Manufacturing Business Technology

• Solectron looks to reduce supply waste, build trust with Lean program
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  Solectron, a provider of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) to high-tech OEMs, says a lean/Six Sigma initiative to reduce waste within its global production facilities is especially effective because of its extension to suppliers. During a Supplier Day at its Milpitas, Calif.-based headquarters last September, top executives from 100-plus suppliers showed up eager to learn more...
  
• New standard could simplify RoHS data exchange
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  The European Union's (EU) strict new rules on hazardous materials in electronic products have corporate buyers scrambling to ensure they are procuring compliant materials. A key challenge in the process—producing documentation to prove materials are compliant—could be eased by a proposed new standard.
  
• In brief
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  A 2005 Georgia manufacturing survey highlighted the following data points: Responses from 648 manufacturers were weighted to reflect employment and industry distributions. The project was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Commerce's NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and the U.
  
• In brief
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  International Paper Smart Packaging has combined the RFID integration capabilities of its Core Compliance system with RFID business processes found in IDVelocity's ComplianceNow software. The solution offers project management, engineering, configuration, and installation & training services.
  
• Users, advisory groups offer tips to SOA projects that align technology with business
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  If deploying a service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been deemed risky business, why then, according to Eric Austvold, a director with Boston-based AMR Research, are more corporate SOA plans in the works? The fact is, claims Austvold, an SOA has the ability "change the game." The SOA is said to represent a major shift in the way software applications are created, based on funct...
  
• SOAs promise flexibility in creating business processes, but what about security?
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  A service-oriented architecture (SOA) offers a fast and flexible means of creating business processes both within and between companies. But the technology is still maturing, and properly securing SOA-based business processes—which often involves exchanging sensitive financial information or intellectual property—is proving complicated.
  
• Adobe forges alliances to create manufacturing-centric PDF tools
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  Adobe Systems—which supplies popular tools for creating and viewing portable document format (PDF) files—has taken two steps forward in extending its reach in the product life-cycle management (PLM) space. Both moves were announced this past October. One is a technology-sharing agreement with UGS, a leading PLM software vendor, whereby users will be able to export PD...
  
• Capitalizing on CPU power part of centralization effort for manufacturers of all sizes
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  Increased confidence in server performance across the network—coupled with the need to reduce costs and improve IT management— drive IT consolidation in manufacturing, says a recent executive brief from IDC Manufacturing Insights."Part of it is cost reduction—mostly in server and storage consolidation—but there's a higher level of confidence in how servers...
  
• Advances in manufacturing, Office integration, and regionalization
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  
  
• The cost of compliance and security
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  IBM has launched an initiative to help move key resources—people, goods, money, and information—around the globe with greater security. A platform for security-related projects will emerge from alignment of capabilities in customs, ports, and border management; data analytics and risk management; secure communications and information-sharing technologies; and identifi...
  
• SAP leverages Microsoft Office to improve UI
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  The first version of Mendocino, the joint SAP/Microsoft project that delivers a seamless working environment between mySAP 2004 applications and Microsoft Office 2003, was released to select customers in December. General release is expected midsummer 2006. Mendocino lets users do things like manipulate SAP data in Excel or Outlook, yet automatically update mySAP.
  
• Who sold us this system?
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  Enterprise software vendors are going to great lengths to avoid failed implementations—even encouraging customers not to move entire businesses to new platforms all at once. Despite their efforts, it seems some implementations are still going bad. Case-in-point: Invacare, an Elyria, Ohio-based manufacturer of home-care medical products, issued a press release in mid-Decemb...
  
• NAM's Engler outlines nine-point program to improve U.S. energy supplies
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), says hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma "exposed a secret no one in Washington has wanted to reveal for more than 20 years—that the U.S. has a fundamental weakness in its energy infrastructure, and it's only going to get worse.
  
• Greater effectiveness of building automation systems will come with enterprise integration
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  According to a survey issued by Siemens and MIT's Sloane School of Management, 44 percent of U.S. manufacturers believe technologies for energy efficiency will have the greatest impact on their businesses over the next five years. This finding parallels Dedham, Mass.-based ARC Advisory Group's prediction that the building automation system (BAS) market will achieve a compounded a...
  
• Deloitte/NAM survey reveals need for "human capital"
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  The serious shortage of qualified employees within U.S. manufacturing companies is taking its toll on America's ability to compete in the global economy, says a survey report released late November 2005 by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, and New York-based Deloitte Consulting.
  
• i2 Technologies sells off part of Aspect acquisition; retains SRM capabilities
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  In December 2000, supply chain solutions vendor i2 Technologies paid $9.3 billion for Aspect Development, a provider of supplier relationship management (SRM) tools and electronic content solutions. Aspect's value proposition to blue-chip customers such as Toronto-based Celestica, London-based Marconi, and St.
  
• Citect lands Energizer Bunny, buyer, and a burgeoning MES market
  
  by Staff, January 1, 2006
  Based on its nearly 80-percent revenue growth in the Americas this year, Citect likes to say it's the region's fastest-growing automation vendor. Darren Trumeter, COO, admits it's easier to grow that much when you're small to start with, and it might irritate other vendors in the space to hear it said.
  
• SYSPRO/Preactor integration promises advanced plant scheduling out of ERP
  
  By Staff, January 1, 2006
  Manufacturers running ERP systems from SYSPRO will soon be able to license a tightly integrated, PC-based advanced planning & plant scheduling tool from U.K.-based Preactor International. Called SYSPRO APS to avoid confusion with Preactor APS in Preactor's own sales channel, the product will be pre-compiled in a number of fixed configurations to SYSPRO's specifications.
  
• Medical device sector's new frontier is automated quote and contract generation
  
  By Staff, January 1, 2006
  One consequence of medical-device market growth is that manufacturers may find themselves needing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution, says Ehab Samy, senior product manager at Pivotal, the CRM division of CDC Software. "The medical device market is growing between 12 percent and 15 percent annually," Samy says.
  
• Laser equipment maker uses Omnify PLM for central product information database launch
  
  By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor, January 1, 2006
  As our image-conscious society continues to focus on appearance, the demand for all types of skin rejuvenation procedures is reaching new heights. And the equipment makers that serve noninvasive medical practitioners are reporting explosive growth all their own. "The aesthetic treatments market is estimated at 20-percent to 25-percent growth annually," says Dave Mackie, executive VP...