OCTG Tubular Finishing Services, which inspects and finishes steel pipes used at oil-drilling sites, is employing radio frequency identification technology to track personnel and tools at its facility near Houston. The company is also in the process of developing a service to provide information regarding the status and location of pipes located on site.

Integrating supply chain planning and execution is vital to today's businesses, but 80 percent of the data that most companies need to achieve this integration lies outside their four walls. Mark Cosway, vice president of industry sales at GT Nexus, explains a new approach to solving this problem.

Most can agree that cloud ERP, and certainly manufacturing cloud ERP, is in its infancy. Interestingly, while analysts project that the adoption rate for cloud HR is more than 60 percent and for cloud CRM over 75 percent, the present adoption rate of cloud ERP for manufacturers is less than 10 percent (versus 90 percent of on-premise ERP). Yet, there is a general consensus that by 2023 most of the installed MFG ERP systems will be cloud-based.

The increasing use of mobile apps to conduct key invoice processing functions from anytime and anywhere; expanding use of social media platforms to collaborate with colleagues, suppliers and partners; and the growth of the cloud as an enabler of automation for companies of all sizes, will power growth in e-commerce in 2013.

Laura Dionne, director of worldwide operations, and J.P. Swanson, systems architect, at TriQuint Semiconductor, describe how the installation of RapidResponse from Kinaxis is helping the company transform operations planning and improve inventory control.

Two gun distributors-American Tactical Imports (ATI) and AmChar Wholesale-are installing a radio frequency identification solution from Annapolis, Md., logistics-management software firm AdvanTech Inc. to help them track firearms passing through their facility.

Some RFID label manufacturers, as well as vendors of goods tracked via radio frequency identification, are taking advantage of a new technology developed by LPKF Laser + Electronics AG that enables the laser-printing of an antenna and circuit board for RFID transmission.

Transportation managers are expected to respond to inquiries regardless of where they are or what they are doing when the question is asked. In order to respond to this flow of questions, managers must be able to access detailed shipment information that traditionally have not been available through mobile technology. This, in turn, requires systems developers to design and implement mobile information platforms that can be easily accessed from the road.