My Company Would Like to Be Lean--But It's Just Too Hard
Lean manufacturing initiatives, much like diets, are designed to trim fat and make you fitter, faster and more competitive-- in short, a high performer. The overall goal is the lasting improvement in company profitability that underpins high performance. And it's achieved by fighting flab of all sorts, from excess inventory to overextended equipment setup times. The benefits can be dramatic and well worth the effort.
In fact, most companies that initiate lean manufacturing programs see a positive cash flow within 120 days of the program's start. And when they stay the course, the benefits in more specific measures--including inventory and order-to-delivery cycle time over the long term--can be striking.
Building flexibility into manufacturing processes and facilities and integrating and coordinating your overall supply chain network both simplifies and speeds up product flow and also facilitates just-in-time delivery. A slimmer supply chain optimizes the alignment of product capabilities with what customers actually want.
Studies indicate that more than half of all U.S. manufacturers have embarked on some kind of lean manufacturing initiative. Yet far fewer actually achieve lasting profit improvement. Why? Much like fad dieters, most companies drift back to bad habits.
Source: Chief Executive, http://chiefexecutive.net

AMR: Supply Chain Management Budgets to Bounce Back Over the Next Two Years
AMR Research's annual supply chain management survey indicates SCM budgets will continue to rebound from slower growth in 2004 and 2005, accelerating to a growth rate of 6 percent to 7 percent over the next two years. While overall SCM spending will increase, the drivers and preferences vary between process and discrete manufacturers by geography and company size.
Source: AMR Research, http://amrresearch.com

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If You Had a More Interesting Web Site--Whatever That Is--You Might Sell More Online
A recent national survey found that an overwhelming 83 percent of consumers would purchase more online if retailers provided more interactive and interesting sites. Consumers surveyed expressed interest in a wide variety of features that would improve their shopping experience, but what does creating 'more interactive and interesting sites' really mean for retailers?
Source: CRM Buyer, http://crmbuyer.com

With CRM on the Go, Ya Gotta Keep Things Simple
With the ever-growing popularity of mobile devices, many sales reps and service reps in the field are finding that they barely have to stop by the office these days. Customer information, order tracking, and even accounting data can all be had with a few clicks of the PDA or a quick perusal of CRM screens on a laptop.
But even though the information can be accessed remotely, the way it's delivered, and especially the way it's used, isn't quite the same on a portable device as it is on a desktop PC. For instance, small form factors are best at accessing limited amounts of information.
Source: CRM Daily, http://www.crm-daily.com

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Many Say It's Time to Give Sourcing in Mexico Another Try
The global sourcing boom has put Asia and Eastern Europe in the spotlight recently. But buyers polled say the increasing logistics costs and risk management strategies are leading them back to where they started global sourcing: Mexico.
Buyers cite a variety of reasons for the return to Mexico. In a recent Purchasing survey, more than half of buyers polled say doing business with Mexican suppliers is easier today than it has been in the past. The obvious advantage of Mexican suppliers over Asian ones is, not surprisingly, their proximity to the U.S. and lack of logistics hassles, which are factoring prominently in total cost equations.
'The total cost when you factor in logistics, lead times, turnaround times, and communication issues is much lower in Mexico than other regions of the world,' says David Lankewicz, purchasing manager at Maryland-based battery maker Saft America.
Source: Purchasing, http://www.purchasing.com

Mobile Devices May Be the Way of the Future, But They Don't Work as PCs of the Past
Some shops develop mobile applications the way a Boy Scout rolls his sleeping bag: fold, press air out, roll, press, and repeat until you can stuff it in the nylon sack and tie the pull-string tight. Companies likewise take a desktop app, remove all the white space in forms, rearrange fields to fit tiny screens, shrink the database, and jam the package into a mobile device. In this case, though, it's not a pull-string but a noose they're pulling tight, damning the application project to a slow, painful death at the hands of its own inflexibility and dearth of usability. Repeat after me: Mobile applications aren't the same as desktop applications. Mobile-application deployment can't be compared with rolling out the latest version of Microsoft Office to PCs on the corporate network. Mobile applications feel different, the hardware is smaller, and connectivity is limited and sporadic.
Source: Optimize, http://optimizemag.com

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Good Management Means Prioritizing Probabilities on the 'Risk Meter'
Risk has been inherent in the human condition since time immemorial. To be alive is to be at risk. By extension, to do business is to court risk. Certainly, manufacturing and selling products is a risk--just ask Sony, Dell, Apple, and Ford about the fallout from product failures. There is risk in running an airline and risk in receiving containers at ports. It pervades our lives and our commercial endeavors, and even as we seek to mitigate it, we do so knowing that we cannot delete it.
The costs involved in any particular risk--such as the launch of a new product, the delivery of vital computer parts, or the use of a particular port for shipping--must be weighed against all the other risks in an enterprise, and each must be assigned a place on the risk meter. We must prioritize the probabilities, lest we become paralyzed by them.
Source: Managing Automation, http://www.managingautomation.com

