Star Alliance Center in Sussex, Wis. The center--which focuses on Electronic Product Code (EPC) compliance--has an end-to-end product...

Checkpoint Systems.(Laudable RFID launches)
January 1, 2005... * Checkpoint Systems announces Checkpoint Systems EPC Compliance Network, which focuses on end-to-end EPC compliance and design solutions. A key component is the expanded Checkpoint EPC Compliance Center in Thorofare, N.J., an outgrowth of the...

Why are enterprise engines running in reverse?(In perspective)
January 1, 2005... As 2005 begins, it's a foregone conclusion that manufacturers will continue their relentless push to offshore both manufacturing (via China) and services (via India). However, it doesn't appear those same companies have rethought their IT...

Best-of-breed apps: still viable after all these years.(In perspective)
January 1, 2005... Over the past year I've written a lot about ERP strategy and extracting value from ERP systems. In researching the subject, I've found that after settling in on a core ERP backbone, many companies still maintain or add new best-of-breed (BoB)...

How to run a global supply chain: technology advances set stage for further disruption of ingrained management practices; electronics industry, Solectron are good examples.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2005... Technology makes globalization possible: it's computerization that caused the cost of enterprise transactions to drop like a rock, so companies can outsource even manufacturing. Given telecommunications advances, there's no reason why...

Culture wars: can the plant floor and IT bridge the language gap and learn to love each other?(Applications & Services)
January 1, 2005... One of the biggest challenges facing many manufacturers today has nothing to do with either their customers or products. It's culture--teaching plant-floor and IT personnel to work and play well together. Time was, it didn't matter if the...

Can Autodesk take PLM mass market?(Designs on SMB)
January 1, 2005... Autodesk--known for its widely used CAD software--has similar designs for its product life-cycle management (PLM) solution. For starters, the vendor aims to have close to 1,200 users of its data management software by the end of 2004, just...

Lenox refines IT support/plant-floor interaction.(IT In The China Shop)
January 1, 2005... At Lenox China, Lawrenceville, N.J., IT on the factory floor comes in the form of a "plant analyst." Preferably, plant analysts are Microsoft-certified network engineers or administrators, and they serve as IT tech support for Lenox's hybrid...

Microsoft and PLM vendors team up on collaborative blueprints.(Collaborative Coalition)
January 1, 2005... Microsoft Corp. and a group of product life-cycle management (PLM) software and services vendors are hoping a new joint program will pave the way for improved PLM processes. The program, called Collaborative Product Development (CPD), will...

Dassault gets closer to Microsoft.
January 1, 2005... None other than Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates was on hand when Microsoft and product tile-cycle management (PLM) vendor Dassault Systemes announced November 17 they would deliver Dassault's solutions across a range of current and future...

Survey predicts Linux the next major ERP platform.(Open Source)
January 1, 2005... Linux will shed its image as an "edge" server to become the fastest-growing platform for ERP installations, according to Peerstone Research, San Francisco. The findings--based on an online survey of 400 SAR PeopleSoft, and Oracle ERP...

Metreo adds enforcement to optimization; steers clear of ERP.(The Price Is Right)
January 1, 2005... Putting a price on something often is a mix of equal parts clairvoyance and voodoo. Yet according to a study by The Harvard Business Review, a 1-percent improvement in pricing can drive an 11 -percent increase in profits. Despite this, many...

Rules promulgation said to be simplified with new technology.(Product Development Tools)
January 1, 2005... Business is all about rules--from the initial request for quote through warranty expiration. Capturing the rules to automate key processes is difficult. Enter RuleStream, which offers what it calls rules-driven product management...

Quality application focuses on product, not process.(Outsourced Manufacturing)
January 1, 2005... Trusting your contract manufacturer is good, but it's better to trust and verify," says Nader Fathi, CEO of SigmaQuest, According to Fathi, because outsourcing is the rule now in the high-tech and medical-device industries, it creates a problem...

Inter-enterprise emerges with a need for its own transaction engine.(In perspective)
January 1, 2005... Why is collaboration amongst trading partners still so challenging? Portals, private trading exchange platforms, supply chain event management, special collaborative software, and various extensions of enterprise solutions have been available...

Get the ducks in a row, please: to purchase even needed software, you must still address ROI.(Business Performance)
January 1, 2005... It's a buyer's market for business applications today. At the same time, there aren't many' people who doubt that IT solutions, rightly applied, deliver significant productivity benefits. Yet the hyperbole of the bubble era lingers on as a...

Hunt for more users leads to new, prepackaged BI solutions.(Business Intelligence)
January 1, 2005... The quest to make business intelligence (BI) tools user-friendly continues. For manufacturers, it means having access to a number of ready-made solutions that promise quick improvements to business processes. For example, SAS and Cognos...

