MARCH 2015
The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications
Special Technology Report: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING Interview: WILLIAMS F1
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Disruptive opportunities for Internet of Things How Voice-directed warehouse technology is driving the competition forward Six steps to flawless fulfilment Meeting the labelling needs of today’s manufacturing and logistics industries
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Analytics on the up Today, customer expectations have never been higher. Many consumers now expect next-day delivery (and, increasingly, same-day delivery) for many items as a given and don’t want to hear about constraints such as items being out of stock or their colour preference not being currently available. From the supplier’s side, of course, this raises the challenge of being able to monitor and predict consumer demand in order to make the right amount of products within a certain lead time, but not manufacture so much that goods end up hogging space in the warehouse. Indeed, if items sit there for too long they might even become obsolete, resulting in considerable financial loss for the producer who has invested a sizeable amount of money in raw materials, parts or components; let alone the storage space. With these types of issues in mind, it would appear that more and more companies are investing in a higher level of analytics in order to better monitor customer-related trends, among other things. Logi Analytics has released findings from its third annual ‘State of Embedded Analytics’ report on how organisations embed business intelligence and analytics inside their software applications. The report is based on an online survey of more than 500 business and technology professionals, conducted in February of this year. Respondents included C-level executives, product managers, product developers and software engineers at companies of all different sizes. It comments that embedded analytics leads to greater realisation of strategic business benefits, such as improved customer satisfaction, enhanced user experience and increased end user adoption. In addition to commercial Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Software as a Service (SaaS) providers that Logi has surveyed in years prior, this year Logi expanded the report to include noncommercial, IT-managed applications used by internal staff and partners. The research revealed that commercial applications lead in their adoption of embedded analytics, and integrate analytics deeper with their applications. Additional report highlights include: • • •
•
•
Ed Holden
Majority of applications have embedded analytics – 65 per cent of all application providers embed business intelligence and analytics within applications. End users expect BI inside the applications they use every day – 82 per cent of all application providers say that embedded analytics is important to their users. Embedded analytics sees greater user adoption over traditional, non-embedded BI – Application providers say 40 per cent of their app’s total user base leverages BI and analytics on a regular basis. This is 10 per cent higher than the ceiling for user adoption of traditional BI tools as reported by industry analysts. The value of embedded analytics has nearly doubled since 2013 – The median value of analytics relative to the overall product was reported at 43 per cent, up from 35 per cent and 22.5 per cent in 2014 and 2013 respectively. Moreover, the median value of how much additional commercial application providers charge on top of their core offering is 25 per cent, up from 15 per cent in 2014. The majority of application providers (62 per cent) plan to invest in embedded analytics in the next 12 months – Many plan to improve how deeply analytics is integrated within their application’s user experience.
Editor As Alvin Wong, manager, product marketing at Logi Analytics, commented recently: “All modern software applications today must deliver insights and analytics at the core.” He sees the use of data transforming all products and services. In Wong’s view, not only are all companies becoming software companies, all software applications are becoming analytic applications. “As more companies adopt this point of view, we anticipate more compelling and intuitive business applications will come to market and more users will be able to make smarter business decisions,” he said. Indeed, in the case of industries such as manufacturing, it is becoming ever more mission-critical for companies to have as strong a grasp as possible on their customers’ – and ideally their customers’ end customers’ – requirements. It can prove very costly to loosen the reins even for a single day. This is where richer analytics can prove invaluable.
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IT March 2015
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CONTENTS Manufacturing and Logistics IT March 2015 The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications
Editor: Ed Holden
Interview 6
Williams F1
Special Technology Report 10
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
20
Exel Computer Systems: ERP in the aerospace sector LinkFresh ERP continues to grow with new farming enhancements Nutriculture eradicates manual processes with ERP solution from Azzure IT
Contributors: Richard Scott, SATO
Manufacturing
Darrel Williams, Vocollect Solutions by Honeywell Publisher: Dean Taylor
Planning Designer: First Sight Graphics Ltd, www.firstsightgraphics.com
24
Metalúrgica Fey secures effective solution from Preactor Wolfberger selects Ortems planning software to improve the per cent of fill and decrease inventories
Production: Carolyn Pither
Supply Chain Management
27
Circulation: Carole Chiesa IT Manager: Ian Curtis Accounts: Sarah Schofield
Warehouse Management Systems
Published by: B2B Publishing Ltd PO Box 3575, Barnet, Herts, EN5 9QD UK Tel: +44 (0) 1707 664200 Email (publishing): info@logisticsit.com Email (editorial): editor@ibcpub.com
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No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers. No liability is accepted for any action arising from the contents of this publication; readers are advised to check any manufacturer’s or supplier’s claim for products. The publishers do not endorse opinions expressed in any article by an outside contributor. While every care is taken over photographs and illustrations, which are returned when requested, no liability can be assumed by the publishers for the loss of such materials.
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SATO: Meeting the labelling needs of today’s manufacturing and logistics industries Datamax-O’Neil presents printing solutions at Retail Business Technology Expo 2015 Canon imagePRESS C600i brings production technology and premium quality output to offices and SMEs
Automatic Data Capture 44
AIDC/Mobile ComputingRed Hat outlines vision to help enterprise IT take ‘mobile first’ from hype to reality Tablet adoption in commercial segment to drive growth in Western Europe, says IDC PHS Teacrate’s barcode scanning system delivers efficient crate control
Transportation Management 47
ISSN:1463-1172
Raleigh gets back in the saddle with new WMS solution from BEC Vocollect by Honeywell: How Voice-directed warehouse technology is driving the competition forward Zebra Technologies: Six steps to flawless fulfilment
Printing & Labelling 40
Printed by: The Magazine Printing Company plc, www.magprint.co.uk
4
Frost & Sullivan identifies disruptive opportunities for Internet of Things TmaxSoft makes rapid expansion into global markets???? New Barloworld SCS software builds agility in supply chain networks??? QAD: The Cloud provides support for GINAF Trucks’ globalisation bid CFC Food Partners improves efficiency with BCP’s Accord
Mobile device integration starting to power fleet software sales Telematics & liability – the laws have changed Transport Exchange Group makes things quicker for owner drivers
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Interview
Williams F1 and Williams Advanced Engineering
In the driving seat Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Graeme Hackland, IT Director at Williams F1 Team, about the benefits the company derives from its existing IT portfolio, and its technology plans for the future. he new Williams Mercedes FW37 was unveiled in February ahead of the first pre-season test in Jerez, Spain. The F1 grid is now once again adorned with the red and blue stripes that have grown to be so iconic in motorsport, as Williams Martini Racing is looking to build on its successful 2014 campaign where the team achieved nine podium finishes and finished third in the Constructors’ Championship. The current season officially got under way at the first race in Melbourne, Australia, on 15 March. With these developments in mind, Manufacturing & Logistics IT thought it timely to speak with Williams’ IT director, Graeme Hackland, about how IT plays such an
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important part for the company, both in the world of F1 and in the wider field of technological innovation:
possible opportunity is. That really puts challenges of the things such as warehousing and work in progress. We also do ‘lifing’ of certain parts on the Formula One car, so we need to know how many kilometres of tracks is involved. And that really close just-in-time way of working means capacity planning can be really tricky; this is one of our big daily challenges.”
