Execution Technology
Standalone MES Providers Must Change to Fend Off Challenge From Enterprise Vendors, AMR Says
“Pure-play” vendors of manufacturing execution system (MES) software must enhance their products in order to compete with providers of broader enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools, according to a new report from AMR Research, Inc. Authors Simon Jacobson, Colin Masson and Alison Smith say that big ERP players such as Oracle Corp. and SAP AG, along with numerous mid-tier vendors, pose “a very real threat” to the MES sector. The latter can only fend off this “frontal assault” by expanding functionality beyond basic production order routing and data collection. AMR says MES providers must offer “a one-stop shop for all manufacturing operations needs.” The report recommends that they embrace five “value-add” capabilities: quality management, scheduling, product and process lifecycle management (PLM), activity-based costing and profit velocity, and operations intelligence. To date, it says, many MES vendors have limited their interest in quality management to document handling and corrective and preventive action (CAPA) workflow capabilities. They have yet to incorporate root-cause analysis and closed-loop enforcement of preventive actions. Scheduling is a “much-overlooked” function, with the majority of MES packages addressing only basic manual sequencing of production orders received from ERP or planning systems. What's needed, AMR says, is the tight integration of manufacturing execution with fast finite schedulers through automated, closed-loop interfaces. In addition, the increasing frequency of product design changes is driving demand for PLM systems. Significant gaps in performance management, especially with regard to understanding manufacturing costs, schedule adherence and operational flexibility, require activity-based costing. And better operations intelligence is essential to tearing down silos between product-centric and asset-centric management systems. While MES capabilities are not in immediate danger of losing their relevance, standalone vendors must build out strategic functionality and relationships in order to survive in the long term, the AMR report says.
http://www.amrresearch.com/
Nestle Optimizes North American Transport Network With Help From i2
Nestle USA, Inc. has overhauled its North American transportation network, with an eye toward streamlining the entire transportation-management lifecycle. The company sought to incorporate such elements as shipment planning and optimization, automated tendering and confirmations, shipment monitoring and alerting, and freight audit and payment. To achieve its goals, Nestle acquired supply-chain software from i2 Technologies, Inc. It will be using the vendor's applications to model its logistics network and conduct “what-if” analyses. In the process, Nestle hopes to identify numerous cost-saving opportunities such as continuous moves, backhauling and dynamic pool-point selection. The company will be rolling out the software to multiple divisions within North America, eventually replacing all existing systems with a common, standardized management platform. Bob Pickerill, Nestle's director of business systems, said the company was intent on choosing a system that could accommodate current needs as well as plans for growth. In particular, it wanted to address the needs of various divisions along with cross-border movements. Nestle's global headquarters are in Vevey, Switzerland. The company employs more than 247,000 people worldwide.
http://www.i2.com/
Blue Coat Seeks Out New System for Service Parts Management
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. has implemented a new system for service-parts management. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Blue Coat makes equipment and software that enable communications via the internet, and accelerate the delivery of business software throughout complex organizations. Application points include internet gateways, branch offices and data centers. The company, which claims to have installed more than 25,000 appliances globally, sells through direct channels, distributors and resellers in more than 50 countries. It also maintains a worldwide service and support organization. Blue Coat needed a new system to manage its rapidly growing service business. It selected software from Servigistics, which specializes in service-parts and workforce management for multiple industries. The tool was acquired to help Blue Coat reduce inventory while meeting strict customer commitments. Hosted by Servigistics as an on-demand application, it will be integrated into Blue Coat's existing Siebel system for customer relationship management (now part of Oracle Corp.'s product line). “After outgrowing our existing planning system, we needed a strategic service management solution that could easily scale with our growing business,” said Sam Mikles, Blue Coat's director of service parts operations. “After evaluating various solutions on the market, we selected Servigistics for its scalability, ease of use, and breadth and depth of functionality.”
http://www.servigistics.com/
Bridgestone Firestone Deploys Software Across North America
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) has partnered with two software providers to implement new supply-chain execution tools across its organization. The company has selected the HighJump Supply Chain Advantage suite from HighJump Software, which sells applications that optimize inventory flow throughout multiple stages of the supply chain. BFNT manufactures tires under the Bridgestone and Firestone names, as well as associate and private brands. It targets wholesale and original equipment markets, selling passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, motorcycle, agricultural and other types of tires to customers in North America. Also partnering with BFNT was enVista, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based software provider and integrator. It will implement the Supply Chain Advantage suite at BFNT's facility on Ontario, Calif., which serves customers in the western U.S. Following that project, BFNT will roll out the software to other locations. Jim Carroll, senior logistics systems analyst with BFNT, said the new system will boost the company's visibility into supply-chain operations, while maintaining high levels of customer service.
