Manufacturing Business Technology articles from January 2006

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from January 2006

Manufacturing escapes limelight, yet remains central to WTO talks.(Up front)
January 1, 2006... By far the lion's share of commercial press coverage at the sixth World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference held in Hong Kong in December focused on agricultural issues and the inevitable anarchist street protests. We have the...

Capitalizing on CPU power part of centralization effort for manufacturers of all sizes.(IT CONSOLIDATION)
January 1, 2006... Increased confidence in server performance across the network--coupled with the need to reduce costs and improve IT management--drive IT consolidation in manufacturing, says a recent executive brief from IDC Manufacturing Insights. "Part...

QAD.(Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization)
January 1, 2006... QAD enhances advanced manufacturing capabilities with new offerings that include Production Scheduler, a module that increases scheduling efficiency by placing key production information in a single screen. Existing products also have been...

Microsoft.(Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization)
January 1, 2006... Microsoft launches Microsoft Dynamics GP, the new name for the ERP solution out of the acquired Great Plains Software. Referred to as "wave one" of an ongoing Microsoft Dynamics evolution, featured is deeper integration with Office, a portal...

Intuitive Manufacturing Systems.(Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization)
January 1, 2006... Intuitive Manufacturing Systems, an ERP vendor to discrete manufacturers, attains gold certified status in the Microsoft partner program with competency in ISV/software solutions. Having demonstrated its expertise, Intuitive will reap benefits...

Infor.(Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization)
January 1, 2006... Infor, which says it is the largest global enterprise software vendor exclusively focused on manufacturing and distribution industries, reports its base of industrial distribution customers now exceeds 700. Some of the industry-specific...

Intentia.(Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization)
January 1, 2006... Intentia upgrades its enterprise suite with version 5.2, and addresses midsize companies needing quick implementations. At the core of the release is provision of local market-specific functionality for all major regions immediately upon...

The cost of compliance and security.(CORPORATE)
January 1, 2006... IBM has launched an initiative to help move key resources--goods, money, and information--around the globe with greater security. A platform for security-related projects will emerge from alignment of capabilities in customs, ports, and border...

SAP leverages Microsoft office to improve UI.(OPERATIONS)
January 1, 2006... The first version of Mendocino, the joint SAP/Microsoft project that delivers a seamless working environment between mySAP 2004 applications and Microsoft Office 2003, was released to select customers in December. General release is expected...

Who sold us this system?(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
January 1, 2006... Enterprise software vendors are going to great lengths to avoid failed implementations--even encouraging customers not to move entire businesses to new platforms all at once. Despite their efforts, it seems some implementations are still going...

NAM's Engler outlines nine-point program to improve U.S. energy supplies.(THE ENERGY CRISIS)
January 1, 2006... John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), says hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma "exposed a secret no one in Washington has wanted to reveal for more than 20 years--that the U.S. has a fundamental weakness in...

Rising natural gas prices hit manufacturers hard.(Views from the front)
January 1, 2006... While the National Association of Manufacturers' (NAM) nine-point energy policy proposal addresses long-term energy supply issues, manufacturers are struggling in the short term with rising natural gas prices that threaten profits--and in some...

Greater effectiveness of building automation systems will come with enterprise integration.(ENERGY COSTS)
January 1, 2006... According to a survey issued by Siemens and MIT's Sloane School of Management, 44 percent of U.S. manufacturers believe technologies for energy efficiency will have the greatest impact on their businesses over the next five years. This finding...

Deloitte/NAM survey reveals need for "human capital".
January 1, 2006... The serious shortage of qualified employees within U.S. manufacturing companies is taking its toll on America's ability to compete in the global economy, says a survey report released late November 2005 by the National Association of...

i2 Technologies sells off part of Aspect acquisition; retains SRM capabilities.(E-CONTENT MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2006... In December 2000, supply chain solutions vendor i2 Technologies paid $9.3 billion for Aspect Development, a provider of supplier relationship management (SRM) tools and electronic content solutions. Aspect's value proposition to blue-chip...

Citect lands Energizer Bunny, buyer, and a burgeoning MES market.(PLANT MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2006... Based on its nearly 80-percent revenue growth in the Americas this year, Citect likes to say it's the region's fastest-growing automation vendor. Darren Trumeter, COO, admits it's easier to grow that much when you're small to start with, and it...