MLIT: What do you consider to be some of the main critical daily challenges for an F1 car designer and manufacturer from an IT perspective? GH: “The main challenge for a company like ours is that we take just-in-time manufacturing and design to the extreme. We work back from the when was the last possible moment we could fit a new part or add new performance to the car, and we work back through the manufacturing and design process in order to work out what the last
MLIT: Please provide an overview of Williams F1’s IT software and hardware estate, and the benefits these software packages/pieces of hardware afford the company. GH: “Williams has a largely virtualised
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Williams F1 and Williams Advanced Engineering
Interview
server estate. We have over half a petabyte of storage and use a Siemens CAD and PLM system. For some of our specialist technical departments such as Computational Fluid Dynamics – which is part of aerodynamics team – we use Star-CCM+ from CD-adapco. This has a lot of pre-and post-processing capability in addition to offering the high performance computing that’s really important to us. It’s almost like a virtual wind tunnel, and we put a lot of time and effort into computational fluid dynamics. “We also do some in-house development for some of the tools they use, such as the job scheduler. Being able to prioritise jobs is really important, especially as it’s a regulated part of Formula One. The other area I’d like to touch on is our Stress Department, which each year prepares a new car to make sure that it passes the crash tests and works on a lot of the dynamics of the car. The Stress Department uses tools from MSC such as Nastran, and currently use very much an on-premise hardware infrastructure. However, we’re looking to make use of Cloud because for three or four months of the year the Stress
Department team needs a much higher capacity than we can provide on-premise, so Cloud will give us that opportunity to be more flexible.
“Like many other companies, Microsoft Excel is one of the engineering tools that we use. We are starting to build more applications in order to help the team, but Excel is used widely. We’re also starting to create more databases in order to get the data to be more structured, then we can run more analytics. So, on the whole I think many engineering and manufacturing companies would recognise the types of systems in the virtualised environment that we run.” MLIT: Are any changes to your IT infrastructure scheduled to take place? GH: “Williams is currently undergoing IT changes. This process is part of a wider business transformation that was initiated by Claire Williams and Mike O’Driscoll our CEO, and includes looking at people process technology. We are being encouraged to question everything in order to return Williams to the front of the grid. To win again we need to make sure that we have the best worldclass tools available, so that’s why we are looking at this IT transformation and want to improve every aspect of our infrastructure and applications.”
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Interview
Williams F1 and Williams Advanced Engineering
and that includes our Williams Advanced Engineering division which does a lot of its own manufacturing and so on.”
biggest challenge for us is securely communicating with them and sharing data.”
MLIT: Please talk about your manufacturing, warehouse and logistics partners and how your IT systems help you to engage with them more efficiently?
Graeme Hackland: “We really are taking our knowledge and knowhow outside of Formula One in order to benefit other industries or society as a whole.” MLIT: Please talk about any areas of IT customisation at Williams. GH: “Williams as much as possible tries to use out-of-the-box solutions. There are, however, areas that you want to customise and bespoke, and very often that’s the competitive advantage applications specifically around data analytics; for example, where you have a very specific need at the track for strategy or data analytics in real-time, or post-event analysis. That’s where we are looking to do customisation, but otherwise like most engineering and factoring companies we want to use out-of-the-box as much as possible to make it easy to maintain and look after and really help the team to get the best use of the solutions that we have.”
GH: “Williams relies on a wide range of partners to help us achieve what we need to within both Formula One and within our Advanced Engineering division. The main thing to focus on here is around security, data loss prevention and the protection of IP. Therefore, we build these strong partnerships in order to make sure that the IP that we are creating – either jointly or for Williams – is used for our best advantage. We look at secure transmission of this data between ourselves and our partners, or sometimes we will create VPN (virtual private network) tunnels that will allow them to connect to systems in Grove and use these systems in order to help us with our design and manufacturing work. “Partners in warehousing and logistics are very important to Williams, especially across manufacturing, to help us achieve the very tight timeframes that we work to. So, the
MLIT: What type of Williams F1 or Williams Advanced Engineering technology is made commercially available to industries? GH: “For many years, Williams has been taking the technology it develops outside of Formula One, but over the past couple years has specifically set up the Williams Advanced Engineering division in order to commercialise F1 knowledge and knowhow in a wide range of industries. We developed the batteries for Formula E, we worked with Jaguar on the CX75 hybrid supercar, and that included aerodynamics, carbon composite manufacture, hybrid technologies etc. We’re also working with Nismo on Nissan performance cars, we’re introducing F1 energy storage technology into solar arrays with Hanergy, and we’ve been working with Hatch on products and services in mining and energy. “So you can see that there’s a wide range of industries that we work with outside of Formula One. And there are many more areas that we are not allowed to talk about. We really are taking our knowledge and knowhow outside of Formula One in order to benefit other industries or society as a whole.”
MLIT: Where does Williams’ design, manufacturing and testing take place? GH: “Other than the racetracks where obviously we go for all the Formula One races, we sometimes make changes to the car through the course of a race weekend. All of our design, manufacturing and aerodynamics activity takes place at Grove,
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Williams F1 and Williams Advanced Engineering
Interview
MLIT: What are Williams’ future plans for its IT infrastructure? GH: “The vast majority of IT services within Williams are currently on-premise, but it is our strategy to look towards either hybrid – where we will switch between a private Cloud and on-premise – or public Cloud services. For example, we are moving to Microsoft office 365, so will be using the Cloud email service. We are also looking at other areas of computation for Cloud, especially where we particularly need this flexible provision. Where we can’t provide an on-premise peak for a particular function then Cloud makes a lot of sense. “So, we are very definitely looking at Cloud and how we can leverage this either for cost savings – which is not always the big benefit you get out of it – but certainly the flexibility of provision. We’re looking at mobility and collaboration tools so that the people who
work regularly away from Grove are able to use the same tools and work in a very normal way. Also, one of the big focuses for us in terms of future plans is around data analytics
and information; to allow our engineers to make data-driven decisions and to offer the information they need in real-time or whenever they need it.”
A CLOSER LOOK AT WILLIAMS ADVANCED ENGINEERING Williams has expanded and diversified its business in recent years. Williams Advanced Engineering provides world-class technical innovation, engineering, testing, and manufacturing services to a diverse customer base and utilises cutting edge technology and knowhow honed by the Williams Martini Racing Formula One team. Williams Advanced Engineering specialises in the commercial application of advanced lightweight materials, hybrid power systems, and electronics derived from the extremely competitive world of Formula One. The team has specialist experience in offering improved systems solutions, cutting edge aerodynamics, vehicle chassis dynamics, and holistic integration capability, all within accelerated development timeframes. The company's comprehensive industry knowledge, specialist skills, and highly innovative products and services are helping to improve efficiency, safety, and performance in the motorsport, automotive, transport, and energy sectors. The capability of Williams Advanced Engineering can be observed by the versatility of its project portfolio, ranging from a novel bicycle electric drive, hybrid power systems for motorsport, automotive and energy applications, through to the Jaguar C-X75 hybrid supercar. Working in close collaboration with its customers, Williams Advanced Engineering helps them improve their performance, market position, and brand image while meeting the sustainability challenges of the 21st Century.
Williams Advanced Engineering’s core markets at a glance Sports science. Defence. Automotive. Motorsport. Marine. Civil Aerospace. Energy.
