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Special report – Software as a Service June 10, 2010 Following on from our Cloud computing report in the March edition, Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with a number of leading industry spokespeople about Software as a Service; a software deployment model that is stimulating accelerating interest within the business-to-business software solutions space. |
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On-Demand Software - SaaS White Paper from QAD Leadership White Paper for Global Manufacturing SaaS is the next step in the evolution of software development. In a very short time, on-demand has evolved as a viable model for deploying and managing mission-critical applications...
Download this fascinating white paper..... |
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Manufacturing recovery remains fragile, warns Begbies Traynor May 10, 2010 The recovery in the manufacturing sector remains fragile, according to the latest Red Flag update, which shows that the companies in the sectors experiencing ‘significant’ or ‘critical’ financial problems rose 12% in the first quarter of 2010. |
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Are You Prepared for the Worst? by Hal Feuchtwanger -MD global logistics i2 Natural disasters, customer bankruptcies, product recalls... there are dozens of unexpected events that can wreak havoc on your global supply chain. Are you prepared to react swiftly to these contingencies?
Managing Supply Chain Disruption with Continuous Design....... |
Is there light at the end of the tunnel? April 21, 2010 Cathy Humphreys explains why effective management of inventory is essential when coming out of a recession and the most common pitfalls to be aware of. |
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Part 2: Breaking through the Cloud - Key selling points April 07, 2010 - by Ed Holden, editor MLIT In this special report Ed Holden interviewed 13 leading vendors to ask them what they consider to be many of the current key talking points within this fascinating technology space. |
Part 1: Breaking through the Cloud... by Ed Holden, editor MLIT In this special report Ed Holden interviewed 13 leading vendors to ask them what they consider to be many of the current key talking points within this fascinating technology space.
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‘Kill’ Applications Cause the Most Pain for Organisations March 31, 2010 Half of organisations stated that IT applications that cause the most pain for the least gain are 'kill category' applications such as old systems where the code is no longer maintained/supported according to a poll by 360°IT |
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China Supply Chain Perspective: A New Decade, a New Challenge Steve Smith, Senior VP, EMEA, Manhattan Associates China’s challenge for the next ten years lies with the country’s commercial sector. To keep pace with the growing economy and the improving conditions in export markets, private investment in modern technologies will be essential.
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Designer IT Brands – So Last Year March 02, 2010 As the country emerges from recession it would appear that the willingness to pay over the odds to so-called ‘designer brands’ for IT services is a thing of the past as firms turn to mid-tier suppliers for value and service. |
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“Has the BIG FREEZE cost your business BIG BUCKS?” February 01, 2010 The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has estimated that the recent bad weather, widespread commuter disruption and school closures, has cost the UK business economy at least £600 million a day and that a business continuity plan could be your answer to such severe weather disruption. |
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Help for Haiti January 25, 2010 Deutsche Post DHL to deploy disaster response team to Haiti to provide emergency logistics support. |
Dynamic Pricing for Logistics Service Providers January 21, 2010 The concept of Dynamic pricing is still in the nascent stage for the Logistics Service Provider (LSP) industry. This article examines the relevancy and fitment of the concept to the LSP’s. |
Knowledge is power January 11, 2010 Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Vice President, global head – SAP Practice, Infosys Technologies, about Infosys’s regime of constantly refining and reinvigorating its own knowledge pool in order to ensure it is best equipped to address the manifold business and operational needs of its worldwide customer base. |
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Buyer beware: December 15, 2009 top ten tips for IT maintenance companies investing in vehicle tracking |
'LEAN' YEAR IN PROSPECT FOR LOGISTICS MANAGERS December 11, 2009 Logistics consultancy, Davies & Robson is encouraging logistics managers to adopt lean techniques in order to mitigate risk and manage cost in the extended supply chain. |
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Logistics industry fit to fight flu pandemic November 16, 2009 A recent survey from The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK (CILT) has shown that in 2009, 68% of major logistics and supply chain operations have specific plans in place for dealing with the possibility of a flu pandemic as part of their overall disaster recovery strategy. |
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Ticking all the right boxes October 21, 2009 MLIT Special Report – Carpetright Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Carpetright about the company’s unrelenting expansion strategy and continuing retail success despite the challenging marketplace. |
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Strengthening your supply chain in a downturn September 28, 2009 By Phillip Kerle, CEO, Demica. In tough economic times and during periods of industrial slowdown, cash-flow is king and for the UK manufacturing sector, cash management certainly remains a top priority. |
