Manufacturing Business Technology - March 1, 2007

Managing the juncture between an enterprise's business and operational plans often gets hampered by one basic factor, as Tom Dadmun sees it: human nature. More specifically, the culprit is the natural tendency of professionals to stick up for their point of view. Dadmun is VP of supply chain operations at ADTRAN, a Huntsville, Ala.

• Applications and Services
• Manufacturers meet globalization challenges with new supply chain practices, technology
• Case-In-Point
• PLM software keeps circuit maker on a growth curve
• Online Auctions
• eBay partnership could free manufacturers from excess inventory
• Plant Operations Management
• Wonderware launches infrastructure, applications for production and performance management
• Product Design
• Today's CAD innovations set you free—with a history

• Business Performance
• In brief
• Industrial companies waste billions on Web sites
• Uses vary, benefits accrue, yet workflow remains something of a mystery
• Business Transformation
• Life sciences execs must foster partnerships, increase R&D to tap into emerging markets
• Case-In-Point
• Boeing 787 program flying smoothly with Exostar collaboration engine
• Equipment maker uses remote wireless for Web site management to the benefit of sales, customers
• Production Scheduling
• ILOG optimization software solves problems unique to semiconductor manufacturing
• Quality Management
• Consultant claims Lean, Six Sigma work better under the rules of “Factory Physics”
• Supply Chain Management
• Click Commerce advances post-ITW merger with solutions to connect enterprise trading partners
• Spend-analysis providers meet with business intelligence specialists in software market showdown
• The Service Battle
• Mitsubishi faces service management with smart 24/7 technology

• Columnists
• Back Talk
• What to do while waiting for RFID to pay off
• Up Front
• Practice makes good what the process is lacking

• Integration and Infrastructure
• Master data management evolves from software technology to enterprise strategy
• Tools for wrapping and mapping data
• Data Gathering
• Information-governance best practices curb fruitless data hunts
• ERP Tools
• Med-device maker automates test-bed provisioning while preserving data structure, context
• Plant-Floor Integration
• ILS signs Mitsubishi; seeks other device makers to adopt its means to enterprise connectivity
• RFID Roundup
• Savi rolls a lucky seven in the global RFID marketplace, standardizing on air interface protocol

• Special Report
• Manufacturing in India
• Indian manufacturing grows based on value-add reputation and can-do attitude

• Views From The Front
• Safety education hits the big screen
• USBIC calls for moratorium on all new trade agreements
• In brief
• Collaborative Design
• 3D transition software speeds product-development communication with offshore partners
• Composite Apps
• Solutions draw from enterprise, plant-operations systems
• Corporate
• How to master the business of software
• Import Penetration
• Data points to loss in U.S. manufacturing marketshare despite strong and weak dollar periods
• Information Technology
• Are document-based tasks a big waste?
• Operations
• A visible approach to maintenance
• Purchasing Strategies
• Is services procurement the next “hidden gem” for cost savings?
• The Enterprise Extended
• Siemens acquires PLM leader UGS