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Special Technology Report
ERP
On the pulse of pro duct ion, suppl y and demand
Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke to a number of experts from the vendor and analyst communities about recent developments in the world of ERP – including those concerning, rich analytics and Big Data, mobility and the Cloud/SaaS. The contributors also reflect on some of the key drivers for these developments, and consider what ERP users can likely look forward to in the not too distant future. evelopments in the world of
will require in-memory computing capabilities,
planning & execution, Aberdeen Group,
Enterprise Resource Planning
not only for handling Big Data but also ‘real’
explains that Aberdeen’s 2014 business
(ERP) solutions and related
real-time and new planning, simulation etc.
management and ERP benchmark survey
technology over the past year or
capabilities throughout the system – not just in
found the majority of organisations are utilising
two have been plentiful, covering
isolated places such as Sales & Operations
ERP to support their operations. “Traditionally
areas such as mobility, richer analytics, better
Planning (S&OP) or Material Requirements
ERP was seen as a one size fits all solution
demand forecasting and many more. We
Planning (MRP). Hestermann added:
company had multiple business units,” he said.
asked a select group of key spokespeople with
“Postmodern ERP is the response to the faster
“More recently, there has been much
a keen focus in this technology space to
speed of change which needs more business
discussion about managing multiple ERP
provide their take on what some of the
agility, and which cannot be supported with
implementations as a strategy in and of itself.
predominant and most important areas of
large monolithic ERP suites but rather needs
Best-in-class companies are 90 per cent more
change have been in the recent past.
more loosely coupled and more specialised
likely than others to have a multi-tiered ERP
D
applications – but without the chaos of the
strategy. In a multi-tiered ERP strategy, there is
In the view of Christian Hestermann, research
unstructured days of ‘best of breed’ (see note
from one standard ERP implementation for the
director ERP at Gartner, the main areas that
‘postmodern ERP is different from BoB’
corporate offices. This is often referred to as
have an influence on future of ERP include
264620). Together, these trends and
the ‘administrative ERP’.”
‘Nexus of Forces’: the combination of Cloud,
requirements require a rethinking of ERP
social, mobile and analytics (not each of them
strategy and a fundamental restructuring of the
Castellina added that additional ERP solutions
in isolation, but effects from combining some or
existing ERP/business applications landscape.”
that may offer different functionality or configurations are implemented at separate
all of them with each other). He also cites
locations. “Best in class companies are
developments related to the Internet of Things concept and the digitisation of business
Multi-tiered ERP strategy
recognising that one size does not fit all,” he
models. Hestermann explains that most of this
Nick Castellina, research director, business
remarked. “For example, an ERP that does a
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ERP
Christian Hestermann, research director ERP,
Special Technology Report
great global financial
Carter Lloyds, chief marketing officer at QAD,
ago would have proved to be cutting edge,”
rollup may not be
believes that, today and in the future, it is all
said Orme. “In many ways the main underlying
well suited to scale
about the user experience, and in his view ERP
differentiator is how latest technologies are
down to manage the
is becoming much more proactive. He
incorporated within ERP. Some ERP solutions,
needs of a specific
commented: “In the past, you could find the
let’s call them the ‘me toos’, are essentially a
assembly line. There
information you needed if you knew what
loose knit collection of bolt-ons, which may well
may also be
inquiries to make, but today modern ERP
be integrated to a certain degree. Others
localisation and
systems automatically greet the user with
however are designed from the outset to not
compliance issues
exceptions, waiting tasks and other important
just incorporate the latest functionality required
when using a ‘one
information. Much more than the simple
by manufacturers but to seamlessly integrate
size fits all’ ERP
dashboards of the past, the newest role based
this into the overall efficiency and effectiveness
strategy. These
ERP launch pads use sophisticated UI
of the solution.”
reasons make a
elements such as colours or motion to draw the
multi-tiered ERP strategy attractive for
user directly to the most important information
According to Orme, all this places more
organisations with geographically distributed
rather than presenting everything with the
emphasis on how intelligently ERP is put to
subsidiaries. This is especially evident in
same degree of importance.”
use, which puts more emphasis on the
organisations that are in the acquisition mode
underlying knowledge and expertise of the
and need to integrate new units with existing
In addition, because so much of the
ERP vendor to deliver the best possible results.
operations.
information is based on operational metrics,
For example, Orme makes the point that every
KPIs and business intelligence, Lloyds makes
manufacturer expects to have comprehensive
Castellina continues: “Of course, organisations
the point that ERP systems are incorporating BI
mobile connectivity, “but the real benefits come
using multiple ERPs need to be able to transfer
as an integral part of the ERP system so users
when you can demonstrate to them new and
data from one system to the other seamlessly.
receive the insight they need in near real time
innovative ways of working as a result of this
The best in class are 49 per cent more likely to
without the need to run queries or reports from
technology,” he said.
have integrated their business systems to be
a data warehouse. “Business intelligence is
one complete system of record. Consequently,
more pervasive and less of a bolt-on because
Steve Winder, regional vice president, UK &
this information is shared between these
users need insight into current status to do
Eire, Epicor Software UK, considers that
applications seamlessly and transparently.”
their jobs every minute of every day,” he
‘anytime, anywhere’ computing is becoming
remarked.
mainstream, especially with the proliferation of
As an example Castellina explains that a
mobile technology. “Once strictly chained to
corporate office could take an order for a
Lloyds also observes that the move to the
the office desktop, ERP software is now
product and then a remotely located subsidiary
Cloud has driven ERP companies to adopt a
increasingly becoming a device-centric mobile
could ship the order. “During this process,
simpler user interface, so that the total
technology, especially if its users have their
both ERP systems would communicate with
experience is more conducive to completing a
way,” he remarked. “There’s greater emphasis
each other automatically. The key benefit of a
task. “Rather than present every field in a table,
on what software can be used for, how that
multi-tiered ERP strategy is the ability to
for instance, modern UIs have role-based
software can be accessed and used and who
implement solutions in different business units
transaction screens that each user can
it can benefit than ever before. ERP has to shift
based on the needed functionality of those
personalise to their needs,” he explained. “This
its focus from being purely about deep
business units. While this saves the company
results in faster implementation times and less
functionality to being about broad usability and
money, it is only useful if these systems are
required training, so upgrading to a modern
the ability to make decisions based on ERP
able to communicate with the corporate
ERP system is easier to cost justify than ever
data. This is perhaps where ERP currently
standard.”
before.”
faces its greatest challenge.”
By creating a technology environment that fully
Jonathan Orme, sales operations & marketing
Winder added that access to data across
supports the needs of individual business units
manager for Exel Computer Systems, believes
devices has become an attractive prospect for
and locations, Castellina points out that
the key development drivers in ERP systems
large and small businesses alike – from mobile
organisations with a multi-tiered ERP strategy
remain the same as ever – meeting the current
phones, to tablets, and laptop computers.
perform more effectively in a variety of metrics.
and anticipated needs of manufacturers in an
“Executives and employees want real-time
These range from improved delivery,
increasingly global market. “The reality is that
access to information regardless of where they
execution, accuracy, and, ultimately, profit
the underlying technology of many ERP
are, evident by the increased adoption of
margins. “This is evidence that the multi-tiered
systems is now largely the same and
mobile solutions that we are seeing,” he said.
ERP strategy can lead to a more effective
manufacturers take for granted areas of
“There are significant investments being made
organisation as a whole,” he said.
functionality and connectivity which not so long
into extending enterprise applications on
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Special Technology Report
ERP
mobile devices.
materials then the finished products out. Also,
outsourced or offshored activity, companies
Businesses are using
they are able to look at what that means
need to think about how to support that from a
mobile ERP not just
regarding sales projections in terms of the
process IT perspective so that they can still
for reports and
cash that they are spending – what they’re
retain the level of control,” he said. “With the
dashboards, but for
giving to suppliers – and aligning the financial
right IT infrastructure this can give them the
conducting key
forecast performance with the supply chain
ability to adapt their supply chain to the
business processes.
forecast of sales and operations.”
changing circumstances that they face.”
needs are
Following on from Wilson’s remarks, John
According to Wilson, Capgemini is also seeing
demanding more
Lewins, managing consultant at Capgemini,
consumer products companies and
agile business
reflected that the challenge is to align orders,
manufacturers starting to think about the direct-
applications.”
sales, planning, forecasting etc. and come up
to-consumer model. “Previously, they tended
with numbers that are consistent, so that when
just to have a supply chain that delivered to
Winder explains that
there is a movement in one direction
their retail partners, but now more and more of
Epicor has also
companies understand what the budget and
them are realising they need to have the ability
noticed that social
stock implications are, etc.
to sell direct to consumers as well,” he said.