Accounting the cost of recession September 24, 2009 Crossing the chasm or staring into the abyss? Unfortunately for accountancy and ERP software resellers, the onset of a global recession makes the latter a likely possibility. |
Agility is the watchword September 17, 2009 Manufacturing & Logistics IT senior editor Ed Holden spoke with Dave O'Reilly, sales director at Voxware, about new developments in the Voice-directed solution space. |
Fighting the black market with RFID September 08, 2009 By Kim Loughead Last month, it was predicted that the global trade in counterfeit goods, including medicines, is set to rise to nearly $1 trillion in 2009. In the UK alone, an estimated 8 million counterfeit drugs found their way to NHS patients in 2008. As a result, counterfeiting is still high on the agenda for pharmaceutical companies. |
Supply chains hold the future for everyone September 01, 2009 Alan Braithwaite andMartin Christopher, LCP Consulting As the economic conditions get harder, there will be just one mantra for CEOs and their Boards: “manage for cash”. |
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SMEs get smart to beat the recession July 22, 2009 A significant easing in the pace of decline in the UK’s manufacturing and service sectors has not been enough to lift the economy out of recession, leaving thousands of the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a fierce battle to survive. |
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'The rebound has already begun' June 01, 2009 Frost & Sullivan Chairman "We've seen the economy bottom out in early May with indicators all around us that the recovery has started, confidence is driving an upswing in all market sectors". |
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Win in a flat world May 19, 2009 Now is the time to take a fresh look at how best to classify inventory in the world of e-commerce. |
Keeping one step ahead of demand May 14, 2009 Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Martin Nurser of Tata Consultancy services (TCS), and Timothy Hughes, business development director, supply chain planning, Oracle, about their respective organisations’ partnership. |
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Manufacturing workers needed down under April 09, 2009 With the UK manufacturing industry on its knees emigration experts are advising workers to look down under, where their skills are still in demand. |
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IT ‘at heart of next industrial revolution’ March 12, 2009 In 10 years’ time we will be able to put an entire year’s worth of our waking experience-in digital quality-on a laptop. By 2039 that could extend to a record of our entire lives. |
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Food & beverage industries go wireless February 06, 2009 By Khadambari Shanbagaraman, Frost & Sullivan An increasing population and growing consumer demand for packaged foods has forced food and beverages industry to look at new technologies |
Will social networking drive customer service? February 02, 2009 By Ian Jacobs Although Salesforce.com has been the poster child for successful on-demand software vendors, the company has the long-term vision to see that, in order to continue its stellar growth pace, it needs to expand into new areas. |
IT in a cold climate January 20, 2009 By Dr Richard Williams BSc, MSc, FLS Whenever they hear the word “recession”, the first thing most organisations do is adopt a siege mentality, stop all expenditure deemed “non-essential” and hunker down for a long winter. Budgets get cut, new initiatives are stopped in their tracks and everyone concentrates on keeping the lights on as cheaply as possible... |
‘Recession proof’ WMS & inventory optimisation software By David Smy, director, Smart Warehouse Systems (SWS) In general, many companies and individuals are tightening their belts and survival is number one on the agenda. However, this does not mean that strategies will, or should be, abandoned; it is more a case of careful steering through unchartered waters. |
Getting Supply Chain Management on the Board Room Agenda January 14, 2009 VIDEO by Professor Richard Wilding This video addresses the impact of supply chain management of shareholder value, the impact of good supply chain approaches in supporting growth and how supply chain events can result in a 20% reduction in share price. |
A Green Supply Chain Strategy Today Will Spearhead Tomorrow’s Business Growth By Jim Burleigh, CEO, SmartTurn In our age of technology, here is a disconcerting thought: more than half of the warehouses in North America and Europe still rely on paper rather than an automated system. Essentially, companies lack inventory visibility, suffer operating inefficiencies and waste resources within the supply chain. |
Bring IT to Account for its Actions January 08, 2009 By Alan Smith, SVP UK & Ireland, UC4 Software. Having said good-bye to the manual checks and balances that used to record and audit business transactions, auditors and compliance officers are demanding that IT be capable of accounting for all of its activities. |
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The sting in the tail of the supply chain November 26, 2008 By Mark Oppermann, VoiceSage The final part of the supply chain has always been a costly and time-intensive process, which companies recognise as vital to the consumer experience |
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Sustainability is driver of innovation rather than cost October 09, 2008 Research by KPMG and CIES Research released by KPMG International and CIES reveals that, far from regarding corporate responsibility as a cost, many leading retailers and manufacturers see sustainability as an important driver of innovation |
