Your business is in good company if it is considering big data, mobility, and/or green information technology (IT) solutions. Before making an investment decision, however, it should evaluate its options relative to actual business strategies and operating requirements. Only then will it put itself in a position to make a well-informed investment decision. Download this article to learn more.
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This report gives an overview of current considerations for organizations seeking to purchase a supply chain management (SCM) software solution. Based on aggregate data collected from more than 1,400 SCM software comparisons performed using Technology Evaluation Centers’ (TEC’s) TEC Advisor software selection application during 2012, the report details what TEC data reveals about your peers' requirements for SCM solutions, including functionalities, delivery models and access, customization and integration, server and database platforms, and budgeting.
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Collaboration is becoming more and more critical to managing the supply chain process. Collaboration can take many forms in the supply chain, such as visibility, data sharing, collaborative forecasting, outsourcing, sharing resources, or joint processes. Context is needed to understand what is meant by collaboration". In this report, TEC Research Analyst Bob Eastman looks at collaboration and how it relates to demand planning and forecasting, sales and operations planning, vendor-managed inventory, and logistics, and gives important milestones marking the development of the use of collaboration in the supply chain over the last 50 years.
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Compliance is crucial in establishing new grounds for business. It is important to leverage governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) initiatives toward corporate growth, and to define GRC management in terms of enabling new marketing opportunities. To ensure success in managing GRC, one must provide decision makers with processes and tools that allow visibility and access to critical compliance and risk data. Download this white paper to learn more.
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As the global economy continues to struggle, procurement teams continue to be tasked with looking for ways to control costs. Other recent global events such as natural disasters and commodity price volatility have also left procurement grappling with increasing supply risk. The research presented here examines how many purchasing organizations have already changed their strategies or plan to do so over the next two years.
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Traditionally, enterprise resource planning (ERP) served as a system of record and managed common tasks, transactions, and disparate business processes across the organization. However, the role of ERP has expanded to consider new technology forces that impact the way users interact with systems and new models for software deployment. Likewise, as businesses look to establish themselves as preferred trading partners, strive to cope with economic uncertainty, or extend services and products to new markets, greater demands are now placed on ERP software. Therefore, the role of the ERP system has had to expand. Download this white paper now to learn how today's ERP systems cope with current supply chain challenges.
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This report is based on aggregate data collected from more than 600 SCM software comparisons performed using Technology Evaluation Centers’ TEC Advisor software selection application. Although the characteristics that SCM customers are looking for vary according to the specific SCM software segment being evaluated, TEC data show that at the supply chain suite level organizations are mainly seeking these characteristics: collaborative capabilities, cloud deployment, analytics, adaptive solutions, and in-memory computing.
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Working with mass merchandisers is having a significant impact on how food processors and distributors run their businesses. With greater revenues increasingly coming from these giant retail customers, food companies need to find ways to ensure the greatest efficiencies and the lowest costs, without sacrificing quality control or food safety. This white paper outlines best practices for food companies and how an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can help manage every aspect of the business.
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The food industry today is fraught with certification and standards that require third-party audits into traceability processes and the speed of product recalls. Technology can be your best friend when it comes to doing farm-to-fork traceability in the most efficient and effective way. This white paper explains why the old system for lot tracking and recall won’t make the grade in the new world of compliance.
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Battery Venture's investment in Consona Corporation was one of the last decade's best returns on investment (ROIs) by any private equity firm investing in enterprise software. And there has been a vehement denial of any presumed trade-off between Consona’s research and development (R&D) investment and making money. TEC principal analyst P.J. Jakovljevic takes a look at how this deal might’ve been a winning proposition for all parties.
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Global fashion supply chains face a “perfect storm” of risk factors, ranging from volatile materials prices and skyrocketing shipping costs, to uncertainty about the outcome of legislative trade initiatives such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Download this white paper to find out how NGC’s Web-based Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Global Sourcing system can help.
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Many business executives have realized that an operating environment that values cash, profit margins, and risk mitigation plays to the skills and capabilities of a procurement operation. This report draws on the experience, performance, and perspective of nearly 250 chief procurement officers and other procurement executives to provide a comprehensive industry-wide view into the current state of the procurement world. Read more.
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Many companies don’t have adequate metrics or information technology systems to see how well growth strategies and activities perform in real time. This white paper addresses the lack of supply chain synchronization: the ability for a manufacturer to cost effectively respond to changes in demand and then signal everyone in the supply chain. Synchronization closes the gaps in a supply chain that lead to costly wastes.
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These are challenging times for discrete manufacturing, especially for small to midsize companies. To stay competitive and meet rising expectations, manufacturers must seize every opportunity to grow—but wisely and profitably. This white paper presents clear strategies that can help these manufacturers achieve competitive advantage while giving clients the innovative, competitively priced products they demand.
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As competition increases and more organizations turn to outsourcing, networked business environments are becoming the norm. Many businesses are strategically partnering with suppliers and other supply chain participants to collaborate and share information. This white paper addresses three common questions from organizations that are collaborative supply chain networks and offers ways to help achieve supply chain success.
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Sales and operations planning (S&OP) is the key integrated process that the supply chain organization can leverage to achieve visibility and transformation across the entire organization and throughout the value chain. This white paper explores the current business challenges face by companies, the priority allocated to S&OP, the maturity levels associated with S&OP, and the role of technology enablers.
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Over 190 companies were surveyed regarding their challenges within demand-supply networks and the top priorities for managing these networks. This paper is based on an analysis of that survey and highlights the need for companies to focus on intelligent response management strategies that bridge planning and execution.
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Establishing the right metrics framework as part of an overall performance management strategy means companies can break down enterprise-level goals—such as order fulfillment and forecast accuracy—into department-level metrics such as on-time delivery and plant utilization. Read about a model that makes it easier to identify, communicate, and replicate the most effective practices.
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The increased complexity of global supply chains has led to longer lead time, more pipeline inventory, and the need to control downstream and upstream logistics. Growing supply chain complexity is a top business pressure, contributing to increased supply chain management costs. This report focuses on gaining visibility into critical elements across the end-to-end logistics network for improving cost and service.
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If you are thinking about implementing SAP's supplier relationship management (SRM) system, you will want to read this white paper to learn about a new "consumer-like" user interface (UI) specifically developed to dramatically simplify the shopping experience within SAP's Materials Management (MM) module. This UI provides a self-serve solution that saves time and money, and increases user adoption and compliance.
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Of the 30 billion invoices sent and received in Europe every year, more than 90% are in paper format. This is not only labour intensive and error prone, but comes at both a financial and environmental cost. Such manual operations slow invoice reconciliation, leading to poor relationships with suppliers and buyers and, potentially, poor cash flow management. This paper discusses the challenges posed by inefficient manual invoice processes, the need for e-invoicing, and how an organization can focus on its core business by handing over invoice processing to a managed service provider.
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Even as manufacturers and retailers seek to control costs and drive efficiency across the supply chains, controlling the financial impact of unsaleable products remains a constant challenge. A study conducted by Wipro Technologies in collaboration with Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) estimates that the potential cost impact of unsaleables is over $2 billion annually. This study identifies the multitude of challenges involved in unsaleables management and provides a comprehensive operational roadmap for tackling them. It also lays out specific strategies addressing shelf-life management, product rotation execution, product dating variances, consumer confusions, and demand chain management. Find out more. Download this study now.
