Manufacturing Business Technology

• Stryker selects SigmaQuest for FDA-level quality assurance
  
  , July 14, 2009
    Stryker's Endoscopy Division selects SigmaQuest SaaS for supplier quality management.
  
• VAI S2K Software Suite, IBM Power Systems server go into RefrigiWear
  
  , July 14, 2009
    VAI was selected as the ERP vendor for RefrigiWear based on its integrated, robust system suite, including integration with a new automated warehouse, with better picking and shipping accuracy using radio frequency (RF) guns. Physical inventory took one third of the time.
  
• Oracle helping customers make a business case for attending its user conference
  
  Sidney Hill, July 9, 2009
    In what seems like an obvious response to the ongoing economic downturn, enterprise software supplier Oracle is offering to help its customers make a business case for attending Oracle's user conference.
  
• Siemens safety tour aims to lower manufacturing risk
  
  , July 7, 2009
    Siemens Energy & Automation Safety Innovation Tour is bringing U.S. cities live demonstrations and seminars on how to seamlessly integrate certified safety protection into a company's automation architecture. New wireless safety products also are shown.
  
• Servigistics and Click Commerce say merger forms the largest service lifecycle management company
  
  , July 7, 2009
    Servigistics and Click Commerce's Service Network Solutions division, both recently acquired by private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners, have been merged. The new company will retain the Servigistics name and deliver a solution  for managing all aspects of the post-sale service process.
  
• New E2open solutions link demand and supply chains
  
  Sidney Hill, July 2, 2009
    After establishing a solid reputation for providing technology for managing suppliers, E2open has introduced two solutions that manufacturers can use to improve customer relationships by keeping tabs on actual product demand.
  
• Datamonitor: Green IT gains an upside in the economic downturn
  
  , July 2, 2009
    Global economic recession has squeezed IT budgets, hindered capital expenditure, and generally slowed IT development growth. A report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, "Can Green IT Bloom in an Economic Downturn," suggests the IT market may like the color green.
  
• Under IBM's wing, ILOG's latest supply chain apps take flight: food and beverage
  
  Roberto Michel, Senior Contributing Editor, July 1, 2009
    IBM's ILOG unit unveiled a set of new supply chain and business rules management software offerings in mid June, but IBM managers seem just as excited about broader synergies with IBM's software group as they are about the specifics of the new applications.
  
• Motorola enterprise mobility: Wireless LAN, industrial sensing growth expected
  
  , June 29, 2009
    Manufacturers plan to expand use of wireless LAN and wireless sensing technologies within process and discrete manufacturing environments, says a survey commissioned by Motorola Inc.
  
• IT security professionals cannot be bothered with Passwords: Credant Technologies survey
  
  , June 26, 2009
    IT Security professionals admit that they are suffering from password fatigue when it comes to using their mobile devices, which leaves their data exposed to personal and corporate identity theft if these devices were to fall into the wrong hands. That's according to a survey of 227 IT professionals released by Credant Technologies.
  
• Bar code and laser scanner celebrate 35th anniversary
  
  , June 24, 2009
    Motorola offered some bar code technology reflections, since Symbol Technologies, now a part of Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions, was founded, in part, by Dr. Jerome Swartz, the inventor of the laser scanning device for use with bar codes.
  
• PLM software advances: Dassault, Oracle, Siemens
  
  , June 24, 2009
    Three product lifecycle management (PLM) software vendors, Dassault Systèmes, Oracle, and Siemens PLM Software, announced new or upgraded products, each promising to increase productivity, creativity, and profits for users. Autodesk is offering a technology preview of its history-free modeling technology, Inventor Fusion, starting June 25.
  
• Infor offers flexible approach to upgrading ERP
  
  Sidney Hill, June 23, 2009
    ERP software supplier Infor is hoping to nudge some of its existing customers to either upgrade their current solutions or purchase new ones with a program that offers deep pricing discounts and the option of interest-free financing.
  
• PLM investments pay, even in a down economy
  
  Ed Miller, CIMdata, June 22, 2009
    CIMdata research of companies that have implemented PLM solutions indicates that typical ROIs range from 100 percent to 300 percent.
  
• Smart factories create jobs in U.S. manufacturing, says Rockwell Automation
  
  , June 17, 2009
    Rockwell Automation CEO proposes new U.S. industrial policy that focuses on innovation, investment, and education to support smart factories. Keith Nosbusch says smart factories are the best way to create jobs.
  
• Honeywell: We've laid the foundation for wireless process control
  
  Sidney Hill, June 16, 2009
    Upgrade to Honeywell OneWireless network features redundant gateway for better reliability.
  
• Apriso and Accenture collaborate on software to support lean manufacturing
  
  Sidney Hill, June 11, 2009
  The FlexNet Lean Material Flow solution fills some of the gaps that ERP applications don't cover when it comes to managing lean manufacturing environment, according to a joint Apriso-Accenture press release.
  
• Wireless sensor networks can address industrial, economic, and societal issues
  
  Mark Hoske, June 10, 2009
    Beth Wozniak, president of Honeywell Sensing and Control, said the growing use of wireless sensors-and the increasing trend toward connecting multiple sensors on Internet-based networks-is creating an environment in which sensing technology is pervasive, and that "world of interconnected sensors," will produce tremendous industrial, environmental, economic, and societal benefits.
  
• Robocom R-Load Optimizer reduces freight costs, optimizes outbound loads
  
  , June 9, 2009
    Warehouse and distribution center managers can maximize load sizes and reduce freight costs by reducing the number of loads required to fill orders using the Robocom Systems International R-Load Optimizer, an outbound load optimization planning tool.
  
• Social product development is no longer just a theory
  
  Sidney Hill, June 8, 2009
    Windchill ProductPoint incorporates Web 2.0 technologies such as instant messaging and wikis to make it easier for team members to initiate collaborative sessions.