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'Green collar' skills gap to hit manufacturing sector September 25, 2008 The rising demand for ‘green collar’ working in manufacturing will place pressure on the domestic skills market and leave businesses without the engineering and environmental expertise they require, according to new research from Royal Haskoning |
Active RFID in China September 18, 2008 By Dr. Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx The US and China vie for the title of the world's largest RFID market, this year seeing them level pegging with $1.3 billion of business |
VIDEO - An RFID Success Story September 10, 2008 Peter Lai, who lead the project explains; "NGFE's main business driver throughout this project was to ensure 100 per cent accuracy in everything we ship to our customers." |
UK downturn continues September 04, 2008 A CIPS/Markit report The ongoing downturn of the UK manufacturing sector continued in August |
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How to prosper in uncertain times August 08, 2008 Tony Price, acting CEO of Vistage International, gives his top tips As the economy becomes increasingly volatile, how can managing directors, CEOs and owner-managers prosper in uncertain times? |
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Going green in the supply chain July 09, 2008 By David Simchi-Levi,Ph.D. Professor of Engineering Systems, MIT Going green is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and nowhere is this truer than in manufacturing and supply chains |
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Supercomputers for manufacturing – getting it right June 20, 2008 by Julian Fielden, MD of OCF plc Today, western manufacturing organisations are facing increasing pressure on many levels - the rising cost of oil, environmental concerns, soaring food prices and continual increases in global competition from Eastern Europe, India and China |
The game plan June 12, 2008 ERP remains a critically important component within any manufacturing or logistics organisation’s information armoury - but things are changing, and for the better! |
The pitfalls of a short-sighted IT strategy June 05, 2008 Martin Nurser, TATA Consultancy Services Business Process Outsourcing can prove invaluable to manufacturers and logistics organisations looking to enhance business and operational efficiencies and to reduce wastage |
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Study reveals exploding 'Culture of Connectivity' May 23, 2008 A new global IDC study sponsored by Nortel Enterprises around the world are being forced into changing the way they do business faster than ever before or risk the opportunities of Hyperconnectivity passing them by |
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From Russia with love May 09, 2008 The specific challenges and opportunities facing automotive logisticians and manufacturers in the Russian marketplace will be debated in detail by some of the most important players in the industry at this year’s Automotive Logistics Russia conference |
Winning the technology race April 30, 2008 Thirty years ago, the role of IT systems within most businesses was very limited. Since then, though, this relationship has reversed. Today, many companies feel it is their business that is holding back their IT systems |
For what IT’s worth April 24, 2008 Stephen Kelly, CEO of Micro Focus, calls on businesses in the manufacturing sector to acknowledge the real value of software assets |
Supply chains hold the key to survival April 16, 2008 by Barloworld Optimus, Global Business Development Director, Fraser Ironside Thousands of companies are caught up in the global economic downturn ‘like never before...’ |
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Linking the chain March 27, 2008 Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with some of the leading names in supply chain consultancy about the state of the art in supply chain and warehouse management solutions, and what the key drivers for change are among both the vendors and end users |
Fair play March 20, 2008 How state-of-the-art WMS and supply chain solution functionality is not only facilitating enhanced efficiency in the workplace but also greater fairness and understanding in the working environment |
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Unstoppable Momentum: Making real change with ERP February 14, 2008 by Rod Horrocks BEng, MSc, CEng, FCMC – Director, Procertis Ltd People underestimate both the power and the difficulty of change, especially when it comes to implementing systems which, by every rational measure, should result in improvements for all concerned |
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Rethinking product development January 31, 2008 Product development consultant Don Reinertsen is soon to return to the UK for two workshops, organised by Smallpeice Enterprise |
Let’s talk about voice recognition systems January 24, 2008 Duncan Smillie, managing director of Psion Teklogix (UK) describes how three diverse operations have brought significant efficiencies to their supply chains by implementing voice recognition systems |
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RFID is Poised for Change 09 January 2008 Article by Dr Peter Harrop PhD The prosperous RFID business is on track to grow from about $5 billion in 2007 today to over $25 billion in 2017 |
Lightening the Burden of Proof (of Delivery) 19 December 2007 by Bob Goodwin, director of Digital Vision Automating key accounts receivable functions such as handling PoD notes helps to speed up cashflow, and makes a big impact on customer relations |
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Manufacturing in UK regains lost momentum 07 December 2007 November data from CIPS/NTC Economics indicated that the rate of expansion of UK manufacturing production recovered most of the momentum lost in the previous month. |
Getting the edge 30 November 2007 by Matt Dunstan, Application Platform Group Manager, Microsoft |