Real-time information Nick Castellina, research director, business planning & execution,
technologies that increase collaboration have
“ERP is facilitating this, making sure that the
become an integrated part of existing
manufacturer has the flexibility to service
enterprise applications. “It’s all about
Increased use of analytics
customers directly via Internet sales while also
accessing data to reveal key insights for better
Wilson is also seeing an increase in the use of
continuing to be able to deliver goods to the
faster decision making at every level in the
analytics to extend demand management –
stores. This is actually one of the challenges
organisation – from product development, to
looking at data analytics much more carefully
that ERP systems are facing; not the ERP
services, marketing and customer
and then feeding that into the way in which
vendors’ solutions per se, but ERP systems
engagement,” he said.
demand forecasts are made and how that can
used by consumer products companies need
feed the S&OP process. “Frequently, data
to have the ability to handle what might
analytics is done outside of ERP and then fed
effectively be very small orders direct from
Internet of Things
into it, but nonetheless we are increasingly
consumers, while also handling the often very
Another key opportunity for ERP to become far
seeing clients using things such as social
large orders from the retailers.”
more responsive and useful to its customers is
media listening,” he explained. “They are also
alongside the development of Internet of
using a variety of other types of ways of
Things (IoT), believes Winder. “In the near
gathering data so that they can then feed this
future every aspect of a manufacturing and
information into their forecasts. If you think of a
Motivation behind development
engineering company’s business will be
consumer products company they don’t sell to
What has driven these changes? Orme again
revolutionised,” he remarked. “Machines used
the general public per se, but sell to retailers
stresses that it is mostly due to the growing
in production are becoming increasingly
who then sell to the general public. However, if
demands made by manufacturers. “They don’t
connected, as are transportation and logistics
they harvest social media then they get
just want the latest system, they know they
networks as well as sales channels.”
insights that they can then use to drive their
need the know-how and expertise of the
forecasts. They can also get forecasts from
vendor to get the best from it as this is where
Steve Wilson, vice president at Capgemini
their retail partners and then use all the
they’ll generate their own competitive
Consulting, recognises a trend for integration in
information to hand to drive the process of
advantage,” he said.
terms of business planning from a financial
determining whether they should follow either
perspective through to a product and unit
the retail forecast of the social media forecast
Winder makes the point that Epicor customers
forecasting perspective. He commented: “For
or a bit of both. The art is to use that extra set
are facing a barrage of information about how
some organisations these things remain quite
of data which can be closely defined in terms
new disruptive technologies will change the
separate. However, in the best organisations
of regions and specific types of products. This
face of manufacturing – mobile, social,
we see those as being not just joined but
can give a clearer overall picture.”
analytics, cloud, the Internet of Things, nanotechnology, 3D printing and more. “But
integrated at a data level and integrated using ERP capabilities. We have seen that as a
Additionally, Wilson is seeing a continued
the use cases for these technologies are still
significant move over the past two or three
focus on companies understanding what it is
only just emerging,” he remarked. “Our goal is
years where large organisations have invested
that makes them different, while also
to share insight on what technologies are going
in joining up their view of the data so that
understanding what they do that is
to make a difference to customers as these
they’re able to analyse not just the flow of
undifferentiated and that could be either
use cases evolve and the business cases for
product into their company but the raw
outsourced or offshored. “In the case of
them become stronger. This is where our
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opportunities lie, helping customers find
streamlining business processes,” he said.
sources of business value and competitive
“And they’re saying ‘Wait a minute! Why can’t
Integration
advantage.” Winder added that since its
this be as easy as Amazon?’ Companies are
Have ways of best integrating ERP with other
beginnings over 25 years’ ago ERP has
looking for more flexibility in defining and
systems developed to any notable degree over
changed boundless numbers of businesses in
personalising processes. Workflow is just too
the past year or two? Wilson believes
fundamental ways; integrating, automating and
simplistic to make real process changes, so
integration is less of a problem than it was a
improving their operations. “The Internet,
they are turning to more powerful tools such as
few years ago. “Within the companies we’re
alongside miniaturisation of technology and
business process management to squeeze
working with we’re finding increasingly that
mobile and wireless, has introduced computing
every drop of efficiency out of their existing
there’s a common architecture for integration –
into every aspect of our lives and our
ERP systems.”
basically a service bus-type process whereby all the integration feeds into and then feeds
expectations of what can be achieved have Wilson considers that there is continued
from this to the ERP and back again,” he
pressure on cost and returns, which is one of
explained. “This makes it less expensive and
According to Lloyds, the rise of the Internet has
the key drivers for development. He
therefore quicker to
driven many of the changes. “For example,
commented: “We are very close to a
integrate new
everybody knows how to place an order on
deflationary environment and yet wage
elements, whether
Amazon; there’s no training required,” he said.
inflation and product or material price inflation
they’re supply chain,
“Why can’t an ERP system’s order entry have
is cutting in. So for a product manufacturer it’s
CRM or mobile
the same ease and fluidity? So you will see a
very important to manage the cost base and
elements etc. Some
lot more of a ‘consumer-like’ interface. It’s still
therefore there’s a lot of focus on how to drive
of the software tools
powerful functionality, but cloaked in a simple,
out cost through improved efficiencies; and
that deliver service
friendly and personalised user experience.”
ERP can help in relation to this. We see
bus capability and
consumer expectations continue to accelerate
ERP vendors each
Lloyds added that moving ERP to the Cloud
in terms of product availability and how
have their own kind of
has also driven a lot of change. “When the IT
quickly they can get what they want. All of
tool for doing that. So
team is freed from the mundane day-to-day
these kinds of things still remain as significant
we’re seeing this as a
tasks, they can focus on strategic initiatives like
pressures.”
trend rather than the
changed dramatically as a result,” he said.
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ERP
historic way, which was more around using
traditional ERP vendors, organisations can look
system, Raleigh now has the real-time
middleware or point-to-point mapping.”
to standalone CRM, financial and inventory
business intelligence that it would not have had
management systems and still have options to
if it was part of a separate system,” said
Hestermann considers that integration has
extend those solutions into more traditional
Briggs.
become much more important, mainly under
ERP territory.”
the influence of Cloud and postmodern ERP.
Winder points out modern ERP platforms are
“ERP systems now offer more APIs and more
Orme observes that ERP systems have moved
now supported by open and flexible
options to integrate,” he said. “In addition,
away from older middleware connectivity, and
architectures that encourage and embrace the
Cloud-based integration platforms and Cloud
points out that the majority of serious ERP
integration of other applications, enable greater
service brokerage providers are evolving (see
systems now offer what on the surface appear
collaboration with business partners, and use
the Gartner paper: ‘The Role of CSB in the
to be similar levels of integrated functionality
new technologies without requiring the
Cloud Services Value Chain’). However, this
that were traditionally the preserve of third-
wholesale replacement of infrastructure or
also means that end user organisations will be
party bolt-ons or specialist systems. “While this
applications. “We believe ERP solutions will
even more responsible for building and
has removed some of the legacy problems
continue to become more agile, more adaptive
maintaining application integrations than
customers used to face, where they were left
and more flexible – all of which lowers the total
before.”
with three vendors each pointing the finger of
cost of ownership and encourages business to
blame at each other, often the increased
think more strategically about how they can
As companies are deploying more and more
functionality in some ERP systems is the result
use technology to drive competitive
applications in the Cloud, Lloyds maintains that
of loosely incorporating these other third party
advantage,” he said.
integration methods have had to change to
systems,” he said. “So, while there may be only
keep pace. “The old style point-to-point
one system vendor to deal with, in reality your
integration might have worked when all the
system may comprise a number of sub-
Mobility and ERP
applications were on premise, but it doesn’t
systems. As Exel supplies a fully integrated
Has the increased trend for the integration of
work when one or more of the apps are in the
system, designed in-house in the UK, if there’s
mobile/field service devices with back-office
Cloud,” he said. “What if one is on premise and
ever a problem anywhere throughout the
ERP systems provided improved business and
one in the Cloud, or if you’re running two apps
solution, our customers know who to come to
operational benefits for the end user?
in two different public Clouds? Forward-
in order to get it resolved.”