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Looking to start a project? Whether you start with a services-based approach, or acquire a comprehensive solution, the savings and ROI are dramatic. We recommend starting with spend visibility. Identify quick-win opportunities to get the momentum going and let the spend intelligence/spend management grow within your organization as another very valuable application to enhance your company’s efficiency and effectiveness
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Freight costs can represent a significant component of your supply chain—often around 5-7 percent of sales for manufacturing, retail, and wholesale/distribution companies. For many firms, this responsibility is not managed as well as it could be. This white paper shares 10 best practices in transportation management, with valuable insights from industry professionals.
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Forward-looking companies are focusing on managing supply chain risk. The same functionality that supports supply chain network visibility, collaboration, and analytics can also enable supply chain risk management. This white paper shows that companies often actually possess the data they need, but disconnected systems impede the ability to make the right data accessible to the right people at the right time.
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Economic volatility over the past several years has been illustrated by the highly unstable raw material, fuel, and commodity prices, and has been the cause of a majority of supply chain disruptions over the past year. This white paper highlights the challenges and solutions in complex industry supply chains, and best practices in multi-enterprise visibility and supply chain intelligence.
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This white paper presents an overview of IFS Applications for asset management of nuclear power plants, including corrective, preventive, and condition-based maintenance functionality for safe work management in a hazardous environment. Also included are asset lifecycle management tools to track changes to the assets that affect operational limits and conditions (OLCs).
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With acceptance of cloud-based strategies growing among manufacturers of all types and sizes, it’s easier than ever to make the business case for transitioning to the cloud. But beyond the cost savings and responsiveness of cloud solutions, this transition also provides new opportunities for the IT department to grow into a key role as strategic business advisor. This report includes advice on how IT can help manufacturers realize the full benefits of cloud-based solutions.
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Universities and other higher education establishments have to address the need for savings across the board. One area is expenses from faculty members and other associated with faculty. The complex mix of expense types needs a flexible yet solid means of managing spend as close as possible to the point of expense that encourages the individual to participate in the process without it being seen as an imposition. Know how.
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The Demand Management product Demand Solutions is now TEC Certified for online evaluation of demand management solutions in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Evaluation Center. The certification seal is a valuable indicator for organizations relying on the integrity of TEC research for assistance with their software selection projects. Download this report for product highlights, competitive analysis, product analysis, and in-depth analyst commentary.
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Fabricated metals companies need to create a competitive advantage around their core competencies, demonstrated by their ability to respond quickly to change, efficiently manage relationships with suppliers, and deliver quality products on time. Read about a solution that provides these companies with transparency and control over their entire business, empowering them to respond immediately to issues and opportunities.
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Distribution ERP software product VAI S2K Enterprise Management, Version 5.0.1, is now TEC Certified for online comparison of ERP systems in TEC's Evaluation Centers. The certification seal is a valuable indicator for organizations relying on the integrity of TEC research for assistance with their software selection projects. Download this report for product highlights, competitive analysis, product analysis, and in-depth analyst commentary.
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It’s time for a new approach to talent management that takes into account the uncertainty businesses face today. Fortunately, companies already have a model that has been well honed over decades to anticipate and meet demand in uncertain environments—supply chain management (SCM). By borrowing lessons from operations and supply chain research, firms can forge a better model of talent management. Find out how.
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For apparel and textile companies, delocalized production and complex supply networks make it difficult to coordinate with trade partners and maintain product traceability. Price pressure, competition, and demanding customers erode margins and increase the urgency of cost control and fast time-to-market. Discover software that can help these companies integrate information, improve efficiency, and enhance profitability.
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Mature sales and operations planning (S&OP) is more than a sales forecasting or tactical planning tool. S&OP is a decision-making mechanism for aligning strategic plans with sales, operational, and financial plans. Download this TEC executive brief for pointers on selecting an S&OP system, information about how mature S&OP processes can help tackle critical business issues, and key S&OP system capabilities to look for.
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Manufacturers are under pressure to document their impact on the environment. This white paper addresses the various drivers for the green supply chain trend. It also shares considerations for satisfying a customer’s green supply chain initiative or initiating your own. Finally, it discusses the role of enterprise software like enterprise resource planning (ERP) in keeping pace with this industry trend.
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Adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP)-based E-Procurement solutions has hit a plateau in recent years due to inherent usability deficiencies, exacerbated by heightened user expectations. It is now possible to leverage all the existing infrastructure of leading platforms with a friendlier, consumer-like user interface (UI) that can be rapidly deployed with minimal cost or change management impact. Find out how.
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This radio frequency identification (RFID) buyer's guide from Raftar Corpo. is a resource for medical device companies with plans to evaluate or deploy RFID technology. It includes assessment models for making design and selection decisions about process improvement benchmarks, the system components and cost for a solution, technical evaluation criteria, and questions to include in a request for information (RFI).
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Business intelligence (BI) is no longer just for back-office analysts. More people are using BI in their daily tasks than ever before. This white paper explains how job scheduling makes data warehousing—the key component in modern BI—more efficient, relevant, and accurate. It also outlines how one company used job scheduling to unify its data warehousing chores, free up IT resources, and increase its BI effectiveness.
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After expanding its product lines and accelerating product roll-outs, the Campbell Soup Company needed to align demand forecasting and supply chain planning with its new, more dynamic business model. Learn how the company’s new solution helped it improve inventory forecasting, adapt to day-to-day changes in demand, enhance long-range production planning and risk management, and spend more time on strategic activities.
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Supply chain executives face considerable complexity—especially if the items being produced and distributed are seasonal, and meeting revenue targets hinges on the sales that take place in just a few months of the year. Discover how business intelligence (BI) solutions help the Molson Coors Brewing company’s planners shape, execute, and continually redefine the strategic direction for the organization’s supply chain.
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Today’s business software packages depend on real-time data collection to provide information crucial to the entire manufacturing operation. As more companies turn to enterprise-wide software for process improvement and cost reduction, there is a significant opportunity to enhance these systems by adding bar coding and radio-frequency identification (RFID) applications throughout manufacturing facilities. Find out more.
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Today, companies are facing tougher competition and increasing service level requirements, all while balancing growth with shorter phase-in/phase-out cycles for new products. To succeed, they must harness information technology to support change, secure data and process quality, and improve productivity. Discover how a warehouse management system (WMS) can help you achieve those goals, and learn what to look for in a WMS.
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Despite increased use of key performance indicators (KPIs), supply chain managers’ measurement initiatives continue to come up short. Because of their retrospective nature, KPIs offer little value to today’s complex supply chains. But several market-leading companies are using network-wide KPIs, supported by real-time alerts, to flag problems early, intervene as needed, and improve business results. Find out how.
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In today’s competitive markets, manufacturers and distributors are challenged to achieve supply chain efficiencies that are on par with their rivals. To stay profitable, they must adopt key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive processes. But KPI-driven supply chain execution requires manufacturers and distributors to instrument, analyze, control, and optimize their end-to-end supply chain processes. Find out more.
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It's a sad but well-known fact that many software implementation projects run out of time and money. Certain crucial activities tend to have striking effects on the cost of an implementation. But it's possible to stick to plans and budgets, provided that you do the right things and avoid the traps. Discover which parts of a software implementation are worth spending extra money on in order to minimize risk and cost.
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Supply chain planning involves functions such as demand forecasting and planning, distribution inventory planning, and plant capacity planning and scheduling. The right mix of strategy, education, and systems can have a very high impact on a manufacturer’s overall operations—and ultimately its bottom line. Understand how supply chain functions such as demand and inventory planning can positively impact your company.
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Food safety has been top-of-mind for both consumers and industry executives for a number of years. Clearly traceability plays a large role in overall food safety, and in general food and beverage processors are doing better than many other industries. However, the stakes are high when it comes to food safety and there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially upstream in the food supply chain. Find out more.
