Manufacturing Business Technology articles from June 2007

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from June 2007

ERP is needed to sustain the gains of lean programs.
June 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor Faced with tough competition from China, Thermofab , a Shirley, Mass.-based thermoplastic moldings manufacturer, set itself some specific performance improvement goals: reduce lead times,...

Unilever expert cites financial flexibility as sales & operations planning aim.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Effective sales & operations planning (S&OP) not only addresses supply and demand concerns, but also encompasses a more flexible approach to financial resources, according to an S&OP expert with Unilever . Martin Jarvis is VP...

SpaceClaim 3D solution leverages Microsoft technology to empower product development novices.
June 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor A new 3D design solution might not call for much fanfare, but when use of that technology doesn't require mastery of a CAD system-and the solution comes from a start-up packed with industry experts-it's...

Solutions buyers kick the tires of the software-as-a-service model.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is like that stylish car you notice once, and then start seeing it everywhere. With SaaS, the appeal is not having to buy the 'car,' but paying only to drive it. SaaS also has unlimited passenger...

Who's ready for Enterprise 2.0?
June 1, 2007... By Sidney Hill, Jr., executive editor Soon you will be hearing a lot about something called Enterprise 2.0, the hot topic at the recent Software 2007 conference sponsored by Sand Hill Group, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. ...

Internet-based EDI may be reliable and less expensive, but not necessarily easier.
June 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor Electronic data interchange (EDI)-use of standard formats and communication protocols to exchange business documents such as orders, shipping notices, and invoices among trading partners-was conducted on...

B2B integration platform makes linking partners' systems as easy as connecting the dots.
June 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor When UTi Worldwide , Rancho Dominguez, Calif., signs a new customer, the $3 billion-a-year logistics service provider's first goal is integrating that customer's systems with its own. That...

Specialists share transformation models with tech providers, industry peers.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Manufacturers were well represented among the 400 attendees at The Hackett Group 's 17th Annual Best Practices Conference. Hackett, an Atlanta-based strategic advisory firm, is known for its best practice research and benchmarking...

Autodesk partnership with GlobalSpec extends component search to design teams.
June 1, 2007... By Staff The wall between design and sourcing just got less formidable thanks to a partnership between Autodesk and GlobalSpec that will permit extended design team members-including purchasing agents-to launch component part searches from...

'New-gen' remote management takes customer experience to new level.
June 1, 2007... By Staff The idea is simple: drive asset utilization via the Internet. The goal is threefold, and more complex: Maintain peak uptime performance of manufacturing production equipment and large field facilities such as utility plants;...

As manufacturing goes global, use of BI makes for smart business.
June 1, 2007... By Tim Beyers, contributing editor Crystal balls may be the stuff of myth, but for Tim Rey, leader of the data mining and modeling group at Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical , assessing the future is serious business. 'We sell into...

Reaping long-term value from SOA requires a certain level of governance.
June 1, 2007... By Hope Neal, contributing editor Service-oriented architecture (SOA) promises so much: easier access to new applications, greater alignment of IT with business objectives, cost savings. But these benefits will be short-term, at best,...

Acceleration appliance vendors targeting specific verticals, functional areas.
June 1, 2007... By Staff At times it seems as if IT and business strategies are moving in opposite directions. For example, as manufacturers adopt business models that call for operating multiple plants and collaborating with numerous partners around the...

Object-oriented databases the next wave in complex data management.
June 1, 2007... By Staff 'Manufacturers want to connect their factory-floor operations and their production systems up to the top of the enterprise, into their upper business systems,' says Dick Slansky, senior analyst, product life-cycle management (PLM)...

Traditional technology vendors want to pushGoogle out of the workplace.
June 1, 2007... By Hope Neal, contributing editor Google is, by far, the world's most widely used search engine. But that doesn't automatically make it a good business tool. 'Google works well on the World Wide Web because it bases a document's...

SaaS, Google, and Salesforce.com.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Reports out of ComputerWire in late May suggest Google and Salesforce.com may be ready to form an anti-Microsoft alliance that could result in an on-demand service that integrates Google's online services-e.g., email and instant...

Worksoft expands functional testing tools to SAP systems users.
June 1, 2007... Staff Worksoft , a tools provider focused on functional testing, is extending its coverage from internally developed Java and Microsoft .NET applications to enterprise system packages. Its initial target is the SAP R/3 enterprise system....

Oracle takes on the plant floor.
June 1, 2007... By Roberto Michel, senior contributing editor There is more to Oracle Corp. 's application strategy than big acquisitions, its future Fusion applications, and its stack of Fusion middleware. For manufacturers, that something extra is...

Confidence as an attribute of good management.
June 1, 2007... By Kevin Parker, editorial director 'What I look for is confidence, in people and in countries,' says Paul Orzeske, who, as general manager, EMEA, hires talent and makes investment decisions, among other things, for his employer, Honeywell...

For Windows/Linux interoperability, Novell, Microsoft operating systems now share the same space.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Microsoft and Novell -long considered the bitterest of rivals-are cooperating on an initiative that will make it easy for enterprises to run both Windows and the SUSE Linux operating systems on a single server. This effort is...

Briefly...
June 1, 2007... By Staff Dell will help migrate users to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server via Interoperability Workshops, Migration Proof of Concepts, and Migration Services. Says Rick Becker, a Dell company VP, "Dell is the first major systems provider...

Emerson lauded for wireless innovation.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Emerson Process Management earned its fourth consecutive Company of the Year award for industrial automation and process control from New York-based consultancy Frost & Sullivan . 'Emerson has always been on the forefront of...

Oracle sets its sights on 'enterprise PLM'.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Oracle will acquire product life-cycle management (PLM) vendor Agile Software for approximately $495 million, signaling Oracle's newest front in the battle against rival SAP. PLM is an enterprisewide discipline that spans...

Verano makes it clear what it does.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Verano has renamed itself as Industrial Defender , concurrent with the launch of a new integrated cyber security solution called Cyber Risk Protection Lifecycle. The solution offers a three-component 'Defense in Depth' approach to...

Savi pushes the envelope for worldwide wireless.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Savi Networks is on track in its quest to wire the shipping ports of the world, recently adding the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest and a gateway to more than 1,000 ports worldwide; three container terminals at the Port of...

Service skills seen as the next competitive differentiator for best-in-class companies.
June 1, 2007... By Staff While most companies believe they are customer-friendly, many do not consider their service skills to be a competitive differentiator. With the right service-management applications in place, improved customer service can...

Pelion Systems + JCIT = DemandPoint, and the road to lean efficiencies.
June 1, 2007... By Staff In light of current studies coming out of Boston-based AMR Research , news of the merger of Pelion Systems with JCIT 'makes a lot of sense,' says Colin Masson, an AMR director for manufacturing. 'It's clear there is a major...

U.S. manufacturers failing to maximize returns from investments in emerging markets.
June 1, 2007... By Staff The value of emerging economies isn't found simply in cheap labor, but in emerging product markets. But to be successful, U.S. manufacturers have to do more than simply export the prevailing business models used in developed...

Rockwell/Cisco reference architectures result in best practices for EtherNet/IP.
June 1, 2007... By Staff Automation vendor Rockwell Automation and network hardware supplier Cisco will create reference architectures using standard networking technologies, and hold educational forums to advance process optimization based on greater...

Microsoft orchestrates an enterprise-ready BizTalk RFID platform.
June 1, 2007... By Staff The next version of Microsoft BizTalk Server business process management software will have RFID capabilities that Microsoft positions as a more enterprise-ready approach to RFID than that offered by traditional RFID middleware....