Manufacturing Business Technology articles from November 2007

Manufacturing Business Technology archives from November 2007

Is the globally integrated enterprise a realistic goal for most manufacturers?
November 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor At diversified electronics manufacturer Laird Technologies , CIO Todd Rumsey is 19 sites into a global enterprise resources planning (ERP) rollout that he says will transform the way the...

Pet products maker knows the rules for systematic compliance labeling.
November 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor (jimfulcher@comcast.net) Compliance labeling is routine now for manufacturers in many vertical industries. But it still remains complicated, and keeping costs to a minimum is an ongoing goal-just ask CIO...

LSI says supply chain complexity isn't always worth it.
November 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor (malcolm_wheatley@compuserve.com) As companies globalize, their supply chains gain complexity-especially when globalization warrants greater reliance on manufacturing outsourcing partners....

Supply chains respond to scandals with product-tracking strategies.
November 1, 2007... By Jean Thilmany, contributing editor (thilmanyj@yahoo.com) The news has been grim lately: toys containing lead-based paint; pet food laced with poison. When a recall occurs, time is of the essence. A manufacturer's bottom line-and...

Software industry mergers are no longer big deals.
November 1, 2007... By Sidney Hill, Jr., executive editor It was just a couple of years ago-January 2005 to be precise-when Oracle finalized its acquisition of PeopleSoft, ending what amounted to an 18-month-long soap opera. Oracle made its initial bid...

Win in the flat world: Apply lean principles across the IT organization.
November 1, 2007... By David P. Spencer, associate VP and Gerhard Plenert, Ph.D., senior principal, Infosys High Tech & Discrete Manufacturing unit Lean, as a management methodology, receives wide-ranging attention for the improvements it generates. Developed...

Cooper Bussmann 'invisions' a solution to pinpoint open circuits, minimize downtime.
November 1, 2007... By Karen Abramic-Dilger, contributing editor (kadilger@comcast.net) One minute of downtime in the automotive industry can cost nearly $350,000. Even though unscheduled downtime is a common and costly problem for many manufacturers, actual...

Automated survey gets an attitude adjustment, revealing customer satisfaction levels.(Survey)
November 1, 2007... By Staff In any service industry, getting timely input from customers can pave the way for future strategies and long-term goals. Enterprise feedback management (EFM) software offers another way to study, track, and measure customer...

Plant managers check out time-series data for close-up analysis.
November 1, 2007... By Staff In many plants, sensors function as a kind of automotive 'check-engine' light. The information they impart lets the plant manager know it's time for preventative maintenance, or that a key piece of equipment is about to fail. ...

Intelligent devices receive ISA-standardized support.
November 1, 2007... By Staff Process manufacturers will welcome the news that standards body ISA has granted American National Standard status to an Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL). The standard-ANSI/ISA-61804-3 (104.00.01)-2007, Function...

The SAK puts the clutch on business-critical communication using Neverfail exchange.
November 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor (jimfulcher@comcast.net) Anytime the power goes out or a server goes down, it reminds people just how much they rely on email in the workplace. That's why more manufacturers are looking for...

SMB ERP projects a different view from the CEO's office.
November 1, 2007... By David Caruso From the scores of small and midsize business (SMB) market-related announcements issued recently, you'd think this market just appeared. On the contrary, my experience in helping manufacturers with IT strategy and ERP...

How Mercury Marine launched 48 outboard versions in just 60 months.
November 1, 2007... By Roberto Michel, senior contributing editor The leadership at Mercury Marine knows all about balancing seemingly contradictory forces. For one, the manufacturer of boats and marine engines, a $2.3-billion division of Brunswick Corp....

Commercial tools boost partner connection in the value network.
November 1, 2007... By Julie Fraser Companies are more interdependent than ever. As a result, manufacturers must not only communicate instantly, but collaborate efficiently with customers, suppliers, distributors, outsourcing partners, and service providers....

