Manufacturing Business Technology - August 01, 2006

In fall 2004, David Krupp, enterprise manufacturing systems manager at what was then International Paper's Hamilton, Ohio-based mill, got his knuckles rapped when he went out and bought the production management module of GE Fanuc Automation's Proficy Plant Performance and Execution suite.

• Applications and Services
• Suite strategies for midmarket ERP
• Announcing OEM Edge
• Electronic Signatures
• Biometrics solve multiple-password entry problem
• Financial Controls
• Contract-management/ERP pairing putssavings back on the books
• Market Consolidation
• PLM vendors get busy, aim highon the M&A front
• Procurement Processes
• "Should-cost" metric leads to parts,materials savings
• Software As A Service
• Firepond rides Salesforce.com's coattails with SaaS framework
• Talking Tags
• Voice-enablement vendor sees synergies with RFID, distribution

• Business Performance
• Ask AberdeenGroup
• Catering to customer demand
• Case-In-Point
• Midsize Avocent calls mySAP "the right choice"
• Customer To Cash
• Study shows substantial waste in working capital in U.S. and European companies
• Information Access
• Fast changes: Execs weigh in on high-velocity business transformations
• Midmarket ERP
• Oracle trumpets win "over SAP"

• Columnists
• Back Talk
• Failure to change can be fatal, even for industry leaders
• Up Front
• Airbus saga the latest on complexity and communications

• Integration and Infrastructure
• Another growth curve
• Composite Applications
• NOVA Chemicals seeks integration with SAP andPavilion for next-gen manufacturing intelligence
• IT Outsourcing
• Cultural fit should be top criterion for choosing an outsourcing partner
• RFID Roundup
• Standards at issue in RFID reports, new product development, technology agreements
• Strategic Sourcing
• Emerson finds multiple uses for procurement software

• Views From the Front
• Kodak sees bigger picture in digital business model
• In brief
• Auto-ID
• Symbol and Intermec resolve disputes
• Automation Summit
• Siemens user conference offers high-wire solutions for plant-floor/enterprise integration
• Corporate
• Consolidation seen in HCM markets
• ERP Customization
• Oracle releases PeopleTools upgrade
• Enterprise Application/Integration
• Gartner numbers show dramatic growth for Oracle Fusion middleware
• Extended ERP
• Global ERP users explore steadily "dependable, independent" QAD
• Information Sharing
• OPC Foundation extends standard for enterprise integration
• Information Technology
• A different way of measuring project success
• Operations
• EPCglobal offers help finding RFID value
• Product Life-Cycle Management
• Heady transformation leads UGS to innovative digital manufacturing solutions
• World-Class Manufacturing
• Dell plant exceeds first-year goals