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Today’s manufacturing supply chain is challenged with increasing quality mandates, cost reductions, and delivery improvements. Technology plays a key role in a company’s ability to build and manage an effective supply chain. Discover the next wave of innovative supply chain solutions, and find out how one manufacturer used them to reduce cost, lead times, and inventories throughout its entire supply chain.
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The rising price of fuel has set in motion a series of more profound changes for both consumers and industry. But those companies that take comfort from the recent easing of fuel prices and whose management actions go no further than attempts to mitigate the immediate impact of fuel price increases will end up at a serious disadvantage in the market. Find out how your company can find opportunity in changing fuel markets.
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Wholesale distributors that pursue growth while neglecting supply chain effectiveness are putting their long-term survival at risk—usually for no good reason. Supply chains have gained complexity in recent years, but solutions for achieving supply chain management (SCM) effectiveness have become both more accessible and easier to deploy. Learn how these solutions can help your company overcome its SCM challenges.
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Increased globalization, volatility in demand and commodity costs, regulatory requirements, and greater dependency on suppliers and other partners have significantly increased the risk of doing business. To manage performance efficiently, midsize companies need a unified planning, budgeting, and consolidation solution. Learn how such a solution can streamline the planning process and help reduce business risk.
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Supply chain management is a long-term strategy. The centerpiece for supply chain execution—the warehouse management system (WMS)—is an excellent place to start preparing your business for the return of the bull market. Discover how a well-tuned WMS can help your business reduce labor costs, improve inventory management, attain more accurate shipments, improve space allocation, and increase customer satisfaction.
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Many manufacturers and distributors have embraced the lean philosophy. But the tight controls necessary for success with Lean can leave companies vulnerable to supply disruptions, production problems, quality issues, and abrupt changes in demand. Learn how making your manufacturing operations and supply chain flexible can help reduce operational costs, increase cash flow, increase company value, and grow your business.
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A flexible enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can be the foundation for a complete overhaul of your business processes—providing numerous benefits over a set of disparate software systems. Find out how an ERP solution can help your company automate the movement of information, improve decision making, create disciplined workflows, and provide the agility needed to accommodate virtually any type of business change.
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Staples Brand Group (SBG), the group responsible for products carrying the Staples brand name, offers a wide range of products, from items as simple as pencil leads to complex products such as ergonomic office chairs. Learn about the solutions SBG uses to drive global sourcing, track costs and shipments, and achieve the lowest possible product costs with 99 percent on-time deliveries across global suppliers and customers.
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For many organizations in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, the cost of high product volume sales is extreme data complexity. This affects line-of-business managers in marketing, sales, manufacturing, and procurement, who must derive tangible business value from this quagmire of data. Find out how business intelligence (BI) solutions are helping CPG managers get faster access to relevant business data.
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To stay competitive, organizations are looking for ways to facilitate a smoother and more optimized global supply chain. But while companies are turning to business intelligence (BI) tools, many lack the ability to escape the gravity well of becoming data-rich while remaining information-poor. Learn how leading companies have eliminated the obstacles that hinder their ability to make better business decisions.
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For all but the smallest companies, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system promises big gains, by helping to grow revenue, increase productivity, improve efficiency, and manage costs. Right now, ERP for the midmarket is a hot topic. More and more midsized companies are replacing outdated ERP software or are jumping into ERP technology for the first time. Find out about what midmarket ERP buyers need to know.
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Mitsubishi Electric Europe thought its enterprise resource planning (ERP) would address all of its reporting requirements. But long-term, this proved difficult to sustain, due to the company’s ever-changing procedures. So Mitsubishi decided to invest in a tool that would integrate data from disparate systems, speed up the delivery of information, and provide dashboard, analysis, and reporting capabilities. Find out more.
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In a challenging economy, many companies focus cost-cutting on direct materials and capital spending rather than maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) supplies (also known as indirect materials). But an alternate concept allows you to implement lean processes to create a high-efficiency MRO outsource model. Find out how it offers greater visibility and promotes continuous improvement along the indirect supply chain.
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This may be a challenging economic period, but smart companies will use it as an opportunity to examine operational efficiency and best practices to reap benefits once the market improves. Your warehouse management system (WMS), a vital component of the supply chain execution suite, should be a key contributor in the search for cost-saving efficiencies—as well as the integration of your global supply chains. Learn more.
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Collaboration is critical to success, as companies have to give customers and partners access to their information and services in order to compete with the speed and responsiveness today’s markets demand. But trying to implement the systems you need to support collaboration—such as warehouse management systems (WMSs) or supply chain execution (SCE) solutions—in the face of ongoing change is not easy. Learn more.
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The adage “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” is true of many things in warehouse management, but perhaps nowhere more so than for the productivity of your workforce. Payroll is typically the largest single expense in the warehouse, and so many companies are using warehouse management systems (WMSs) and other technologies to do more in less time. But a labor management solution might do more for you—find out how.
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The era of manual warehouse operations is drawing to a close—with good reason. No matter how efficient your employees are, managing space and maintaining inventory with ad hoc spreadsheets or legacy systems doesn’t provide the accuracy or visibility into the supply chain that you need to succeed. A best-of-breed warehouse management system (WMS) can support your efforts to reduce costs and boost productivity. Learn how.
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The current market is asking retailers some difficult questions—ones their existing processes and tools can’t answer. It takes a mix of science, retail intelligence, and merchandising art to ensure that every store in a supply chain carries the right inventory, while maintaining a high service level and market share. Learn how to better respond to the demands of consumers and rationalize your assortment at a local level.
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Suppliers to the oil and gas industry are under more pressure than ever before to increase quality, collaborate closely with the customer, and take on more project risk. Learn how enterprise resource planning (ERP) helps engineers procure construction companies, equipment fabricators, and service providers to meet the new demands from oil and gas companies. Download this white paper to learn more.
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Have you come to the conclusion that your company needs a supply chain planning system? Do you need to provide management and other key decision makers with reasons why you need a supply chain planning system? One way that a supply chain planning system can help you is by enforcing best practices and processes. Get more details on this and 10 other reasons why you should implement a supply chain system that works for you.
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The global march toward making products and services more sustainable is gaining breadth and speed. No manufacturer will be left untouched by this phenomenon. To thrive in this new low-carbon world, you need to have a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of your products’ environmental footprint—from raw materials to manufacturing to distribution to end of life. Learn about life cycle methodologies that can help.
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Two-thirds of the 400 survey participants in a 2007 Aberdeen report about inventory management place a high priority on working capital optimization. Many companies are reconsidering their business strategies, including implementing appropriate technology platforms that help automate supply chain processes. Learn about cost-effective and practical ways to reduce inventory so that working capital can be released.
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R.G. Barry, a leading developer and marketer of accessory footwear, lacked real-time visibility into production schedules at its factories. As a result, the company built more safety stock, required long lead times, and could not quickly update customers on the status of their orders. Find out how a new Web-based global sourcing solution helped R.G. Barry free up cash and minimize the risk of carrying excess inventory.
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As a successful, rapidly growing apparel company with seven separate divisions, Maggy London needed to streamline its product development lifecycle, improve communications, and eliminate duplication of work. Find out how the company was able to select product lifecycle management (PLM), global sourcing, and inventory control solutions that helped it streamline daily operations and become a more efficient organization.
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Recently introduced Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) regulations include labor-intensive safety and testing guidelines for children’s products, footwear, and apparel. Brands and retailers that may have slashed jobs in response to the weak economy must meet these regulations with fewer people. Learn about solutions that help your company make compliance part of a comprehensive supply chain strategy.