Operations, Finance Must Be on Same Page, or Company Is at Cross-Purposes
Even though plant-floor metrics are key indicators of how a company is performing financially, few manufacturers have successfully linked plant data to their financials, according to a study released by the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association International (MESA).
Only 3 percent of 135 manufacturers responding say they have very effective links between operating key performance indicators (KPI) and business metrics. This means most companies aren't obtaining accurate depictions of progress and plant contributions, the Chandler, Ariz.-based manufacturing technology organization reports.
'If operations and finance aren't on the same page at the same time, you have a company at cross-purposes, and most manufacturers can't afford to be in that position today,' says Julie Fraser, principal of Industry Directions Inc., a market research firm based in Boston.
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com

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Who Should Own Business Process Management--the Business Side or IT Department?
As business process management (BPM) takes root in corporations throughout America, a struggle for control between the business and IT is ensuing. Historically, the business has managed its own process improvements. But the arrival of sophisticated BPM tools and IT's ability to operate across the enterprise have given rise to the belief that IT should lead the charge.
It's an idea that naturally incites pushback from the business. Roger Burlton, founder of consultancy Process Renewal Group, notes that BPM projects dealing with CRM or supply chain management initiated by IT often get subsumed into the business when a senior line executive realizes that the very processes IT is automating are those that drive his segment's revenue. The executive worries that if IT screws up and his unit doesn't meet its financial goals as a result, his bonus--and maybe his job--could be on the line.
Many of them also view IT as a bottleneck that adds cost and complexity to projects, so they're hesitant to cede BPM to the CIO, according to Burlton. Finally, territorial instincts fuel their desire to control process management initiatives that affect their turf.
Even some IT execs are leery of leading BPM: Farrukh Humayun, National City Bank's vice president and portfolio architect in charge of business systems, says the business must own BPM to be successful. 'BPM is a business discipline,' he says. 'IT can be a powerful enabling force...but the IT folks will not understand business drivers, processes or metrics as well as the business.'
Source: CIO, http://www.cio.com

You Need IT That Helps You Realize Opportunities that Events Bring to Your Business
Can you imagine your life if you were unable to recognize and analyze events? You would never hear an alarm clock buzzer in the morning, or the telephone ring when someone calls. You wouldn't even recognize when it started to rain and know to grab an umbrella. Your day is filled with a constant stream of events from different sources to which you respond. The events you recognize and analyze are what guide the responses you take, helping you avoid danger and find opportunities. Similarly, your business is surrounded by and subject to a constant stream of events generated by actions from customers, partners, employees, and external market conditions such as weather and market data. The recognition, analysis and response to those events are opportunities for your business; the key to realizing those opportunities is an Event-Driven Architecture within your IT.
Source: Line 56, http://www.line56.com

There are Different Software, Different Approaches to Managing Suppliers--Keep Them Separate
Collaborative sourcing and supplier relationship management software may both have a place in your organization, but it's not the same place. They are two distinct approaches to managing suppliers. In order to reap the benefits of both, mind the gap--know when to keep them apart and how to bring them together.
Source: Inside Supply Management, http://www.ism.ws

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Automotive Supplier Decides to Implement Its First ERP System
Osaka, Japan-based Fuserashi Co. Ltd. founded Fuserashi International Technology (FIT) in Cleveland, Ohio, to give the company a production and distribution arm closer to Honda's plants. This manufacturer of precision nuts, bushings, inner metals, piston blanks, and cold-formed steel products enjoyed fast success and grew quickly, expanding plant capacity three times in its first seven years.
However, with growth often come challenges. Managing inventory and parts was difficult with FIT's current systems, and the business lacked an effective reporting engine and a readable database structure. When staff members were called to write a report, it was an unfamiliar and expensive process. In addition, accounting, quote, sales orders, purchase orders, shipping, and receiving activities were being tracked manually.
Without an adequate forecasting or planning module for production, FIT employees had to perform data-intensive input tasks using Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access, which were not connected to the system database. Plus, this document information was entered by hand, leaving a great deal of room for human error and misleading information.
FIT company leaders wanted to find an enterprise resources planning system that could consolidate all operational activities into one system and database.
Source: APICS, http://www.apics.org

Forty Percent of Companies Say They Will Hike Their IT Budgets for 2007
Manufacturers' IT spending plans for next year demonstrate less than robust growth, judging by at least one indicator. According to the 2006 IndustryWeek/MPI Census of Manufacturers, 52.5 percent of manufacturers responding expect to maintain the same level of IT investment in 2007.
On the positive side, 40 percent of companies plan to boost IT spending next year. Among this group, 28.6 percent expect an increase in technology investment of up to 10 percent.
On the flip side, AMR Research is somewhat more bullish toward the IT spending outlook. One reason, according to Karen Carter, AMR quantitative research analyst, is that many manufacturers have held back from investing in new software applications in recent years and now are ready to spend to improve operations.
'Some companies now need to refresh their technology,' Carter says. For example, plans to invest in new computer hardware are up. 'This is investment that was postponed, and now these companies must purchase new laptops and other hardware.'
Source: Industry Week, http://industryweek.com