Motorola picks up operations award.(High Honors)
January 1, 2005... Enterprise supply management vendor Emptoris recently congratulated Motorola for winning the 2004 Franz. Edelman Award for achievement in operations research and the management sciences. Motorola's entry--Reinventing the Supplier...

Can new GXS service revive the trading hub concept?(Electronic Commerce)
January 1, 2005... Global eXchange Services (GXS), a long-time provider of EDI value-added network (VAN) services, has launched a service it believes could become a model for building successful e-commerce trading hubs. Scott Molitor, a GXS group manager,...

GXS teams with VeriSign for EPC enhancements to TradingGrid.(Electronic Commerce)
January 1, 2005... VeriSign is partnering with Global exchange Services (GXS) to extend the GXS TradingGrid to support EPCglobars Electronic Product Codes (EPC), and integration with EPCgtobal Network. As the operator of the infrastructure underlying the...

Better to put the balance back in balanced scorecard.(Too Many Metrics)
January 1, 2005... The balanced scorecard approach to benchmarking and business process improvement has been around since the early 1990s. But according to a recent survey by Atlanta-based Hackett Group, less than 20 percent of companies that tried the system...

QAD will use a key offering in ILOG's Business Rule Management System (BRMS) to streamline business-rules management within MFG/PRO, QAD's flagship ERP suite.(Business performance in brief)
January 1, 2005... QAD will use a key offering in ILOG's Business Rule Management System (BRMS) to streamline business-rules management within MFG/PRO, QAD's flagship ERP suite. Using ILOG JRules within MFG/PRO, users will gain direct control over the business...

Perfect Commerce--which offers on-demand supplier relationship management solutions (SRM) and The Open Supplier Network--has completed its merger with Pantellos Corp., which offers The Pantellos Marketplace for online ordering, and associated marketing services.(Business performance in brief)
January 1, 2005... Perfect Commerce--which offers on-demand supplier relationship management solutions (SRM) and The Open Supplier Network--has completed its merger with Pantellos Corp., which offers The Pantellos Marketplace for online ordering, and associated...

MARC Global.(Business performance in brief)
January 1, 2005... MARC Global announces MARC 3D Decision Data on Demand, offering multidimensional views of business operations via a personalized control panel that displays real-time alerts, analytics, and reports. Users can monitor business indicators for...

Brewing a new kind of connection: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters joins ranks of companies saving money, improving business processes by working with Web services.(Integration)
January 1, 2005... The specialty blends from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Waterbury, Vt., are wildly popular in the cafes and restaurants where they are traditionally served. So popular, in fact, those who have savored the blends are clamoring to enjoy them at...

Bombardier Transportation finds great value in having quality data.(Case-In-Point)
January 1, 2005... Growth through acquisition is a common business strategy. It also creates a common set of IT problems, many of which are related to the disparate enterprise software systems that come with newly acquired companies. At Bombardier...

Sun, SeeBeyond deliver practical SOA solutions.
January 1, 2005... SeeBeyond will port components of its SeeBeyond Integration Composite Application Network Suite to Sun Microsystems' Java Enterprise System, starting with the Gate Integrator 5 platform ported to Sun Java System Application Server 8. The...

SAP using NetWeaver to snare partnerships with shop-floor software vendors.(Exchange Infrastructure)
January 1, 2005... At least 70 percent of the companies that run manufacturing operations with the FlexNet software system from Apriso also use an SAP ERP package to manage corporate-level functions. So it was a natural step for Apriso to join an SAP-sponsored...

Procurement processes the next candidate for outsourcing's gains.(Business Process Outsourcing)
January 1, 2005... Given that many companies spend nearly half their earnings buying goods and services--this according to Boston-based Aberdeen Group--a tight rein on costs is a prime concern. Solutions providers are augmenting their procurement offerings. ...

On-demand gets down to business: supply chain agility concepts, consulting engagements bring gains for NIBCO.(Infrastructure)
January 1, 2005... The most demanding thing about the on-demand business concept is its sheer scope. Since the philosophy targets greater business agility, it potentially maps back to many parts of the enterprise, making a singular path to it elusive. But that...

Hang on: we're in for a bumpy ride.(Transportation & Logistics)
January 1, 2005... The next 18 to 24 months could be a long haul for transportation managers. That was the message at a one-day transportation and logistics summit in Chicago last November, sponsored by supply chain planning and execution vendor Manugistics....

"Perfect storm" rains on transportation managers.(Transportation & Logistics)
January 1, 2005... At the Manugistics Transportation and Logistics Summit in Chicago last November, Barry Mulkay, director of procurement and carrier operations for PepsiCo, described a "perfect storm" bearing down on transportation operations. Rising cost...

New IBM WebSphere releases extend edge of computing.
January 1, 2005... IBM announces new WebSphere products for enabling sensor-based devices--such as RFID readers and controllers, kiosks, and self checkout--to be integrated with enterprise business processes: * IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server is the first...