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To ensure the safety of domestic and global food supplies, demands for brand protection assurance are on the rise from customers in the food industry marketplace itself. To address these requirements, food processors and distribution warehouses now find automated traceability systems a necessity. Discover an automated approach to traceability that’s both cost-effective and a good fit for your current business operations.
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Due to their limitations, using spreadsheets to manage mission-critical business functions is an unacceptable risk. The requirements for finding the right inventory in the right place at the right time are being hampered by spreadsheet forecasts based on inappropriate source data. Packaged software with inventory management and collaborative capabilities will give your supply chain a competitive advantage. Learn how.
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The requirements of operating in a global, just-in-time (JIT) market have made supply chains much more complex than they were 10 years ago. Much of the software meant to assist in managing this complexity has itself become too complex to use—and too expensive to cost-justify. Discover the benefits of using a less complex supply chain solution that better supports a collaborative effort along your supply chain.
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Fetco Home Decor, designer and wholesaler of fashion frames and other décor products, was relying on Excel spreadsheets to perform its forecasting process. The lack of accuracy and accessibility resulted in ineffective forecasting—and higher-than-necessary inventory levels. After a quick implementation of a planning and forecasting solution, Fetco reduced inventory by 25 percent without affecting customer service levels.
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Peerless Pump has been designing, engineering, and manufacturing pumps for more than 80 years. The company was basing component stock levels on historical data, as it did not have the ability to accurately forecast customer demand. But with forecasting and demand planning software that increased forecast accuracy, the company has nearly doubled its sales over the past four years, while keeping inventory levels constant.
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Heineken USA imports, markets, sells, and distributes its premium beer products through its network of 650 beer distributors. This supply chain requires precise forecasts and meticulous planning—and an easy-to-understand forecasting tool that provides greater transparency in the collaborative forecasting process. Discover more about the benefits of the forecasting solution on Heineken’s sales and operations planning.
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Aside from geographic challenges, Kyocera—distributor of document management devices—also grapples with three-month lead times, purchase-order constraints, and stocking commitments. Forecasting accuracy is critical to a company that has to manage frequent model changes and short life-cycle products. Find out about the demand and forecast management solution the company uses to ensure consistent and accurate reporting.
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Terumo Cardiovascular Systems, global manufacturer and distributor of medical products, has more than 1,500 finished goods, many of which are assembled in one factory and sterilized in another. With so many products and steps in the supply chain, supply and demand planning abilities are key to smooth operations. Find out how the company saved $1 million (USD) with forecast management and requirements planning solutions.
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Currently, India’s population is approximately 1.0009 billion. The middle class is large and still growing; wages were low, but now are some of the best in various industries; many workers are well educated and speak English; and investors are optimistic and local stocks are up. Despite political turmoil, the country presses on with economic reforms. But for potential investors, there’s still cause for worry—find out why.
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“Last-mile supply chain services” is an evolving segment of the supply chain industry, but a cutting-edge segment that has evolved as supply chain managers across the US struggle to cope with the inadequacies of the current globalized supply chain model. Learn five reasons why current supply chain models are flawed and how you can use a new architecture to balance supply chain risk, globalized sourcing, and economics.
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At a time when many companies are concerned about operational expenditure, a business assurance system with consultancy can help. Instead of randomly entering a remediation program whenever a major fault is found, use the business assurance system. The following areas have seen results: revenue management, customer acquisition and retention, credit management and bad debt recovery, supply chain management, among others.
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Pronto Software—Australian vendor of software meeting the needs of a range of vertical industries such as retail and food and beverage—wants to ensure it sustains profitable growth. To find partnerships with value-added resellers (VARs) in North America and in other markets, Pronto relies on Technology Evaluation Centers’ (TEC’s) software industry programs. Learn about the other ways Pronto benefits from using TEC.
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Companies are under huge pressure to cut all SAP-related costs and are seeking every opportunity to exploit their huge investments in SAP to reduce total business expenses. A survey of 18 respondents reveals how companies are seeing the potential to squeeze further costs savings by exploiting SAP software investments, especially in enterprise resource management (ERP) and supply chain business process areas. Learn more.
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The debate over climate change is quickly coming to a close and will soon be replaced by a new debate about policy alternatives. These policies will affect business in striking ways, through end-use efficiency standards, increased energy costs, and increased prices of raw materials and components. Take the most important action: analyze and understand your direct and supply chain emissions of greenhouse gases. Learn more.
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Dorcy, a global distributor of flashlights and batteries, manufactures its product line in Taiwan, China, and Korea, and repackages products in two US warehouses to ship to major retailers. With 2,500 items in its inventory—approaching $12 million (USD) at any given time—Dorcy needs a warehouse management system (WMS) that automates reports and provides real-time inventory data. Learn about the solution it uses.
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You rely on a warehouse management system (WMS) to maintain ongoing operations, support changing customer requirements, keep up with industry regulations, and simply get product out the door on a daily basis. But a faltering system may also be constraining your global potential. Find out how to determine if your current WMS system is hindering your ability to execute business strategies that help you grow your business.
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Talent management is just a matter of anticipating the need for human capital and then creating a plan to meet it. But many approaches to talent management fail, as they’re based on outdated forecasting models. But you can anticipate and meet demand in an uncertain environment by borrowing lessons from operations and supply chain research—and forge a new way of looking at succession planning and talent management.
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Promising to transform the way products are developed, product lifecycle management (PLM) is one of the fastest-growing areas of technology investment for retailers and brands alike. But why should your company consider PLM? Find out why successful PLM implementations are initiated to support key strategic objectives, and how PLM can ultimately improve your profitability through enhanced operational efficiency.
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With goals to decrease operating costs and increase sales, Hayward—a leader in the building materials industry—knew it needed to replace its 25-year-old software with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that would enable business process re-engineering and more. The solution Hayward chose enabled it to more effectively manage its supply chain and generate bottom-line value to customers. Find out why.
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With rapid growth and revenues exceeding $100 million (USD), Quality Bicycle Products is under increasing pressure to meet demand. To keep driving growth, QBP realized its forecasting capabilities and performance would need to be optimized. To help meet the needs of these efforts, QBP began looking at an inventory and demand planning solution. Discover more about the supply chain management (SCM) solution it chose.
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Endries International, distributor of products for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), aims to develop partnerships by helping customers meet their cost reduction, vendor consolidation, and productivity improvement goals. But Endries knew its old software wouldn’t enable long-term growth or manage business changes. With the new solution, processes such as demand planning are more accurate and efficient. Find out why.
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Global sourcing, an erratic economy, and extended supply operations are just a few threats to the profitability and growth of your distribution environment. But if you extend the capabilities of your existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, you can better meet demands, maximize inventory, and increase operational efficiency. Learn how supply chain optimization is easier with an ERP for distribution solution.
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Survey data shows that companies want to improve their strategic business partnerships. Reflecting on lessons learned from past business relationships, 60 percent of respondents say that in future they’ll place more emphasis on developing personal relationships and setting expectations with business partners. Find out how these companies are creating collaborative networks that include business partners and consumers.
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As one of the fastest-growing home shopping retailers in the UK, JD Williams sells products through its 45 Web sites and more than 700 annual catalogs. To better face the challenges of its Internet sales—and to take advantage of opportunities—JD Williams began an end-to-end supply chain initiative, with a merchandise life cycle management solution suite. Learn how it helped the company increase sales in key departments.
