Manufacturing Business Technology

• Data storage growth now a pressing issue for mid-tier manufacturers
  
  By Frank O Smith, senior contributing editor (fosmith@thewritinggroup.com), February 1, 2008
  Midtier enterprises face many of the same challenges in managing IT resources and data storage that large enterprises do, but typically lack the IT staff with the breadth and depth of skills to address them. The kind of infrastructure monitoring often needed is the sweet spot for Incentra Solutions, a Boulder, Colo.
  
• Lean beacon: German industrial giant pioneers Toyota-style initiative; SAP integration to follow
  
  By Malcolm Wheatley, senior contributing editor (malcolm_wheatley@compuserve.com), February 1, 2008
  At Munich, Germany-based MAN Nutzfahrzeuge—the 13-plant truck and bus manufacturing division of industrial giant MAN—two successful pilot implementations have given lean manufacturing techniques the green light for a group-wide rollout right across MAN. Closely modeled on the well-known Toyota Production System (TPS), the development of the MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Produktionssystem—...
  
• Supplier networks offer more than just reduced prices
  
  By Carolyn Heinze, contributing editor (carolynheinze@free.fr), February 1, 2008
  The process of vetting suppliers and obtaining competitive pricing is a challenge for all manufacturers. Small to midsize operations, where resources are fewer, especially feel this, with some turning to supplier networks for help. Such is the case for Knapheide Manufacturing Co., a producer of truck bodies based in Quincy, Ill.
  
• Pharmaceutical industry shows progress with demand-driven model; more work to be done
  
  By Carolyn Heinze, contributing editor (carolynheinze@free.fr), February 1, 2008
  By adopting B2B technologies such as EDI, the pharmaceutical industry is making significant progress toward enabling a demand-driven model. In many cases, inventory has decreased both at the manufacturer and wholesale levels. “Manufacturers no longer find themselves out of stock because a wholesaler has ordered too much, so they are able to manage production more effectively, as well as ...
  
• Market moves of Siemens, Rockwell quicken digital manufacturing drum beat
  
  By Frank O Smith, senior contributing editor, February 1, 2008
  Industry watchers didn't have to wait long to see what market moves the Siemens Automation & Drives (A&D) acquisition of UGS in the spring might engender among leading competitors in the automation and the product life-cycle management (PLM) space. Dassault's Delmia division announcement in early December that it was partnering with Rockwell is being seen as a smart move for both compa...
  
• Enterprise asset management secures a foothold in software user group agendas
  
  By Staff, February 1, 2008
  The enterprise asset management (EAM) market, according to a fall briefing from Frost & Sullivan, is on the verge of two things: significant growth, and substantial change. The San Antonio-based analyst firm projects the EAM market to grow 8.9 percent through 2013, which is why IBM and several ERP vendors—including Infor and Oracle—recently made acquisitions in the space to posi...
  
• CAD data finds new use in manufacturing supply chain, support organizations
  
  By Staff, February 1, 2008
  3D CAD data has many other uses outside the engineering function—in computer-based training tools, for example, as well as in marketing and maintenance manuals. But making use of 3D data for such purposes presents a challenge because often it's too technical for the nonspecialist user, thereby requiring costly transformations that undermine the whole logic of reusing the design data in th...
  
• When worlds connect: IBM sees potential for IM, virtual role playing in PLM processes
  
  By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor(Jfulcher@comcast.net), February 1, 2008
  Web 2.0 technologies like instant messaging (IM) have radically changed the way many people interact with friends and family. Just ask the average teenager how many IMs or text messages they send and receive a month versus phone calls. Now there is a movement within manufacturing to determine whether IM and other Web 2.
  
• Design-to-cost tool raises dividends for aerial platform maker JLG
  
  By Staff, February 1, 2008
  JLG Industries is a global manufacturer of design-to-order forklifts and mobile aerial work platforms. No longer relying on complete vertical integration of its design/production process, the McConnellsburg, Pa.-based company sources parts from multiple suppliers for assembly of orders to customer requirements.
  