http://www.highjumpsoftware.com/
Big Caterpillar Dealer Goes Live With New WMS in Massachusetts
Milton CAT, one of North America's largest dealers of products from Caterpillar Inc., has gone live with a new warehouse management system (WMS) to run its highly automated distribution center in Milford, Mass. Covering 80,000 square feet, the distribution and service facility supports external customers as well as 12 of Milton CAT's own branches across the northeastern U.S. With its previous WMS unable to support a growing volume of business, Milton CAT sought a system that would speed up turnaround time for parts and equipment, boosting both internal and external customer service. The new software had to run on an IBM iSeries platform and be easily integrated with Milton CAT's existing enterprise resource planning, conveyor and put-to-light systems. The company ended up choosing the EliteSeries Warehouse Management System for IBM iSeries, from software vendor TECSYS Inc. Milton CAT had previously seen the system in action at four different sites. Rodney Ford, director of information systems at Milton CAT, said the company had recently implemented multiple automation systems at the same time, and needed an application that could easily interface with all of them. TECSYS customized the software to handle an automated customer pickup center. The vendor's own staff handled a large portion of the systems integration side of the project. Milton CAT sells, rents and services Caterpillar construction, forestry and paving equipment, as well as truck and machine engines and power systems. It keeps some 3,000 machines in inventory.
http://www.tecsys.com/
U.K. Gift Retailer Makes the Transition to Paperless Warehousing
Authentics Limited is a designer and retailer of contemporary design gifts and housewares, with headquarters in the United Kingdom. The company recently discarded its paper-based warehouse-management practices in favor of automated operations. It now deploys a warehouse management system (WMS) from Radio Beacon Inc. at its 16,000 square-foot facility in Hersham, Surrey, England. In business for more than 45 years, Authentics maintains more than 750 active SKUs. Products include bathroom accessories, handmade glass items, home decoration items and gifts. The goods are shipped worldwide to large and small retailers; Authentics also takes orders online directly from individual customers. The company's search for an automated WMS began in June of 2004. Having recently selected SAP Business One as its accounting system, Authentics was looking for a system that would integrate with its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. It turned for help to Balloon One Ltd., a software distributor and SAP partner. Balloon One recommended the WMS of Radio Beacon, whose system was up and running at the distribution center within a month. With the new software in place, Authentics' staff no longer needed to rely on memory to keep track of products. As a result, Radio Beacon said, order pick times have shrunk by 50 percent. Accuracy has improved as well, with warehouse staff deploying wireless handheld devices to pick and pack orders. All data is transmitted electronically by the Radio Beacon system into SAP Business One, eliminating the need for manual entry.
http://www.radiobeacon.com/
Accu-Sort Issues Latest Barcode Scanner, Diagnostic Tool
Accu-Sort Systems has released AXIOM-X, latest in the vendor's line of barcode scanners. The new model is built on a modular system that provides higher read rates, greater flexibility and lower cost, according to the company. The omnidirectional laser reader is housed in a rugged, modular enclosure which conducts up to 1,120 scans per second. One scan head is suitable for most applications. AXIOM-X handles such applications as multi-sided arrays, high-speed parcel sortation, high-speed material handling and manufacturing. Multiple lasers and receiving optics ensure constant scanning and focusing over the complete depth of field, even with parcels of differing heights. In addition, Accu-Sort has launched the FAST Monitor, software that monitors and diagnoses potential problems that affect scanners in sortation systems. The design is based on an SQL database and runs in a Linux or Windows environment. Data is presented in the form of a Web page accessible through Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla browser.
AXIOM-X: http://www.accusort.com/
FAST Monitor: http://www.accusort.com/
SAS Keeps Cargo Cool With Electric “Mobile Refrigerator”
SAS Cargo Group A/S has developed a new container for keeping products cool while being transported by air. According to the airline, the unit operates as a mobile refrigerator, running by electricity and ensuring a constant temperature over an extended period of time. The container maintains a temperature of between 2 and 25 degrees Celsius for more than 36 hours without a power source, SAS said. On the ground, it can be plugged into a local power source if the total transport time is longer than that. The new equipment is designed for the pharmaceuticals, fresh and cool product markets, which require reliable and stable temperatures during air transport. It is the result of cooperation among SAS Cargo and two Swedish companies, AB AirContainer and the Royal Institute of Technology. Having been tested in operation for the past few months, the first “flying refrigerator” will be ready for regular use in September, SAS said.
http://www.sascargo.com/
IDII Publishes Report on Selecting WMS Software for 3PLs
Industrial Data & Information, Inc. (IDII) has published a new research report entitled “Selecting 3PL [Third-Party Logistics] Warehouse Management System Software.” The 681-page report offers profiles on 40 WMS systems designed for the 3PL industry, with comparison and analysis of each. Areas of coverage include comparisons of customers and installations, key field sizes and operating systems and databases. Other chapters cover customer sizing, ASP hosting, and customers arranged by continents and markets. A scorecard of advanced functionality offers side-by-side comparisons of WMS systems that provide engineered labor standards, profit and loss analysis, and other factors. In addition to information on the company, its history, staff, location, sample customers and WMS software details, the report includes new visual dashboards showing customer and site installations; new results of the IDII Product Data Analyzer; new product data items such as warehouse functionality, dock scheduling and product configurability; and IDII's remarks and comments. Single copies of the report are available at $795 apiece.
http://www.idii.com/
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