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Rapid growth plus the need to continually offer new seasonal products led American Eagle to replace its old sourcing and order management systems while unifying product design, sourcing, and merchant processes. The company didn’t want to completely replace its legacy solution, however; it was important that its global supplier base adopt the solution too. Learn about the Web-based sourcing solution the company chose.
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Deutsche Woolworth has been in business for over 75 years. After splitting off from its American parent company, the company’s restructuring efforts focused on purchasing processes. It was discovered that there was no purchase planning in place, and no visibility into shipments and goods en route from suppliers. The company deployed a solution that reduced inventory levels by up to 90 percent. Find out how.
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Developing a core competency in global sourcing is one of the critical business initiatives for retailers and channel masters. By understanding exactly how global sourcing strategies impact margins, retailers can develop creative product categories that push margins and profit higher. What do you need to master global sourcing techniques? What technologies should you use? Find out, with the five stages of global sourcing.
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If your company is “fighting fires” daily to meet customer demand, then you’re already losing customers and missing new sales. Today, business is conducted in real time, which requires flexibility and responsiveness. It’s these two attributes—along with reduced costs—that are the most beneficial in managing for optimal inventory levels. Find out how you can better plan and manage your inventory for long-term survival.
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Electronic product code information services (EPCIS) is a standard mechanism for inter-company collaboration and data sharing, which can enable health care partners to deploy solutions that meet short-term mandates driven by patient safety, as well as lay the foundation for long-term business value. Learn more about the impact of EPCIS in a study concerning data management and data sharing in the health care supply chain.
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Nowadays, it’s easy to spend nearly as much time trying to make the pieces of your supply chain work together as you actually spend working. Managing disparate systems and solving communication issues create challenges that keep your business-to-business (B2B) solutions from working in sync. Find out how integrating the technology, business processes, and communication of your entire business community can help.
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Leading companies are increasing the percentage of perfect orders and reducing costs by exchanging documents with trading partners via electronic data interchange (EDI). Diverse trading partner capabilities and high-cost value-added network (VAN) fees, however, can pose barriers to even greater success. Learn about a solution that can help remove those barriers and let you exchange data regardless of format.
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Accurate product data is key to retail success. Merchandise planning, purchasing, inventory management, and logistics all depend on accurate initial item setup, as well as ongoing updates. But globalization has brought a variety of standards, making it more complex to ensure data accuracy. Learn about a product data synchronization solution that can help synchronize your product data with your global trading community.
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For many retailers, the transition to global sourcing and demand-driven inventory models creates both opportunities and challenges. Supply chains are becoming longer, with a smaller buffer for mistakes or delays. To continually improve, you need to gain visibility across your partner community. Find out how a partner performance management solution can help buyers and sellers work together to improve business processes.
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While an electronic data interchange (EDI) initiative improves supply chain communication and speeds up the exchange of goods and services, it is a complicated undertaking. To get started, learn how Inovis Professional Services array of consulting and training offerings, including assessments and technology planning, can help you implement mission-critical integrated solutions efficiently and cost-effectively.
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Early in 2004, software service provider Vermont Information Processing (VIP) saw an opportunity to help beverage producers drive down costs, improve productivity, and increase the accuracy of their business processes through automated supply chain communication solutions—or electronic data interchange (EDI) solutions. Find out why VIP chose Inovis’ suite of EDI solutions, and how it and its clients are benefiting.
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Achieving perfection in all of its transactions is important for shipping companies like Yantian—perfection that can only come with automation. While Yantian uses industry-standard electronic data interchange (EDI) to exchange transaction documents, it must accommodate the wide variety of media, formats, and protocols shippers use. Find out how Yantian used a server solution to simplify its trading partner management.
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Big Lots, the largest closeout retailer in the United States (US), needed a way to manage vendors, and get its products to stores as quickly as possible. The company chose Inovis Partner Performance Management—an on-demand, service-oriented architecture (SOA)-based solution—as its supplier management system. Learn how this solution helped Big Lots share data with vendors, reduce errors, and improve its supply chain.
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Fashion retailer Anchor Blue was looking for a way to increase supply chain visibility, reduce costs, and shorten the time required to get products onto store shelves. The company implemented the Inovis AS2 software solution to consolidate data from multiple partners into a single view. Learn how the new electronic data interchange (EDI) system helped reduce transaction costs and get merchandise into stores faster.
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Oxford University Press (OUP), the largest university press in the world, publishes over 4,500 books per year. OUP has long used electronic data interchange (EDI) for inbound orders, invoices, and credit and delivery notes. Learn why incorporating a value-added network (VAN) to its existing EDI software helped OUP improve its warehouse efficiency, boost trading partner adoption, and reduce annual VAN costs by 60 percent.
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Mission Rubber’s customers—the manufacturer’s representatives and distributors it sells through—began insisting on the use of electronic data interchange (EDI) for all transactions. The company wanted a reliable supplier that could provide cost-effective EDI translation and document exchange functionality. Find out why Mission Rubber finds its EDI solution is simple to set up, manage, and use—and how the company benefits.
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For many suppliers, keeping up with their retail customers’ compliance guides is a challenge, driven by the fast pace of the retail supply chain and complex trading partner systems. But even when retailers and vendors work together, data errors can slow down the supply chain and trigger deductions for compliance errors. Discover a solution that can help you eliminate preventable chargebacks in your supply chain.
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As EXEX Jewelry began to grow, the company’s founder realized her existing system of tracking transactions couldn’t keep pace. And increasingly, large retailers demanded that all transactions be completed via electronic data interchange (EDI) and that product information be uploaded to a centralized, third-party repository. Find out how EXEX has improved efficiency and increased product data accuracy with an EDI solution.
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Getting products to customers through a complex, global supply chain is becoming increasingly difficult. If you don’t have a solution that helps you focus on your core business, your business community processes suffer—slowing down supply chains and adding costs upstream and downstream. Find out about a managed services solution that can help you manage your partner relationships and improve cycle times.
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Milwaukee Electric Tool, in business for 85 years, was using an electronic data interchange (EDI) solution that had been outsourced at very high cost. When the company chose a new EDI solution, the focus of the conversion was on reducing costs while improving accuracy and increasing trading partner adoption. Learn more about how the company put EDI order processing back in-house and reduced cost per order by 86 percent.
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For over 40 years, Textron Fastening Systems Australia has provided automotive and aerospace customers with specialized fastening and assembly solutions. Using PRONTO-Xi, Textron has optimized its warehouse operations by automating put-away, picking, transfer orders, and stock takes. Find out how the solution also helped Textron reengineer processes to enhance productivity and improve order accuracy to 99.8 percent.
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Funtastic, the largest toy distributor in Australia, attributes its success to strong retail relationships and understanding the infrastructure needed to service these customers. High customer expectations, a large product range, and the fast-moving nature of the business mean that Funtastic must have complete real-time stock visibility. Find out about the warehouse and order management solution Funtastic uses.
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Bollé, a midsized distributor of sunglasses and other products to the Australian and New Zealand markets, sources both locally and from overseas. Inefficiencies resulting from a lack of integration between finance and inventory—and non-existent system security—forced Bollé to review its systems. After implementing PRONTO-Xi, the company achieves better than 99.5 percent order dispatch accuracy. Discover more benefits.
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Hitachi’s Australian division has nearly 1,000 retail stores and 6 warehouses across Australia. As such, the company needs supply chain visibility and accurate information to maintain customer satisfaction. For over 10 years, Hitachi Australia has worked with Pronto Software to ensure that the PRONTO-Xi enterprise resource management (ERP) system meets its business requirements and maximizes productivity. Find out how.