Hestermann answers in the affirmative. “This is
thinking ERP companies have addressed this
one example of one of the forces of the Nexus
need by re-architecting their systems, so all
Andrew Briggs, technical director at BEC,
(in this case, mobility), by better managing
tables are addressable through APIs. This
considers that the better ERPs try to address
remote assets, e.g. in the utilities and services
enables a tool such as Dell Boomi to integrate
all of the business needs in terms of putting
industries,” he said.
apps easily regardless of where they’re
together various operational or application
running.”
strands such as CRM, Sales & Marketing
Briggs highlights two key aspects – recording
Management, Enterprise Asset Management,
processes and transactions in real-time,
Eric Kimberling, president of Panorama
WMS, Supply Chain and Service &
thereby facilitating increased accuracy of data
Consulting Solutions, considers that ERP
Maintenance; i.e. putting together different
and greater levels of productivity for people
software will no longer be limited to ERP.
systems, which may have been separate
that are doing the work. Briggs points out that
“Salesforce used to simply be a CRM vendor –
systems with integration links, into one
one major benefit is that managers, shift
albeit a very strong competitor in that space,”
common environment so that all of the
supervisors etc. are able to access business
he pointed out. “With its increasing ecosystem
information is shared across the business
information, reports, dashboards and so on
of apps and bolt-ons
through one solution rather than many. “The
from mobile devices such as mobile phones
designed to address
better ERPs are achieving this by having a
and iPads. “The information is to hand – they
the things the
common architecture upon which all of these
don’t need to dial in or call somebody up in
software can’t do on
modules are built,” he said. “This is called
order to see this up-to-date information,” he
its own, it is
‘Service-Oriented Architecture.’ This is the
said.
becoming clear that
platform that brings all of these parts together
Salesforce and other
as it has been written purely to achieve this.”
Orme comments that Exel has been at the
non-ERP vendors are Steve Winder, regional vice president, UK & Eire,
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IT
disrupting ERP
In the case of BEC customer Raleigh, for
consequently is at the cutting edge of working
software as we once
example, BEC has enabled warehouse
with manufacturers to develop this in areas that
knew it. Now, rather
functionality in Raleigh’s ERP system so the
meet their ever changing requirements.
than simply
company hasn’t had to go out and purchase a
According to Orme, one example of this is the
considering the
WMS. “As a result of bringing this into the ERP
increased use of CRM within a field service
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environment and the development of Exel’s
benefits because they can see who in their
from the idea of
Service CRM capabilities. “After all, CRM is all
field has the right skills and the right inventory
batching and begin
about interactions and not just sales,” he
to correct a customer problem, so they can
thinking in terms of
stresses. “Using this, manufacturers can track,
dispatch the closest available tech who meets
real-time or quasi
automate and have complete visibility not just
the requirements,” he said. “This has enabled
real-time processing.
of customer and prospect information, but all
them to improve technician utilisation and cut
Traditionally, ERP
relational/interactional information. And
repair and maintenance costs because they
systems have tended
because in our case, field service functionality
close more calls in a single visit rather than
to work in a batch-
can be included as part of your ERP solution,
have to send someone back for a second or
type environment, so
this includes all relevant manufacturing and
third attempt. It also makes it easy for the tech
moving towards
production data where required.”
to record time and materials, so invoicing
having four runs a
happens quickly and accurately, speeding up
day improves the
Winder considers that good ERP has answered
cash flow and reducing disputes. Since so
ability to run high
the call for increased responsiveness,
much equipment is custom configured today,
quality forecasts and to better react to changes
becoming much more focused on supporting
integration with ERP allows techs to see the ‘as
in demand.” Wilson added that this does,
critical relationships, decisions, change and
built’ configuration rather than the standard
however, require the business processes
innovation, rather than just efficiently managing
model, further helping to reduce costs.
underneath to be set up to be able to deliver
the status quo. “Increasing responsiveness can
Customers are happier too because they get
against that. “We are seeing companies
help a business improve operational
their equipment up and running faster so it
moving towards this kind of model and actually
performance and accelerate its productivity,
helps to reduce downtime.”
implementing it because it makes things more
through information being available at people’s
Steve Wilson, vice president,
nimble than doing things on a daily basis,” he
fingertips and allowing more informed and
Kimberling believes there will be continued
rapid decision making,” he said. “Historically,
adoption both of mobile and business
information in businesses was limited in volume
intelligence solutions. “As some companies
and ‘passive’; i.e. there when (you knew) you
strive to leverage low-hanging fruit in their ERP
The Cloud and SaaS option
needed it, if you were lucky. This stifled
initiatives, more will invest in mobile solutions
Has the Software as a Service (SaaS) model,
responsiveness because you usually had to
and business intelligence software to get more
and the Cloud concept in general, had any
put time and effort into getting the right
out of their existing ERP systems,” he
notable level of impact on the ERP market so
information. As businesses increased their use
commented. “Organisations will recognise that
far? Hestermann considers that the answer
of systems, information became more prolific
newer ERP systems will not necessarily help
depends on two key questions: what is meant
and ‘active’ – structured data analysed to drive
them make better use or sense of business
by ERP, and what is meant by Cloud? “Cloud
answers to key questions. This helped
information without the tools to better support
is not equal SaaS; SaaS is a special flavour of
organisations to know what they needed to do,
decision-making among employees and key
Cloud, with three main characteristics: It is
but problems of data overload often limited the
decision-makers. In addition, executive teams
externally hosted and managed by the
organisation’s ability to act. It was difficult to
will be under growing pressure to increase
provider. It is delivered in a one-to-many
see the wood from the trees in the time
revenue, which will put more pressure on their
model. It is subscribed to on a pay-per-use
available.”
employees to provide decision-making tools
basis. It is important to note that it does not
and dashboards designed to support
have to be multi-tenant per se.”
Winder points out that, now, information is
remarked.
executives’ need for information.”
becoming intuitive. “It’s hidden from us in plain
Hestermann adds that certain ERP domains
sight and doesn’t weigh us down, but is
What Wilson has seen among many Capgemini
such as purchasing, HR and e-commerce
increasingly fed to us in the right format and
clients over the past year is that instead of
have absolutely been transformed by SaaS. “In
context at the time we need it, in the form of
looking at a daily cycle where they run a series
broader ERP deployments, Cloud is mainly
succinct answers to questions,” he said. “This
of batch jobs and provide the updates
relevant as Cloud-hosted or for private Cloud,”
evolution of data in organisations is one of the
between the lower-level systems, the ERP is
he continued. “For complete suites, SaaS had
key reasons we’re able to become more
increasingly looking at running multiple waves
only a major impact on the ERP market for
responsive, but it also is the reason we
within a day. “These companies might have
SMBs. For a company in the upper midmarket
continue to demand more responsiveness at
four batch runs and start thinking in a different
or a large enterprise, the one-to-many nature of
the same time.”