Putting forth a vendor value "wish list" for 2006.(In perspective)
January 1, 2006... One oft-quoted statement in 2005 was that the business model for enterprise software was broken. As with all oft-quoted statements, there are elements of truth and fiction here, but at the core is the issue of value. What follows is a list of...

This time, the question was blowing in the wind.(In perspective)
January 1, 2006... Like nearly everyone else, I've thought about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the economy, and its importance for supply chain strategy. That means trying to understand the capability of any one company's supply chain to meet an unexpected...

The competition is fierce: but Dacor, Riverdale Mills prove midsize U.S. manufacturers have what it takes.(Cover Story)
January 1, 2006... American manufacturers aren't crybabies--they face pressures the rest of the world doesn't. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the U.S. is the most open market in the world. U.S. manufacturers face duties and tariffs...

Enterprise, quality, and collaboration comprise platform technology for demonstrated excellence.(EXPERIENCE BROUGHT TO BEAR)
January 1, 2006... ACE Clearwater Enterprises, Torrance, Calif., does in a week what might take an offshore competitor up to 20 weeks. In fact, the company says it's winning back customers from overseas competitors through sheer quality and delivery performance....

Many regulations, one truth: IT is the glue that compliance efforts hold in common.(Special Report: Regulatory Compliance)
January 1, 2006... What do the Sarbanes-Oxley (Sarbox) Act, and its body of financial regulation, have to do with RoHS, a European Union regulation dealing with substances used in electronic products? The answer is as follows. There are basically two kinds of...

Beyond the precautionary principle: environmental regulations in the electronics global marketplace.(Special Report: Regulatory compliance)
January 1, 2006... The electronics industry is at the forefront of a major change in global environmental law. Adoption of product-related environmental policies, often called "producer responsibility" policies, increases significantly the number of regulations...

Build on a foundation: there's no IT solution for regulatory compliance, but just try doing without it.(Special Report: Regulatory Compliance)
January 1, 2006... Regulatory compliance adds a layer of complexity to business management, and the more global the business, the greater the burden. "There's no real legacy of compliance in manufacturing outside of life sciences industries. Sarbanes-Oxley...

Sarbox and the supply chain: an executive viewpoint.(Special Report: Regulatory Compliance)
January 1, 2006... Compliance on a number of fronts--e.g., regulatory, trade-related, financial, and environmental directives, among others--is the new purview of top executives and board members, says Larry Christensen, a VP at JPMorgan Chase Vastera, a global...

International Paper Smart Packaging has combined the RFID integration capabilities of its Core Compliance system with RFID business processes found in IDVelocity's ComplianceNow software.
January 1, 2006... International Paper Smart Packaging has combined the RFID integration capabilities of its Core Compliance system with RFID business processes found in IDVelocity's ComplianceNow software. The solution offers project management, engineering,...

MasterControl.
January 1, 2006... MasterControl's Change Control solution offers support for FDA and ISO environments by automating and streamlining the change-control process--from submission through implementation, verification, and close of project. It facilitates compliance...

Ross Systems.
January 1, 2006... Section 306 of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act mandates record-keeping requirements for companies that make, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, hold, or import food in the U.S. Ross Systems...

Subscribing to savings on demand: users finding compelling reasons to rent--rather than buy--business applications.(Applications & Services)
January 1, 2006... When Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals opened for business in April 2000, an ambitious business plan called for getting low-cost generic treatments for illnesses such as Hepatitis C to market quickly. "Although we had no FDA-approved products to...

Supply chain planning for Murphy's Law.(In perspective)
January 1, 2006... Did any of your holiday shopping end in frustration because a product you wanted was not on the shelf (or was out of stock on the Web site)? Did you shop after-Christmas clearance sales and see stacks of other products at a discount? Does your...

Cypress semiconductor schedules its way to synchronized production plans.(CASE-IN-POINT)
January 1, 2006... When San Jose, Calif.-based Cypress Semiconductor purchased a master planning solution from i2 Technologies, the manufacturer thought it had everything it needed to decide what to build--and when--at 15 facilities around the world. What soon...

Promise of easy customization draws warehouse vendors to SOA.(SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE)
January 1, 2006... Warehouse management systems (WMS) vendors are among the early adopters of service-oriented architectures (SQA) because 90 percent of all WMS implementations are customized, says Greg Aimi, a director at Boston-based AMR Research. ...

Evolving technology kick-starts an equipment field-service advantage.(MOBILE MAINTENANCE)
January 1, 2006... There's no getting around it: equipment eventually breaks down. When that equipment is used in an asset-intensive industry such as process manufacturing, it's a big deal, and getting it fixed quickly is imperative. But while some service...