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The Islander Group generates over $18 million (USD) annually through its Web site, mail-order catalog, and warehouse operations. Seamless communication across the manufacture, supply, and distribution of its products is crucial to maintaining productivity, and profitability. But its business systems were no longer reliable or upgradable. Learn about the company’s requirements for a new system, and how PRONTO-Xi met them.
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At Nagoya Guidance and Propulsion Systems (NGPS), more than half of production time goes into to products such as aircraft guidance systems. In 2003, NGPS installed Asprova’s advanced planning and scheduling system for greater efficiency from the planning it had been doing manually until that time. In 2007, NGPS added the sales module for more uniform production planning. Learn more about the efficiencies NGPS gained.
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As you streamline your supply chain, don’t forget about the shipping or receiving department. Often, a company aligns its supply and demand but doesn’t provide the key inventory prioritization rules for shipping and receiving—and the right product is delayed from its final end-point. Learn how appointment scheduling can help—meet with your supplier, customer, and carrier to plan an efficient and effective flow of goods.
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A growing number of smart suppliers recognize the competitive high ground to be seized as they deepen their connections to retail clients in regional markets. By adding value in the replenishment process through vendor-managed inventory, small and midsized manufacturers can differentiate themselves from larger brands. Most importantly, they can develop more loyal and profitable relationships with retail clients. Learn how.
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Natural Factors produces millions of capsules every month and, on a daily basis, fills hundreds of sales orders. With new formulations continually added to its thousands of active stock items, the company needs a solution that ensures quality control. Learn how the Lot Traceability module in SYSPRO’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software helps Natural Factors trace products to their source and ensure compliance.
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An adaptive supply chain network allows all the stakeholders in the supply chain to share knowledge, make collaborative decisions, and immediately respond to changing conditions. But without an adaptive supply chain network, the potential for growth is limited. Warehouses that operate in real time with integrated forecasting, order management, and transportation are prepared to compete in today’s market. Find out how.
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For many manufacturers, the demands of meeting customer expectations and reducing production costs in an environment of more products and more choice places stress on the effectiveness of planning and scheduling processes. Yet, systems are becoming outdated, lacking the flexibility and responsiveness to manage complex production environments. Find out about planning and scheduling options and how to boost productivity.
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Industrial equipment manufacturers (IEMs) have been hit especially hard by today’s economy. But the industry has come back better than ever before by adopting new efficient manufacturing methods and new software and business processes that let them compete head-on, satisfying customer demands while reducing costs and raising margins. Learn about the methods industrial equipment manufacturers are using to stay competitive.
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Outsourcing and global competition are forcing companies to transform their supply chains from linear processes into adaptive networks. Communities of customer-centric, demand-driven companies must share knowledge in order to adapt to changing markets, and respond to shorter life cycles. Discover how supply chain management (SCM) solutions can help your company create a truly adaptive and collaborative supply network.
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Seventh Generation, distributor of environmentally friendly products, sought an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to support its supply chain more efficiently, including monitoring the environmental impact of its suppliers and products. Microsoft ® Dynamics NAV helped the company automate business processes and streamline supply chain management while pursuing its mission of corporate responsibility. Find out how.
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For almost a decade, Unitech America managed with its inventory and supply chain management system. But as the company grew, the software couldn’t meet the company’s business needs, such as tracking product serial numbers, which made it difficult to measure inventory and track returns and customer purchasing behavior. Learn about the system Unitech chose to help improve customer service processes and more.
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Industrial equipment manufacturers (IEMs) face fundamental changes to the way they do business. Combined with ailing economies and cash-strapped customers, the ability of IEMs to effectively manage their operations—and those of their supply chain partners—can determine success or failure. Get insight into the changing IEM customer market and the skills and tools you need to fully address these changes and challenges.
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Relevant to the current economic recession, find out about key challenges faced by the retail industry, such as multichannel integration. Get an introduction to a process excellence and governance approach specific to retail, for radical cost reduction and organizational agility and visibility. You’ll also find a case study about business performance management (BPM) in the food and beverage industry.
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The new capabilities of web-based technologies and the burgeoning digitalization of the battlefield have positioned the military to adopt complete cross-service logistics solutions. This interoperability is key for integrated logistics system (ILS) projects—as is the need for ILS to include a deployable aspect. Learn more about the importance of ILS deployability to enable “foxhole to factory” supply chain capability.
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The dynamics of today’s global supply chain are changing rapidly because of volatile fuel costs, overseas wage increases, security concerns, and global economic issues. In this environment, some US manufacturers are exploring ways to claim a competitive advantage by bringing operations back to the US. Explore the benefits, trends, and considerations of “right-shoring” and what it can mean for domestic businesses.
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Historically, sourcing and procurement companies have been concerned mainly with reducing costs and ensuring supply availability and quality. However, this is changing. Savvy businesses are moving beyond traditional sourcing and procurement goals, and looking to the procurement company to drive competitive advantage and deliver value. Discover the sourcing strategy tricks some successful companies are using.
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The IT investments that have allowed firms in process industries to increase the efficiency of their operations and supply chains have also created vast stores of data. Unfortunately, many companies are still unable redeploy that data to drive innovation. Learn how the next generation of business intelligence (BI) tools can help your company gain a competitive advantage by harnessing the information IT systems generate.
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The wave of e-sourcing that began a decade ago resembled a “crash diet:” it had an immediate and noticeable effect on enterprises. Today’s challenge is to develop new programs that can sustain the benefits of e-sourcing and “keep the weight off.” Find out how employing advanced sourcing strategies can help you positively impact product development cycles, build stronger supplier relationships, and make better decisions.
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Even in tough economic times, innovative small-to-midsized companies can still find opportunities for growth. Technology and business software solutions like enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), product lifecycle management (PLM), and supplier relationship management (SRM) can help your company ride out the global economic downturn. Find out how.
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No enterprise is an island. Your company is a link in the business-to-business (B2B) supply chain. Thus, a seamless and efficient supply chain is a critical factor in your success—but you need to design a supply chain that focuses on demand, supply, and service to provide competitive differentiation in the marketplace. Learn how to strive for the perfect order and improve order accuracy with a business process solution.
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Preventable deductions are a major source of frustration and cost for suppliers, while the compliance violations that trigger them are likewise frustrating and costly for retailers. Eliminating the violations—and, thereby, eliminating the deductions—is in the best interests of both parties. Find out how a system that automates information handling processes, as well as compliance enforcement and monitoring, can help.
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With more manufacturing being outsourced, and suppliers located farther afield than ever, logistics is much more complex than it used to be. To simplify the complexity, companies are looking for a way to manage their global business communities that integrates transactions across trading partners and logistics providers. Many have found that a third-party managed services providers is the best solution. Find out why.
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The number of steps involved in getting materials or products from suppliers to buyers makes inbound logistics an error-prone process. Each mistake costs you time, labor, money, customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, your competitive position in the marketplace. Learn how implementing a partner performance management program can help your company reduce the number of inbound-logistics problems, and minimize their impact.
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For today’s small to medium manufacturers, increasing the bottom line while optimizing efficiency poses an increasingly difficult challenge, especially in our current economic crisis. This, coupled with competition in a global environment, puts manufacturers in a tight spot. Discover the key challenges facing small to medium manufacturers, and the on-demand solutions you can leverage to sustain and win business.
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Beyond the operational efficiencies and cost savings of an improved product audit trail, standardized GS1 barcode labels contribute to greater supply chain security by protecting against the entry of counterfeit products into a legitimate supply chain. There are many complications to having fully conforming GS1 barcode labels, however. Find out how to address these issues with five strategies for the global supply chain.