way because of that,” he said. “Moreover,
SaaS is not a good fit to the level of
some clients are going beyond that and
differentiation and individualisation these
Lloyds reflects that the increased part that
considering how they could use the Hana-type
companies need. In order to obtain business
mobility now plays has been a major benefit to
capability of SAP to do more in-memory
value from SaaS ERP, companies need to
customers as well as users. “The company
processing. So, they can start to move away
adapt to highly standardised applications used
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ERP
‘as-is’ (see the Gartner paper: ‘Standardise
Cloud solutions for manufacturers, preferring
Wilson observes that some companies are
Business Processes and Implement
instead to focus on the technology itself,” said
going down the hybrid model, i.e a mix of ERP
Governance to Maximise Business Value of
Winder. “With the economic pressures of the
and SaaS solutions integrated together, and
SaaS ERP’).”
last few years, adoption of Cloud-based
use ERP as the holder of the master data.
solutions has therefore been difficult to justify
Lewins adds that Capgemini is also seeing
Kimberling sees blurred lines between SaaS
against competitive demands for capital and
many clients using open source software with
and on-premise ERP software. “For years,
resources. However, we believe we will see
some integration functionality, reporting and
organisations (ourselves included) have been
growth as more forward thinking manufacturing
analytics. “It’s a low cost of entry but there
obsessed with the SaaS versus on-premise
organisations look to extend business
remain questions, especially within a
debate,” he said. “As the dust of the debate
processes into their value chain, their
manufacturing environment, in terms of
begins to settle, it appears that we may have
customers and their suppliers to improve
validating things such as resilience, the
been arguing a moot point. ERP vendors are
service and drive cost out of the supply chain.”
upgrade path and the support that’s behind
increasingly more likely to offer both SaaS and
this,” he said. “Also, with things such as
on-premise solutions to their customers, and, in
Winder observes that the rapid evolution of
Salesforce.com in the marketplace it gives
many cases, organisations are adopting both.
global business has changed the ways in
companies access to extend functionality
The real grey area is with hybrid solutions that
which companies approach the deployment of
quicker than they may typically find with ERP.
host on-premise solutions in the Cloud, which
ERP solutions. “Today’s need for agility and
So it’s opening up new opportunities, but some
is a solution more of our clients are starting to
responsiveness has increased the demand for
questions remain.”
adapt as a way to get the best of both worlds.”
choices, and customers need to be able to use the same product whether they want it
Far from greeting the Cloud with fear and
Orme observes that every year the benefits of
deployed on-premise or in the Cloud, on a
trepidation as they once did, Lloyds observes
the SaaS model are pushed by those vendors
desktop PC, or on a tablet or smartphone,” he
that progressive CIOs now consider the Cloud
with a vested interest in doing so. “Whilst our
said. “They also need the freedom to change
to be a strategic preference. “In fact, as they
software can be operated in a hosted
how it is deployed without having to configure
become aware of the simplicity, flexibility and
environment, and some customers are
and implement a different solution, allowing
security of the Cloud, we see more and more
currently doing this, every year we still see the
them to upgrade faster and stay current with
companies considering the Cloud as a
majority of our customers preferring to operate
technological advances.”
strategic choice rather than a simple
using the on-premises model,” he said.
deployment option,” he remarked. “IT finds that In an increasingly competitive environment,
when they are freed up from day to day
Winder explains that, in Epicor’s experience,
Winder believes deployment choice is a
mundane tasks such as backups and setting
the uptake of Cloud for fully integrated ERP
significant advantage for companies seeking
up users, they can focus on more strategic
solutions from manufacturers in EMEA has
an agile response to constantly changing
initiatives such as streamlining the company’s
been slow so far. “The concept of running an
market conditions. “With modern ERP,
differentiating business processes.”
entire ERP solution in the Cloud is still relatively
companies are not forced to compromise
new and we are in an education phase where
because of the way they want to deploy their
Lloyds sees more and more companies turning
manufacturers are exploring the benefits,” he
solutions,” he remarked. “Before, if a
to ERP in the Cloud as a strategic choice.
said. However, Winder adds that while the
business wanted to move from on-premise to
“Some Cloud ERP vendors make it hard for
adoption of Cloud seems relatively low, it is on
the Cloud, it could potentially mean
their customers to move to the Cloud because
the rise and he believes this could help
sacrificing functionality and forcing end
they don’t have or support an on premise
manufacturers to meet their product
users to move from one user experience to
model,” he said. “Large global multi-nationals
improvement and
another. However, with modern enterprise
can’t just convert all their sites in a day or even
cost competition
solutions these potential restraints are
a few months, so ERP vendors have to offer a
goals through, for
eliminated. Some businesses may not yet be
way for systems to co-exist regardless of the
example, easier
comfortable with Cloud deployment, either
deployment method. The coexistence strategy
collaboration in the
for their entire system or as a hybrid. Having
can’t be about doing tasks offline or manually
supply chain and
the choice means customers can make a
entering adjustments. The system has to be
lower cost of IT
decision today to choose on-premise
designed to function seamlessly in both
ownership. “We
deployment, knowing that at some point in
environments and to look and feel to users as if
believe the IT
the future they can choose to move to the
it’s a single deployment.”
industry has been
Cloud without having to change their
slow to demonstrate
product. There is no need to learn a new
Lloyds maintains that some ERP vendors are
the value and return
application or go through another
so wedded to the ‘pure Cloud’ definition
on investment for
implementation.”
promoted by industry pundits that they forget
John Lewins, managing consultant,
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that their customers are real businesses with
will minimise training and conversion costs. On
to choose on-premise
real needs. “Companies in regulated industries
the other hand, if your vendor hasn’t been seen
deployment, knowing
such as life sciences can’t have their business
since the day you went live or you’re tired of
that at some point in
processes changing on a daily basis or
dealing with cumbersome functionality
the future they can
whenever the Cloud provider pushes changes
designed to support industries you aren’t in,
choose to move to
to them,” he said. “If that happens, they have
maybe it’s time to switch. In any case, it should
the Cloud without
to get recertified by all the regulatory bodies in
be as much about the relationship you have
having to change
the countries where they do business, which is
with the ERP vendor as it is about functionality.
their product.”
a painful and expensive proposition. The same
And don’t worry about technology if you’re
holds true for many companies that are ISO
considering the cloud. Let the ERP vendor
Orme comments that
certified, or who have been certified by any
manage all that while you focus on running
Exel is in the enviable
industry or regulatory body. So Cloud vendors
your business.”
position of having
Andrew Briggs, technical director,
customers still using
need to understand the realities of their customers’ businesses and industries, and
Hestermann considers that both the upgrade
EFACS 10, 15 and 20 years after initial
allow customers to have some degree of
and replace options can make sense,
implementation. “As such we have customers
control over the timing of upgrades and code
depending on the individual situation of the
who have steadily upgraded their EFACS
changes just as they would on premise.”
company (see the Gartner paper: ‘Postmodern
system as and when required in order to keep
ERP: When Staying With On-Premises ERP Is
meeting their needs,” he remarked. “We also
Lloyds adds that Cloud ERP is growing
the Right Choice.). In some special cases, he
have customers that had ripped out legacy
globally at more than twice the rate of the
believes there is even a case for migrating
systems from other vendors and replaced them
overall ERP market, so he believes companies
legacy applications to the Cloud.
with EFACS because their former systems didn’t meet their needs. That, at the end of the
obviously recognise its benefits. “The advantages that the Cloud offers makes its
Wilson points out that some of Capgemini’s
day, is the core factor for most manufacturers –
adoption an increasingly easier decision to
clients are still operating AS/400. He
does their ERP meet their requirements? Yes,
make,” he said.
commented: “This system is still very good at
there is always the additional potential
acting as an interface layer, so all the
disruption caused by implementing a new
integration is already there. And some users
system and for some manufacturers, a failed
Upgrade or ‘rip and replace’?
