Articles and News

Every manufacturer must pay attention to costs and competitors’ pricing. For better or worse, purchasing professionals are rewarded for capturing the lowest price; few have the time to scour the internet for ever RFQ to see if the bid offered is indeed competitive.

The global partnership creates a pathway for IFS customers to access the Cleo Integration Cloud platform, extending those organizations’ integration capabilities beyond B2B to include application and data integration for back-end ERP, CRM, FSM, SCM, BI, and other associated applications.

The pace of technological change in the automation industry seems to be accelerating as we head into 2019, driven by innovations developed for Internet of Things and general computing.

By Jakob Björklund, IFS Manufacturers are beginning to see the value in integrating business software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). However specialist Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) often do the same job as these supporting solutions, acting as an unnecessary middleman. This article asks the hard questions about whether MES is necessary in many industrial situations.

After another busy year talking to a wide range of users, suppliers and industry consultants, and attending over 20 industry conferences and related events, I have another year’s worth of informed insights to share on the latest trends that will shape automation in 2018.

By Jeff Carr, Ultra Consultants When assessing the current value of a legacy ERP system, the primary focus should be whether the legacy features and functions adequately support the business - not just the current state of business but the anticipated future state too.

The Digital Change Survey polled 750 decision makers in 16 countries, including more than 120 in North America, to assess the maturity of digital transformation in sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas, aviation, construction and contracting, and service.

One of the biggest drivers that prompted a search for a new ERP system was the need to interact with other systems across the company, in addition to providing dashboards and complete functionality between front office and the shop floor.

By Robert Waugh, HighJump An ERP system is a significant investment, yet many manufacturing operations don’t take full advantage of its capabilities. This article discusses the benefits of ERP systems in manufacturing

By Jan Baan, Founder, Vanenburg Software The Pace-Layered Application Strategy Model from Gartner distinguishes three layers, which are helping organizations improve their applications by categorizing, selecting, managing and educating themselves on those applications.

By David J. Bush, C.P.I.M In early 2012, we began an earnest search for a replacement for our legacy ERP system. We wanted a new ERP package that could handle the needs of our electronics industry demands. We were in for a big and disappointing surprise.

Epicor's own survey reveals several enterprise resource planning (ERP) deficiencies causing organizational drag. Half the respondents surveyed characterized the performance of their current ERP system as merely "adequate" or "basic."

By Pat Garrehy, Rootstock In our litigious society, the day is quickly coming when any manufacturer better be able to trace the history of anything they make. Where the law requires you to maintain accurate records for each unique Lot and/or Serial Number purchase and sale, you need Lot Serial Control.

A study by IFS reveals that the overwhelming majority of manufacturers are running multiple manufacturing modes from multiple locations, and that their ERP software is not well equipped to handle it.

Project management is critical to ensuring projects are implemented correctly, on time and within budget. Good project management also communicates to your management or stakeholder that you are a professional.

The 33rd annual Honeywell Users Group Conference was held June 15 - 19, 2008 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, AZ with over 700 customers in attendance.

Leveraging the knowledge and know-how of the people in an organization is a powerful way to make improvements and solve problems. The difficulty is getting this done effectively and avoiding an ineffective committee that creates more problems.

With annual revenue of about $30B and current market-cap of about $ 32B, Honeywell is arguably the largest US-based automation company. The company operates with four segments: Aerospace, Automation & Control Solutions, Specialty Materials, and Transportation Systems. Here’s an updated view of the corporate culture.