Feature Article

Caught unaware: Will Beijing games signal supply chain snafus?

The Chinese government's attempts to limit pollution during the Beijing 2008 Olympic games is causing some U.S.-based manufacturers to adjust their supply chain strategies.
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EDI-ready ERP: Automotive supplier finds enterprise system to support internal processes, customer requirements

When Nissen Chemitec America, a plastic injection molder serving leading automakers, found its ERP system was hindering its Lean manufacturing efforts, the company launched a new system search. It settled on the EnterpriseIQ package from IQMS. "We are now managing a leaner supply chain," says Mike Hopkins, production material control and MIS manager at Nissen Chemitec America.
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Overall Labor Effectiveness: Extending the principles of OEE to the workforce

Overall Labor Effectiveness (OLE) is a new key performance indicator that measures the cumulative effect of availability, performance, and quality—but for individuals or teams of people. The ability to measure the interdependency of these attributes is especially important in the workforce. Focused improvement on any one workforce metric, such as utilization—without considering other consequences like performance or quality—can have unintended consequences elsewhere in the plant.
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Group Outlook industrial survey: The bad news, and the good news

Prime Advantage, a Chicago-based buying consortium for midsize industrial manufacturers, says findings of its Group Outlook Survey for the second half of 2008 once again place raw materials—including stainless steel, nickel, copper and other metals and plastics—and energy costs at the top the concerns list, especially among North American manufacturers.
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Research

Many shades of green: Vendors offer a wide range of eco-friendly solutions

How can a company gain sustainability and fight energy costs? This question has put a focus on supply chain management for several years. However, within the supply chain, there are many opportunities for lowering energy, materials, and fuel consumption—leading to a more sustainable and eco-friendly operating stance.
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