Forrester recommends corrective-action program to protect freight transportation.(Supply Chain Security)
January 1, 2005... Extended global supply chains may be needed and they may be what the future looks like, but according to a recent "best practices" note by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, in their present form they become the prime point of...

NASA Dryden Flight Research deploys Oracle-based HazMat management program.
January 1, 2005... ChemSecure, a pilot program developed by Oracle and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., integrates RFID and sensor-based technology with the Department of Defense's Web-based Hazardous Materials Management System (HMMS)...

Third parties eye ERP vendors' golden goose: maintenance.(Application Support)
January 1, 2005... Even though Oracle Corp. now owns ERP rival PeopleSoft, it doesn't have the revenue stream from PeopleSoft's maintenance contracts sewn up. For one, Oracle will compete with a third-party maintenance and support provider called TomorrowNow. ...

SAP and HP team for midmarket hosting model.(Application Hosting)
January 1, 2005... To capture more midmarket customers, SAP and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are teaming up to offer what they describe as "low-cost managed solutions, including bundles of SAP software and HP hardware preconfigured to manage vertical-industry business...

Jump-start your RFID program: Boeing, Airbus among manufacturers finding solutions for accelerated RFID deployments.(Security/Wireless)
January 1, 2005... It's no secret that Chicago-based Boeing and the French company Airbus are bitter corporate rivals. In fact, the acrimony permeating their ongoing race to build a next-generation wide-body jet airliner has become quite public, with each company...

Wireless device monitoring made possible through low-power, low-cost network capabilities.(The Internet Of Things)
January 1, 2005... The Nov. 1, 2004 announcement that Eaton Corp. inked a deal with Boston-based wireless semiconductor manufacturer Ember Corp. brings widespread adoption of low-power wireless mesh networks a step nearer. Eaton "is pretty much married" to...

Food manufacturer blends internal benefits with RFID compliance.(Outside The Mandate)
January 1, 2005... The new year brought a milestone in radio frequency identification (RFID): by January 1, the top 100 suppliers to Wal-Mart Stores, Bentonville, Ark., were to be shipping RFID-tagged cases and pallets to the retailer's North Texas region. ...

UHF Generation standard sparks RFID royalties suspension at Intermec.(Inside The RFID Rush)
January 1, 2005... When lawyers start asserting companies' intellectual property rights and demanding royalties, it's usually a sign that a technology has matured to the point of generating revenues worth wrangling over. So it seems with RFID, where last summer's...

Code Red Systems.(Security/Wireless in brief)
January 1, 2005... To protect wireless networks, Jersualem-based Code Red Systems offers AirBlock Industrial Edition for new and legacy equipment that does not support wireless LAN security standards. Key features include multivendor interoperability, support for...

WhereNet.(Security/Wireless in brief)
January 1, 2005... WhereNet's WhereLAN, an integrated wireless local area network (LAN) that serves as both a real-time locating system sensor and an access point for non-WhereNet wireless LAN clients and applications, is being combined with the core radio...

Manhattan Associates and eBusiness Solution Pros (eSP) have released Wireless Application Access, a host-based system that supports the RF functions of Manhattan's warehouse management solutions for iSeries and Open Systems.(Security/Wireless in brief)
January 1, 2005... Manhattan Associates and eBusiness Solution Pros (eSP) have released Wireless Application Access, a host-based system that supports the RF functions of Manhattan's warehouse management solutions for iSeries and Open Systems. At its core is a...

Savi Technology recently received both the National Infocomm and the Frost & Sullivan Leadership awards--for enhancing global supply chain security and homeland security respectively.(Security/Wireless in brief)
January 1, 2005... Savi Technology recently received both the National Infocomm and the Frost & Sullivan Leadership awards--for enhancing global supply chain security and homeland security respectively. Savi helped construct the U.S. Department of Defense's...

Symbol Technologies hopes to put past behind with RFID acquisition, new technology.(Focus On The Future)
January 1, 2005... Symbol Technologies has had a torrid few years. Once a market leader in bar coding and mobile data-capture devices, its fortunes suffered a serious setback in 2001 when the SEC launched an investigation into accounting irregularities, which...

Vendor initiative forges RFID-based processes for shipment tracking.(Port Operations Tracking)
January 1, 2005... The Smart & Secure Tradelanes (SST) initiative has finished its first pilot project in Africa, whereby containers transporting beef from Namibia to the Port of Tilbury in the U.K. were secured and tracked from point of shipment to point of...

Oracle looks beyond acquisition.(Back talk)
January 1, 2005... No matter what you think of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, you have to admit the man has vision. For one, he was among the first to recognize the commercial potential of relational database technology, and he used that insight to build what is still...