SharePoint plays central role in Microsoft's continuing plant-floor dominance.
November 1, 2007... By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor At the pet products division of San Francisco, Calif.-based Del Monte Foods , software to automate the formula change process has boosted productivity, enhanced time-to-market, and reduced...

eProject tool puts the hammer down on spreadsheet workarounds.
November 1, 2007... By Karen Abramic-Dilger, contributing editor (kadilger@comcast.net) Many people use email for project management and communication, but if a faster and more efficient method were available, most organizations would jump at the chance. Some...

IT Library lets us all speak the same language; read from the same page.
November 1, 2007... By Bill Atkinson, contributing editor (w.atkinson@mchsi.com) Across enterprise and information technology (IT) processes, you may find that while people are working within the same structure, they are speaking different languages. One of...

Rich Web applications support a business case in the SOA adoption era.
November 1, 2007... By Bill Atkinson, contributing editor (w.atkinson@mchsi.com) Rich Internet Applications (RIA) combine the flexibility and ease of use of an intelligent desktop application with the broad reach of traditional Web applications. RIAs allow...

Online-obtained drugs may be hazardous to health.
November 1, 2007... By Staff The abuse of brand names in online sales of pharmaceuticals is nothing short of shocking, says Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer for brand-protection specialist MarkMonitor . MarkMonitor's online solutions automate...

Network security appliance protects plant operations from malware.
November 1, 2007... By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor (jimfulcher@comcast.net) As manufacturers rely on the Internet as the means to run applications-and the vehicle for sending and receiving email-concerns about network security grow in equal measure. ...

Resistance to the Web's new realm is futile.
November 1, 2007... By Erik Keller 'Trouble, oh we got trouble, right here in River City! With a capital 'T' that rhymes with 'P'and that stands for Pool!' -Lyrics from The Music Man As con-man Harold Hill told anyone who would listen, the...

Autodesk as the un-PLM company.
November 1, 2007... By Kevin Parker, editorial director Autodesk, the supplier of product design tools, does well what every ERP vendor on the planet wishes it did better: serve small and midsize manufacturers through indirect sales channels. Autodesk's...

SAP brings midmarket offering to the SaaS party.
November 1, 2007... By Roberto Michel, senior contributing editor (robertomichel@charter.net While acknowledging it's not the first vendor to leverage the model, SAP claims its new Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering is ground-breaking nonetheless because...

Experience monitoring boosts IT systems productivity.
November 1, 2007... By Staff How do IT leaders really know if enterprise software is being used effectively? Some experts think rather than tapping into traditional systems management solutions, the answer lies in a relatively new class of software. ...

More IT work being done from home.
November 1, 2007... By Staff A new survey from Robert Half Technology , a Menlo Park, Calif.-based IT employment agency, confirms something most people in the industry already knew: The number of IT employees who telecommute has increased over the past five...

How to get the most value from e-procurement tools.
November 1, 2007... By Bill Atkinson, contributing editor (w.atkinson@mchsi.com) Electronic procurement-virtually unknown just eight years ago-is standard technology in nearly all companies today. E-procurement solutions initially served procurement department...

Research and partnerships signal further evolution of electronic invoicing.
November 1, 2007... By Staff A focus on improving invoice quality is the catalyst for a new partnership between GXS and OB10 . As announced this past summer, the vendors will build an integrated electronic invoicing solution leveraging the OB10 e-Invoicing...

PLM forges link between OEMs, contract manufacturers.
November 1, 2007... By William Atkinson, contributing editor (w.atkinson@mchsi.com) Is product life-cycle management (PLM) software one of the most underrated enterprise applications available to manufacturers? So says PLM vendor Arena Solutions , which...

Price management need not be the art of the obscure.
November 1, 2007... By Karen Abramic-Dilger, contributing editor (kadilger@comcast.net) In the business world, a great deal of time and energy is spent finding ways to cut costs and do things better. Management uses countless formulas, theories, and strategies...