are swapping in pieces of functionality and
ERP implementation can mean a failed
using, in some cases, ERP-type capability and
business. However, what we are increasingly
Is there still a case for upgrading legacy ERP,
plugging that in, and in other cases using
finding, as ERP systems become more similar,
or is it now better to ‘rip and replace’? Briggs
SaaS-type capability and plugging that in.
is the role and value of the relationship with the
believes it would depend on the levels of
AS/400 being used as a kind of interface map
supplier. Customers want security and peace
modifications already in place, and whether
makes sense because switching it off and then
of mind not just in the early days of a system,
they are needed. “If they are heavily
replacing it can be a major undertaking in
but also in the years of ownership that follow,
entrenched in some bespoke functionality, this
terms of integration. Maintaining AS/400 as the
where the system may need further
will push them down the path of keeping what
interface layer means it doesn’t actually have
development and customising to adapt to
they’ve got,” he remarked.
any functional requirement anymore; it simply
future business and market conditions.”
passes messages backwards and forwards Lloyds considers there are pros and cons on
and therefore becomes cheaper to run while
Orme adds that, again, this brings Exel back to
both sides. “Truthfully, most ERP systems are
giving users more time to start to streamline
keeping an eye to the future and being ready
very similar in terms of the functionality they
and, eventually, maybe replace it with a
for future client requirements. “If the client has
offer,” he said. “One might have a little more of
services bus.”
outgrown their current system and needs to implement an up-to-date solution, the first port
this while another has a little more of that, but overall they are functionally at parity. So the
Winder maintains that there is definitely a case
of call will always be their current vendor,” he
issue becomes one of industry focus and your
for upgrading. However he adds that
said. “If that vendor hasn’t been investing in
comfort level with the vendor. If your current
businesses need to make sure to invest in a
development and cannot offer the functionality,
ERP vendor understands your industry and
system that has the capability and flexibility to
speed, and stability required by their client, the
they’ve given you good support over the years,
be able to evolve to meet future needs. “A
chances of retaining that client are slim.”
why not upgrade rather than rip and replace? If
perfect example of this is that some
you’ve customised your system so extensively
businesses may not yet be comfortable with
that you can’t do a simple upgrade, it’s still
Cloud deployment, either for their entire system
The role of Big Data
going to be easier to go with your existing ERP
or as a hybrid,” he said. “Having the choice
How can technology trends such as Big Data
vendor than a different company, because you
means customers can make a decision today
help to gain the best out of ERP systems?
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ERP
Winder reflects that, in the case of Big Data, the
predictive analysis for equipment maintenance,”
makes some stand out from others is the
focus is the insight that data gives companies.
he said.
flexibility of what certain users can customise
“The availability of precise real-time data means
without modifying the system and be flexible –
that manufacturers no longer need to make
In addition, Lloyds believes Big Data can be
i.e. flexible desktops and workflows,” he said.
crucial decisions based on gut feel or past
very helpful in streamlining the supply chain,
“This enables them to do what they need to do
experience; they get a dynamic view of the
where one might consider how to manage
within the existing system without trying to
intricacies of their business from end-to end,” he
sourcing in countries based on local weather
create something of their own; i.e. desktops,
said. “This is driving a revolution in the way that
conditions or political events. “You might also
dashboards and workflows.”
leading manufacturers use complex data to gain
consider those same factors when forecasting
competitive advantage and streamlines
demand in various regions,” he added. “POS
Lloyds reflects that some ERP vendors focus on
processes. Improved visibility into the
data can be extremely helpful in letting you fine
the breadth of their offering. He commented:
manufacturing process makes it possible to
tune production and distribution schedules or in
“They provide every conceivable functionality for
track trends, identify problem areas such as
predicting the effect of temperature or humidity
the 25 to 30 industries and additional multiple
wastage, facilitates precise quoting, accurate
on production throughput in processes that are
sub-industries they support. This makes their
procurement and better planning; all of which
sensitive to environmental changes.”
systems harder to implement and use for their
have a direct impact your customers ensuring
customers, and it contributes to long and
that you meet their needs promptly and more
expensive implementations. Other vendors,
Differentiators
QAD among them, focus on providing real
What are some of the main functionality
functional depth for a small number of focus
Briggs comments that much of the business
differentiators among the ERP vendor
verticals. This means every business process is
intelligence in BEC’s solutions to date has
community? Hestermann reflects that it depends
tailored to the focus industry – in our case,
focused on users; for example, the
on what market the vendors target. “Industry-
manufacturing.”
performance/productivity of operatives. “We
depth and solving the major trends are key,” he
expect that we are going to see much more use
reiterated. Orme again references the growing
By now, most ERP systems are close
of the masses of data that can be gathered
role and value that the manufacturer places in
functionally, added Lloyds, so in his view it
through our production line systems – sensors,
the relationship with the vendor. “To many
becomes more about how much the vendor
measuring, testing equipment, robots etc. –
manufacturers, the size and fit of the vendor and
understands a particular industry and how good
giving the ability to monitor all business process,
manufacturer matters a great deal, as does
they are at working with their customers. As an
transparently across many sites,” he said. “The
where the vendor is based (UK v US), and
example of going the extra mile to build strong
large volumes of quantitative data will enable
whether the vendor is a reseller or author,” he
customer relationships, Lloyds referenced
very accurate measurement and forecasting of
said.
QAD’s customer engagement programme. “We
efficiently.”
resources – labour, energy, materials etc. –
meet with every one of our customers at least
providing immediate real-time quality and
According to Winder, company managers and
once a year to understand their strategic
reliability measures, with triggers for anomalies,
CIOs today are looking for ERP solutions that
objectives and to offer advice and guidance on
and exceptions which can then be handled
combine quality and reliability, with visionary
how they can get more out of their QAD ERP
immediately.”
technology that can help them meet ever
investment,” he said. “We do this at no charge,
changing business requirements. “A solid ERP
because we believe that unless our customers
Lloyds comments that Big Data and ERP can
platform can help an organisation not only
are happy and using the system well, we
exist side by side, with ERP using insight
reduce costs and streamline processes, but
haven’t done our jobs. Our strategy is to help
provided by the Big Data engine to adjust plans
also increase the flexibility and agility that’s
our customers become what we refer to as the
and simulations. “Big
needed to succeed in a competitive
Effective Enterprise. In an Effective Enterprise,
Data is about very
marketplace,” he remarked. “What is important
every business process is working at peak
rapid changes in high
is that the ERP system needs to have the
efficiency and in perfect alignment to the
volumes of data
flexibility to be able to upgrade and to stay
company’s strategic goals. That’s our goal for
coming from multiple
modern to be able to cope with future trends,
every one of our customers.”
sources and in
including cloud, mobile and social. This way,
multiple formats, and
customers will stay loyal and not stray to more
most ERP systems
future-proofed competitors.”