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When looking at extended enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), or customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, some companies get distracted by details of the technology and miss the bigger picture. Learn how to choose an operating platform capable of supporting your business needs, today and in the foreseeable future, and ensure that your suppliers will be around when you need them.
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Supply chain operations play a vital role in the success of any consumer or high-tech original equipment manufacturer (OEM). But some companies consistently outperform in the field. Find out how these companies are making their supply chains more effective and efficient by supporting sophisticated business processes with technologies like integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and demand management software.
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In this challenging economy, standards for materials flow are critical to thriving in the global automotive industry. Successful suppliers know how to meet Materials Management Operations Guideline/Logistics Evaluation (MMOG/LE) standards. MMOG/LE is a self-assessment for material and logistics control used to evaluate production, parts and service, and more. Learn how it can help you succeed in the automotive market.
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To remain competitive, retailers must improve costs, differentiate the shopping experience, and ensure effective promotions. Many retailers are asking how to improve vital business processes while offering customers more. Learn about key trends in the retail sector and how business process management (BPM) can help address challenges across in-store operations, supply chain management (SCM), and multi-channel integration.
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As countries frequently increase and revise border security protocols, participating in global trade has become increasingly complex. Compliance and supply chain managers can no longer solely rely on personal knowledge and paper-based processes to effectively plan and manage global trade. You must have real-time access to critical trade information and the ability to automate global trade management processes. Learn more.
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The trade-off between best-of-breed functionality and ease of integration is no longer so simple. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software continues to expand, blurring the boundaries of core ERP functionality. The three essential factors to consider in ERP versus best-of-breed decisions are functionality, integration, and the ability to upgrade. Find out the questions you need to ask when considering an ERP extension.
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Globalizing your market reach presents technology and business challenges to profitable growth. Your supply chain strategy for globalization should include an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that provides you with visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs). Find out why standardizing an automated ERP system across multiple sites can result in a 66 percent reduction in total time from delivery to order.
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Organizations increasingly see business model innovation—not new products and services—as the basis of their competitive advantage. Common approaches to innovation include improvements to customer experience and supply chain management, and implementation of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Learn how these innovations can help create new opportunities for companies and their customers, partners, and suppliers.
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SDMO Industries, a global manufacturer of power generators, sells its broad product line through a variety of sales channels. Communicating accurate product feature and pricing information was challenging, so SDMO looked for a customer relationship management (CRM) and order management software solution to improve sales productivity. Find out how SDMO optimized its global sales teams’ efficiency and reduced overall costs.
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Globalization and digital technologies provide great opportunities for companies operating in business to business (B2B) markets. There are many strategies you can use to automate the demands of business communication so it is more reliable, efficient, and profitable—and delivers more value to your customers. Learn about the four key practices that can help you improve your B2B relationships with buyers or sellers.
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Toronto, Canada-based printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer Coretec expanded from one location to three. But its custom systems weren’t well integrated and were difficult to maintain. The company needed an integrated system to facilitate its goals for order volume and customer service and growth. Find out how an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution helped the company increase capacity and improve delivery times.
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At first glance, less-than-truckload (LTL) purchasing seems like a straightforward process. However, purchasing approaches that save you money in the short term also introduce your company to financial and operational risk. A truly successful LTL bidding process is data-driven and has very different financial outcomes for shippers, 3PLs, and their customers. Discover more about this and other LTL best practices.
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The drive to deliver high-quality produce—on time, against increasingly tight deadlines, and at reduced prices—is a challenge for even the most efficient suppliers. Having access to and sharing real-time information is essential to efficient delivery. Learn how an integrated supply chain solution with business intelligence (BI) capabilities offers greater efficiency, reduced of costs, and improved customer service.
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The one thing you can count on today in business is change, whether it’s customers, business models, or the pace of business. To manage change, companies rely on technology. But the most effective management control and optimization of company performance can be achieved only if you have the right systems. Discover how an integrated system can help you manage data and make better decisions, for a more successful company.
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Railion Nederland N.V. is an independent operating company of Railion Deutschland, the largest rail cargo transporting company in western Europe. The company transports almost 25 million tons, more than 70 percent of which is of an international nature. Railion needed a planning solution to overcome the drawbacks of its old system, which had been designed for passenger transport. Find out which system it chose, and why.
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Founded in 1905, Ewals Cargo Care (ECC) has a long history as a third-party logistics provider. In 2002, Ewals took steps to target the then-emerging fourth-party logistics (4PL) market. Making that leap required more than just a refocus of its commercial activities, however. Learn how ECC found a solution to plan, optimize, monitor, and manage the flow of goods—with complete command over all transport requirements.
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Supply chains come with their own challenges: new products and channels, demanding customers, changing markets, rising energy and labor costs, security issues, and government compliance—as well as internal pressures to cut costs. All this complexity is driving the need for more sophisticated transportation rating tools. Find out about the five components of "intelligent rating," and how it can improve your bottom line.
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Find out how an established lawn and garden product manufacturer transformed production
processes, improved supplier communication and inbound delivery quality, and drove lower raw material inventories. The key? A collaborative web-based solution to manage critical inbound supplier forecasts, orders, and shipments.
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The Long Tail—a strategy involving the sale of a large number of exclusive items in small quantities—is growing. Most companies are dealing with a far greater variety of stock keeping units (SKUs) and slow-moving items with lumpy, unpredictable demand patterns. Learn why Long Tails are growing, and how you can look for opportunities to improve your top and your bottom line by successfully managing long tail inventories.
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Escalating health fears, new global policies, and a highly competitive market means that traceability is an issue food and beverage companies cannot afford to ignore. All this has led to a need for information on quality and food safety that companies must live up to. Explore the key issues surrounding traceability in the food and beverage industry, and find out why you might need to consider a new traceability system.
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In the competitive auto industry, Nissen Chemitec America knows the need for lean manufacturing. Its legacy enterprise resource planning (ERP) system was preventing the company from adopting lean principles, and so in 2003 it looked for an ERP tailored for contract manufacturers serving the auto industry. Learn how the new system helps the company stay lean within the confines of compliance and changing customer demands.
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What if you could track the location of mobile assets and provide the information to your accountants, without global positioning system (GPS) devices, radio frequency identification (RFID), or satellites? How about by capturing asset ID numbers and locations with camera cell phones? Find out how this system works and how it can be implemented in public companies—for more compliant tracking of mobile assets.
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Inventory optimization enables companies to improve the performance of both the supply and maintenance functions. Your inventory optimization solution should not only identify optimal holdings of each item, but do so automatically—and analyze usage, as well as adjust stock holdings and reordering points on an ongoing basis. Find out how inventory optimization can help you reduce downtime and increase productivity.
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Genius Project4Domino and Microsoft Project are both project management tools, and though their range of features is different, they are also complementary. Using the solutions together can bring a well-rounded project management solution to companies of all sizes. Learn how they can be used to ensure consistency and eliminate downtime, so your long-term strategic project plans are a success.
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The final loop of information from a warehouse management system (WMS) to a warehouse worker and back is most critical—but in most systems, it’s also the weakest. Hand-held devices, such as touch-screens, bar code scanners, and RFID readers, can result in error-filled transactions. Learn how you can use multiple mobile devices more effectively to help improve the accuracy of your order fulfillment and inventory processes.
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It’s not just operating talent and facilities that win business for logistics service providers. Every community of clients, customers, suppliers, and carriers must work together to fulfill perfect orders. However, few supply chain communities consist entirely of companies with top-notch supply chain applications. Learn how a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution can help fill the gaps—and increase value to your clients.