Nissan and its affiliates will standardize on UGS' NX CAD and Teamcenter product development software for digital design, product data management, and prototyping of Nissan's next generation of vehicles.
January 1, 2006... Nissan and its affiliates will standardize on UGS' NX CAD and Teamcenter product development software for digital design, product data management, and prototyping of Nissan's next generation of vehicles. The UGS software is part of an...

Execution systems supplier Visiprise has merged with enterprise project management vendor HMS Software.
January 1, 2006... Execution systems supplier Visiprise has merged with enterprise project management vendor HMS Software to offer integrated solutions for the aerospace & defense, electronics, automotive, and medical-device verticals.

Services company makes a business of updating old systems.(UPGRADE STRATEGIES)
January 1, 2006... When and how to replace production equipment is a particularly pressing question for manufacturers, given the landscape of choices involved. That's why Brooks Automation, a Chelmsford, Mass.-based manufacturer of production equipment for...

Capture competitive advantage through response management.(RESPONSE MANAGEMENT)(Advertisement)
January 1, 2006... Many organizations are finding it increasingly difficult to position themselves for market success because market situations are changing faster than strategies can be developed. New competitors appear with unique approaches, product life...

Data management has another master: new solutions market aims to create structure for information-based initiatives.(Business Performance)(Company Profile)
January 1, 2006... Master data management (MDM) is a bold name for what actually happens when IT vendors blend existing principles with a few subcategories and specialties--this time, data integration and standardization among them--and thereby announce a new...

Alcoa and others blend operational, financial data with performance suite.(ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING)
January 1, 2006... Is activity-based costing (ABC) set for a comeback? Popularized in the late 1980s by Harvard Business School's Dr. Robert Kaplan, the technique analyzes cost by looking at the activities that drive it, rather than treating cost--as management...

What do midsize manufacturers want?(Ask AberdeenGroup)
January 1, 2006... An October 2005 AberdeenGroup benchmark survey report, ERP in the midmarket enterprise, looked at installations, uses, and future plans for enterprise resources planning (ERP) applications for midsize companies--i.e., those with less than $1...

Solectron looks to reduce supply waste, build trust with lean program.(COLLABORATIVE SUPPLY CHAINS)
January 1, 2006... Solectron, a provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) to high-tech OEMs, says a lean/Six Sigma initiative to reduce waste within its global production facilities is especially effective because of its extension to suppliers. ...

New standard could simplify RoHS data exchange.(MATERIALS COMPLIANCE)
January 1, 2006... The European Union's (EU) strict new rules on hazardous materials in electronic products have corporate buyers scrambling to ensure they are procuring compliant materials. A key challenge in the process--producing documentation to prove...

A 2005 Georgia manufacturing survey highlighted the following data points.
January 1, 2006... A 2005 Georgia manufacturing survey highlighted the following data points: * 18 percent of Georgia manufacturers lost work to international outsourcing between 2002 and 2004. * About 12 percent of manufacturers gained "insourcing"...

Changing partners: manufacturers want help in bending information technology to the will of the business.(Integration & Infrastructure)(Company Profile)
January 1, 2006... As manufacturing executives evolve into more sophisticated IT consumers, they no longer just want to buy hardware and software. They are looking for strategic IT partners. "If you're a technology buyer today, you are likely anchoring your...

Users, advisory groups offer tips to SOA projects that align technology with business.(SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE)
January 1, 2006... If deploying a service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been deemed risky business, why then, according to Eric Austvold, a director with Boston-based AMR Research, are more corporate SOA plans in the works? The fact is, claims Austvold, an SOA...

SOAs promise flexibility in creating business processes, but what about security?
January 1, 2006... A service-oriented architecture (SOA) offers a fast and flexible means of creating business processes both within and between companies. But the technology is still maturing, and properly securing SOA-based business processes--which often...

Adobe forges alliances to create manufacturing-centric PDF tools.(PLM STANDARDS)
January 1, 2006... Adobe Systems--which supplies popular tools for creating and viewing portable document format (PDF) files--has taken two steps forward in extending its reach in the product lifecycle management (PLM) space. Both moves were announced this...

Don't like my language? Then blog this!(Back talk)
January 1, 2006... So here we are at the start of a new year, a chance to do things differently--and hopefully better than before. With that thought in mind, I'd like to ask everyone involved in developing new technology to adopt one small change that I believe...