Manufacturing Business Technology - April 1, 2006

With 23,000 employees, $5.6 billion in revenues, and no fewer than 90 plants in 22 countries, Rexam is one of the largest manufacturers you've never heard of. The reason for the London-based company's relative anonymity isn't difficult to discern. It's in the packaging business. So without knowing it, millions of consumers touch its products likely several times daily.

• Applications and Services
• Less clutter, more customer
• Common processes, platforms fix common automotive problems
• Manufacturing Intelligence
• Activplant simplifies plant-floor tracking, reporting with Excel interface
• Open Source
• Line fades between open source and proprietary systems
• Plant Operations
• Honeywell integrates plant security and process control
• Software Pricing
• Oracle claims leadership with customer-friendly pricing

• Business Performance
• In brief
• Tools invoke return on IT spend
• Ask AberdeenGroup
• What actions constitute good asset management?
• Asset Management
• Consortium seeks open technology for configuration and access to field devices
• Human Capital Management
• Springfield Remanufacturing, Behlen, and SC Johnson deliver outstanding "return on individuals"
• Project Management
• Mapping a plan (and sticking to it) eases IBM's PC business transfer to Lenovo
• Remote Access
• Citrix Online boasts "go-to" solutions for remote PC users

• Columnists
• Back Talk
• How to survive the "interesting" times
• Up Front
• Microsoft studies work roles to boost business productivity

• Integration and Infrastructure
• RFID apps move in-house
• In brief
• ARC Conference
• Wireless plant networks seen as significant development at process industry confab
• Case-In-Point
• Wells Dairy milks quick ROI from RFID
• Computing Infrastructure
• Sun and Oracle offer new server/database deal
• Document Storage
• Electronic filing cabinets have customer-based benefit
• Google Plus
• BearingPoint deal brings the big guns to enterprise search
• Supplier Relationship Management
• i2 beefs up SRM with Endeca's search functionality

• Special Report
• Industry Profile: Automotive
• It starts with the customer

• Views From the Front
• In brief
• ARC Conference
• Aggregation and dissemination of plant data is common note across disparate themes
• Best Practices
• Eight companies beat logistics heat
• Business 2010
• Execs say they'll tackle market dynamics with demand-driven models, innovation strategies
• Business Intelligence
• CIOs focused on master data management see information quality, governance as key issues
• Channel Strategies
• Microsoft revamps partner program with focus on 13 competencies
• Corporate
• Plant design market to grow 11 percent in 2006
• Information Technology
• Windows quietly assumes top spot among server OS
• Operations
• Invensys director continues with wireless standards work