• Rich retrieval: Autodesk, Google, Microsoft simplify CAD file search
  
  By Frank O Smith, senior contributing editor, February 1, 2008
  A treasure trove of CAD documents is more readily available to the world with Autodesk's December announcement that design files in its Design Web Format (DWF) can now be searched, indexed, and retrieved via Google and Microsoft Live Search. Any DWF file—whether a 3D model, drawing, map, or something other—exposed to the Web can be quickly searched and retrieved.
  
• PTC unveils new version of Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, plans for CoCreate
  
  By Kevin Parker, editorial director, February 1, 2008
  Some might find it ironic that PTC, the originator of parametric modeling, now has its own “explicit” modeler. The new modeler comes with the $250-million acquisition of CoCreate that PTC announced in late November. “PTC built the very first parametric modeler,” says James Heppelmann, PTC EVP and chief product officer.
  
• Adobe technology makes MFG.com an easier place to buy, sell goods
  
  By Staff, February 1, 2008
  Founded in 2000, Atlanta-based MFG.com is the world's largest online manufacturing industry marketplace, with $15 billion worth of transactions made on the platform since its inception. MFG.com recently completed a major revamp of its commerce platform, making extensive use of Adobe Systems technology.
  
• China's surge as steel exporter linked to trade-distorting energy subsidies
  
  By Staff, February 1, 2008
  A comprehensive report released January 8 highlights the massive increase in China's trade-distorting energy subsidies to its steel industry. This correlates to a surge in steel production there that took China from being a net importer of steel in 2005 to being the world's largest exporter by volume in 2006.
  
• SaaS and sourcing: TradeCard teams with Avery Dennison for supply chain express solutions
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 31, 2008
  The aim is to combine features of Avery Dennison's InfoChain Express visibility solution and TradeCard's Supplier Enablement Solution, hosted sourcing platform, and financial settlement network.
  
  
• Rapid production: Survey says e-manufacturing is ready for the mass market
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 30, 2008
  Mass production in the Western world is on the brink of a silent revolution and e-manufacturing is an important part of that change. These are some of the conclusions of a survey conducted by EOS at recent trade shows in Germany.
  
• Building a bridge: Kepware to feed machine data to Oracle applications
  
  Control Engineering, January 30, 2008
  Kepware, an organization perhaps best known for its Open Connectivity (OPC) standards support and embedded device communication drivers, will be extending its expertise into the realm of ERP and manufacturing execution systems (MES) via a newly announced strategic partnership with Oracle.
  
• A better view: Technology improvements make vision systems viable production tools
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 30, 2008
  Prudent use of machine vision systems can reduce the overall need for human labor, which is a critical cost factor in developed countries. Quality control processes that currently rely on human intervention also can be error-proofed by switching certain functions to machine vision systems.
  
• A new lifeline: MES vendor Visiprise gains Life Sciences consulting partner
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 30, 2008
  HCL Technologies Ltd., a leading global IT services company, has entered into a global consulting partnership with Visiprise, Inc. for the Life Sciences industry. The agreement will include joint marketing, sales, and pre-sales services and will result in the ability for seamless licensing, blueprinting, implementation, plant-business integration, roll-out, support, and upgrade/migration services to manufacturers, according to the two companies.
  
  
• Parts planning: New SaaS offering targets midmarket service operations
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 30, 2008
  MCA Solutions has introduced a new version of its MCA OnDemand solution, giving midtier companies faster, easier and more secure access to service parts planning technology.
  
• Safety in numbers: Software vendor forms supply chain risk management council
  
  By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff, January 30, 2008
  Manufacturers across most industries see the same issues as posing the biggest risks to their supply chains. That’s the conclusion drawn so far from research conducted by analyst firm Enterprise Applications Consulting on behalf of New Momentum, a software vendor that specializes in supply chain risk management solutions.