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Active RFID and RTLS in manufacturing 02 November 2007 By Dr. Peter Harrop The ultimate supply chain and the ideal control of parts, materials, work in progress and finished goods in manufacturing will be provided by Real Time Locating Systems, ultimately with sensing as well. |
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Fancy a boost from the taxman? 27 September 2007 It’s not often the taxman gives you money, but here’s a chance to give your company a competitive edge with a helping hand from HM Revenue & Customs. |
Supply and demand 20 September 2007 Following on from our special 10th Anniversary Report on Manufacturing software in May’s edition of Manufacturing & Logistics IT, we now point the spotlight on some of industry’s key Supply Chain Management and Warehouse Management System vendors who consider some of the most striking developments within their market over the past decade … |
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How much of your WMS are you using? 30 August 2007 By Alex Mills, sales & marketing director, Chess Logistics Technology. Warehouse Management Systems are reaching serious levels of complexity |
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‘M’ SP 19 July 2007 by Alan Davis, Senior Vice-President, Kaseya UK The market for Managed Service Providers is growing, but how many of their potential clients really know what a MSP does, and what to expect from them? |
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Complacency ‘rife in IT projects’ 14 June 2007 A survey just out by HP and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has found that many European IT workers are not being held responsible for delivering projects late. |
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The Shocking Cost of Holding Stock 25 May 2007 Evidence shows us that even today, it is commonly accepted that the cost of holding stock to a business is between 4 and 10% (on top of the stock’s value). However, research has shown that the real figure is nearer 40% |
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Distribution and the wider supply chain 26 April 2007 By Richard House, Managing Director, FuturMaster With tighter deadlines, higher freight costs and increased demand unpredictability, how can manufacturers and distributors ensure their extended supply chain network is best geared to improving delivery, stock and production efficiencies while enhancing customer service? |
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The benefits of RFID technology 22 March 2007 By Rob McGregor, RFID project manager at Toshiba TEC RFID has been in existence for many decades but it is only now that RFID is being increasingly used in many different applications |
Local SMEs Risk Losing Major Customers in 2007 13 March 2007 By Mike Osborne, Managing Director, ICM Business Continuity Services Following the launch of BS25999, the first British Standard for business continuity management, local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must act swiftly to put business continuity arrangements in place, or risk losing their biggest customers in 2007. |
The Science of Shipping 09 March 2007 Mailstream technology company Pitney Bowes has conducted the most extensive report yet into take-up and usage of intelligent shipping solutions. |
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Taking the 'high-end' view for balancing demand and supply 21 February 2007 By embracing Sales & Operations Planning manufacturers are better able to take a 'high-end' view of all critical data and thus determine the very best route for balancing demand and supply, argues Richard House, managing director, FuturMaster. |
RFID – one bit at a time! 20 February 2007 Migration from today's bar code infrastructure to a financially advantageous RFID future. |
The case for going mobile by Stuart Scott, Senior Director, International Marketing, Intermec Technologies Modern wireless technologies can offer transportation and logistics companies benefits far beyond any previously available. Rugged handheld computers, wireless and automated data collection technologies bring useable information to the field and make capturing and collecting information more efficient then ever. |
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The benefits of working with local companies 17 January 2007 Mark Griffiths, Managing Director of Codify (pictured) recommends that companies considering outsourcing should look for value for money rather than the lowest possible price. |
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Improve your WMS for a healthier supply chain 15 November 2006 Alex Mills, Chess Logistics, presents suggestions to boost WMS performance to support improved supply chain performance in the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets. |
A healthy supply chain helps the medicine go down 06 November 2006 In early 2001, Healthcare Logistics started work on the creation of a purpose-built warehouse for the UK pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. In parallel, the company also launched a search for a warehouse management system that could automate the facility. |
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Deploying voice in cold and frozen food logistics 13 October 2006 Voice technology replaces paper-based picking at cold-storage logistics specialist Primafrost. The solution has boosted productivity by more than 20 per cent and the quality of work has improved significantly. |
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Integrated solution provides the recipe for success 27 September 2006 Heinz Belgium realised that its legacy system was unable to keep up with the company’s rapidly shifting needs and explosive growth once it was acquired by the Heinz Group. The company was looking for an integrated software solution to fit all its business needs... |