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Increasingly, success depends not only on how fast manufacturers can act, but how fast they can react—and the effectiveness of the actions they take. But fast and effective reactions depend on having the information you need when you need it. Is your response management strategy efficient enough? Do you have enough control over key supply chain processes? Find out how to better manage your response to volatile markets.
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Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, had a rapidly expanding customer base and shortened product life cycles. This led the company to add more contract manufacturers to its supply chain, meaning more complex decisions had to be made in less time. To stay competitive, the company implemented response management technology. Learn more about the company’s rapid growth and the software that helped make it possible.
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Customer and commercial demands are changing the way manufacturers manage their positions in the supply chain. The financial impact on a company that is unable to respond to change can be crippling, especially in a global market. Learn about the benefits of using a response management process, so you can access live data from multiple systems across various locations—for more intelligent and empowered decision making.
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Manufacturers today must respond quickly to ever-changing customer demands—while keeping costs low and efficiency high. How can original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and contract manufacturers (CMs) effectively manage the demand-driven supply chain? A solution that increases your visibility of inventory planning and management throughout the supply chain can help reduce your response time. Learn more about the benefits.
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Managing the demands of constant change is one of the biggest challenges facing the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry today. Collaboration between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and contract manufacturers (CMs) can help both sides leverage the supply chain to manage change. Find out about a solution that can help you create a successful collaboration strategy that optimizes your supply chain.
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While the concept of lean manufacturing is well established in traditional manufacturing industries, its adoption in printing and packaging has been slow. Many companies have yet to fully realize the benefits of a holistic implementation. Find out how and when you should implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for a faster transition to lean processes—and improve efficiency and quality while reducing waste.
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To maintain a leadership position in the high-tech complex equipment industry, electronic equipment manufacturers need reliable solutions to improve order accuracy, optimize fulfillment, and increase revenue for value-added services. Does your solution quickly commercialize new technology, integrate software with systems, and differentiate those systems with value-added services? Find out about what you might be missing.
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Food and beverage manufacturers must aim to keep up with customer demands for a wide range of products, while managing the complex global supply chain and taking advantage of growth in new markets. For fast-growing or midsize companies, the challenges are even greater. Find out about a solution that can help optimize sales and marketing, and enable consumer-driven supply chains by speeding collaboration with suppliers.
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It is essential for durable goods companies to effectively manage multi-tiered distribution network and supply chains, to ensure the right products are available in the right stores at the right time—and the right price. What can you do to differentiate your products from your competitors’, control customer value, and accelerate order-to-delivery time while your supply chains become globally more complex? Find out now.
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Product quality and regulatory requirements, including goods traceability, are a key concern to consumable goods companies. Ensuring you remain profitable and competitive, increase market share, and reduce exposure to regulatory risks in quality and safety can be a huge challenge. Find out how implementing complete, industry-focused enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems can be critical to your success.
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The effort needed to manage a non-durable consumer goods company is more strenuous than ever. Business issues such as expanding product portfolios, complex distribution channels, and compliance requirements can impede your ability to compete in the global supply chain. Does your current business application enhance your sales and marketing, and enable demand-driven supply chains? Learn what you need to compete—and win.
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Consumer electronics companies of any size must deliver superior customer service, optimize performance, and design agile supply networks. When using business software to deal with these challenges, growing electronics companies face the same issues as larger companies, but also have concerns about cost and implementation speed. Learn how a new class of scalable solutions can meet the needs of electronics manufacturers.
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Efficient procurement and sourcing. Storing and moving inventories. Attracting and retaining customers. Such challenges have an impact on wholesale distributors’ revenues, competitiveness, and profits. To make timely and informed decisions that can impact your business, you need answers to questions like “How can I offer value-added services to improve customer loyalty?” Get the answers to this and other key questions.
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Having insight into the real needs of individual customers helps maximize their loyalty. To meet these needs, companies must identify how to achieve higher levels of integration between the supply and demand chains internally—and among partners, suppliers, and customers. Learn how to connect all facets of your company to create value networks in your supply chain that can bring supply and demand systems together.
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The basic spreadsheet and accounting programs you’ve relied on ’til now won’t help your growing business eliminate decision-making bottlenecks, reduce IT costs, increase productivity, or improve the customer experience. To do all that requires an enterprise-wide, integrated software system. Learn how an integrated system can help take your business to the next level, and how to ensure you get the right system for you.
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Though it’s advantageous to maintain operations in one location, distributors must sometimes operate multiple locations to meet local customers’ needs. Unfortunately, branch operations are expensive to operate, and to be successful, their services must be equal—but not identical—to those the home office provides. The challenges of knowing how to stock those branches can be overcome with a distribution software solution.
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Distributors increasingly play a value-added role in the supply chain. To remain competitive, they must rapidly react to the slightest changes in demand. But current forecasting techniques and the tools most distributors use don’t allow the needed long-term visibility. Discover how new solutions for demand planning can address the challenges of forecasting, and reduce obsolescence and the cost of inventory investment.
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As a demand-driven manufacturer, you know how crucial up-to-date information is. But when shop floor data is collected with pen and paper, then transferred manually to multiple databases that aren’t always connected, you risk having your data uploaded after it’s needed. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions can ease data integration. But first, separate the myths from the facts of bridging ERP and the shop floor.
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Increased competition, lower margins, and more customer demands mean that distributors have to provide better product availability and more services with fewer profit dollars. To accomplish this, estimates of future use of stocked items must be as accurate as possible. Discover how analyzing weighted averages, trend factors, and other formulas can help you accurately anticipate—and manage—future demand for your products.
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To promote fast growth, small businesses often sacrifice process control for creativity. But sooner or later, unstructured creativity compounded by fast growth leads to the inability to make fact-based business decisions. Learn about four steps to developing a business strategy that can help you run your business more effectively by applying better control over your cost structure, minimizing risk, and anticipating change.
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The challenge of supply chain management (SCM) is to identify and implement strategies that minimize costs while maximizing flexibility. Computer simulation can be a valuable tool along your supply chain to help diagnose problems and evaluate possible solutions, and mitigate risks. Discover the methodology for building supply chain models, and the critical criteria for selecting simulation software that fits your needs.
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Inventory has been—and continues to be—the lifeblood of the distribution marketplace. While many companies are slow to adopt new strategies and technologies, a growing number of distributors are leveraging inventory practices to improve key metrics like customer retention, gross margins, and inventory turns. Read these research survey findings to find out how you can make better inventory management technology decisions.
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When it comes to the business challenges of the distribution industry, one solution does not fit all. Packaged with smart functionality to address key business issues, Infor’s products have successfully fulfilled the needs of distributors worldwide. Learn how its enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) solutions have helped companies improve market position, streamline business processes, and more.
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Manufacturing today is fraught with uncertainties in the supply chain due to a variety of global issues, including weather and exchange rates. You can counter supply problems with “safety stock.” But this extra inventory goes against the rules of an efficient lean environment. How can you stay demand driven, without a supply snafu? Find out how an information management system can help forecast your supply chain needs.
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As a fast-growing company, you have the same objectives as any business. But you’re probably finding it challenging to gain the control you need to achieve these goals without sacrificing your IT budget. And when you try to achieve control, it’s often at the risk of slowing down your business. Find out how having enterprise-wide visibility of your business processes and activities can put you back in the driver’s seat.
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This report identifies the major IT issues faced by small to midsized businesses (SMBs), including information silos, lack of IT staff, and outdated business applications. Because they lack the right information to meet customer expectations, SMBs have difficulty reacting quickly to fast-changing market dynamics and growing their revenue. Find out how the elimination of information silos can create a more consistent effective customer experience.
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