Manufacturing Business Technology - October 1, 2007

With exports of complex products from developed to developing economies on the rise, the construction equipment market is a robust one. Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) has experienced “tremendous growth,” says Scott Park, CIO and senior VP of processes and systems for the Brussels-based division of Volvo Group.

• Applications and Services
• FreeFlow disposition options keep inventory moving in harmony with the sales channel
• Web-based warranty system cuts paper trail for Goodman Manufacturing
• Data historian's role in plant performance expands in an energy-management era

• Business Performance
• MES integrators mix controls, enterprise expertise to guide production management
• Quality grows “in Stature” for innovative electronics components leader Molex
• Katrina disaster confirms need for real-time inventory and asset management

• Columnists
• Kevin Parker: “Google-like” capabilities impact enterprise system use
• Sidney Hill, Jr.: Globalization wins out in GM-UAW accord
• Erik Keller: Fall cleanup time: Step one is software maintenance
• Simon Jacobson: Environmental compliance: a foundation for sustainability
• Cindy Jutras: ERP meets the desktop

• Integration and Infrastructure
• Low-cost Linux clusters drive supercomputing use in manufacturing
• RosettaNet-E2open survey validates XML B2B integration
• Application portfolio management: a necessity for future IT
• Manufacturers can hit product innovation targets with PLM/MES integration

• Special Report
• Emerging Software Vendors
• Emerging 40 Vendors: Recognizing innovation in the global manufacturing enterprise

• Views from the Front
• Revised MESA model gives production execution systems strategic context
• The key to worry-free compliance is a nonfinancial e-business audit
• Wonderware releases bring HMI into managed applications world
• Oracle ramps up midmarket self-service business programs
• Lawson antes up top benefits per dollar for midsize manufacturers