An eye on the future
can benefit from it in a Eric Kimberling, president,
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IT
Briggs makes the point that ERP solutions tend
and developments to look out for over the next
forecasting and
to be aligned to specific verticals; for example,
year or two? Orme’s view is that there is no
supply chain
certain providers are good at food & beverage,
avoiding the continuing evolution and innovation
simulations or
some are very good in manufacturing. “What
in the type of devices that people will use to
MANUFACTURING
&LOGISTICS
What might be the next key ERP innovations
few areas such as
March 2015
www.logisticsit.com
ERP
Special Technology Report
more sophisticated
main benefits from investing in BI solution is the
is finally happening. A new look at the user
tablets and
ability to provide faster and easier access to the
interfaces from ERP vendors such as JD
smartphones, to more
needed data. BI enables companies to gain
Edwards, Epicor and Infor all reveal that this
intuitive touchscreens
more complete and more structured knowledge
may be the year that enterprise software starts
on the production
about what has a positive effect on business
to close the usability gap with the social media
floor, getting accurate
performance, as well as what actions can cause
giants. This is good news for those of us
data into and out of
harm. Easy access to such information enables
concerned with organisational change
the system, will
quick reaction – companies may take
management and user adoption of new ERP
become simpler,” he
advantage from opportunities and eliminate
systems.”
said. “As mentioned
adverse effects. BI also allows companies to
before, this will then
create reports, and to significantly reduce the
Hestermann comments that the biggest
place the onus on
time needed to complete them. Information
innovation will come from adding machine
how the latest
gained from the reports also supports sales and
learning and more ‘intelligence’ to ERP systems.
technologies can then be used by the ERP
marketing departments in creating campaigns
"Imagine a system that proactively recognises
system and the business as a whole to generate
and offers better tailored to clients’ needs.”
and alerts the users of any event that might
Carter Lloyds, chief marketing officer,
competitive advantage.”
negatively impact customer satisfaction: why Kimberling believes best-of-breed systems will
would anyone have to search for that
Lloyds believes we will see every ERP system
make a comeback. “Non-ERP software vendors
information?,” he said.
introducing a new, more streamlined user
are providing compelling reasons to adopt their
interface over the next year or two. He adds that
solutions and integrate to others to provide
Nick Castellina considers that best-in-class
we will also see more companies getting serious
comprehensive enterprise solutions,” he said.
organisations are realising that one size fits all is
about mobile. “QAD has had mobile
“Now that there are more options on the table,
not necessarily accurate when it comes to ERP
applications for years, including business
organisations will no longer be hamstrung by a
implementations. “Top performing organisations
intelligence, mobile approvals and user
relatively limited subset of complete, standalone
are looking to multi-tiered ERP strategy is to
customisable ‘collections’ of our functionality,
ERP systems. This is good news when it comes
optimise costs and functionality among multiple
but we will be adding more and more mobile
to having more options, but bad news in that it
business units,” he said. “This may be because
transactions,” he pointed out. “As mentioned
will make the ERP software selection process
the organisation is in a phase where it is rapidly
previously, I think you will see BI becoming
even more overwhelming.”
attempting to open new business units or
more of an integral part of ERP and less of an
purchase those units in other countries.
add-on application. And of course, companies
Kimberling also maintains that integration and
Organisations that are embarking on a growth
will be trying to move to the Cloud.
solution architecture will become increasingly
strategy should carefully consider a multi-tiered
Manufacturing ERP in the Cloud has been a
important. “The increase of best-of-breed ERP
strategy. They can therefore improve their
tough problem for ERP vendors who don’t
systems will put more pressure on CIOs and
efficiency and visibility across business units,
understand it the way we do, but I don’t think
ERP consultants to provide better integration
while keeping costs low.”
you’ll see that changing in the short term. I also
between systems and address potential silos of
think you will see more companies moving
processes and data that often come with the
Lewins looks forward to improved cost control
toward shop floor reporting using automatic
territory,” commented. “As a result, solution
through demand sensing and better inventory
sensors and devices rather than manual
architecture and integration will become
management up and down the supply chain;
reporting, and ERP systems will evolve to take
increasingly important competencies required to
better control of outsourced operations –
advantage of the integration of the Internet of
support effective ERP implementations.”
whether that is contract manufacturing,
Things.”
logistics or testing; and realising the tangible Additionally, Kimberling points to convergence
benefits of aligning S&OP and Integrated
Winder believes the key thing over the next few
of ERP and consumer user interfaces. “For the
Business Planning (IBP) with the financial
years is to keep up with ever-evolving
last decade or so, we’ve seen the proliferation of
forecasts and the demand and supply
technologies to future-proof the businesses; for
mainstream consumer social media platforms,
forecasts. Lewins added that Capgemini is
example, with social ERP. “People increasingly
such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,” he
also receiving many enquiries now
want simpler, more intuitive tools to help them
said. “However, ERP systems have always
concerning the impact of Industry 4.0, the
make business decisions that fit in with their
maintained a different, more complex and less
Internet of Things and what that means in
working patterns rather than defining working
consumer-friendly look and feel – until now. It
terms of greater capabilities – how companies
patterns for them,” he said.
was bound to happen eventually as more
can become much more agile and do more
millennials entered the workforce and
with less.
Another area to look out for, according to
demanded more consistency in their work
Winder, is business intelligence (BI). “One of the
versus social technologies, and it appears that it
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\\\ Manufacturing \\\
Insight
ERP in the aerospace sector Celebrating 30 years’ experience of delivering tangible, real world benefits to manufacturers across most business sectors, leading UK ERP author Exel Computer Systems plc has accumulated a particularly high level of insight and understanding regarding the most critical demands made on ERP systems within different markets. Aerospace manufacturers have long relied on this expertise and here Exel shares the most important factors these companies are taking into consideration when deciding on their ERP investment.
he common theme that runs
T
through them all is an absolute commitment to quality and safety, whether what is being supplied is an individual precision machined
component or an entire wing section or engine assembly. At the heart of providing this is the necessity for complete product traceability and serialisation. As Andrew Wallace, IT manager at Martin Aerospace said: ““Quality control and traceability is central to our business. Not just at a batch or individual product level, but right down to every process on every raw material item. One faulty bolt is enough to potentially bring down a plane – so there can be no margin for error.”
Complete product traceability
Complete traceability is essential at individual component level
Whereas earlier ERP systems often had to
‘out of the box’ reducing initial cost and
generating the relevant documents, scanning
rely on third-party solutions or costly
ongoing overheads.
and filing these, and then tailoring them to the
bespoke programming, modern state-of-the-
different requirements of individual customers.
art systems such as EFACS E/8 have
Linked to this is the requirement for
Modern ERP systems, designed with the
complete product traceability, batch and/or
aerospace ERP systems to provide full
needs of the aerospace sector in mind,
serialisation, as standard. EFACS E/8 offers
certification and document control. In earlier
provide automated and integrated
the flexibility and configuration possibilities
ERP systems with basic capabilities, this still
functionality via a combination of workflow
of both backwards and forwards traceability
involved a lot of duplication in terms of
and document management. This dovetails seamlessly with the system’s traceability as all relevant certification/documentation is linked at either a batch or serial number level. The third element that works in partnership with this functionality is the First Action Inspection Requirement (FAIR). Each manufacturer will have their own process logic which conforms to rigorous aerospace requirements that determines when a
Intricately machined spar.
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complete inspection is required. It also
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Insight
\\\ Manufacturing \\\
defines the full extent of any inspection that is to be carried out. Again, once the preserve of third-party suppliers or costly bespoke work, modern systems have been designed from the outset to deliver fully automated and configurable workflow as standard. This provides a failsafe against any future changes in procedure as the system can be quickly and easily updated to reflect the latest underlying logic.
Ease of customisation Non-Conformance Management (NCM) is another key requirement aerospace manufacturers are increasingly looking for in their ERP system specifications. As each manufacturer has their own unique quality manual, any system needs to have the ease of customisation to reflect this, which is why it
Precision machining work in progress on Airbus structure.
has traditionally been the preserve of third-
Whilst not a requirement for every aerospace
party solutions or complex spreadsheets.
manufacturer, the means to manage
Modern systems don’t just provide an
Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
Just as improving connectivity and visibility
integrated, customisable solution, they allow
requirements is critical for those that do have
throughout the business brings a range of
this to be immediately accessible across the
the need. Because of this, such functionality
benefits, so likewise does extending this out
entire enterprise, meaning that as and where
was often left to third-party suppliers which
into the supply chain. A good example of
an issue arises, it can be immediately logged
could lead to data ownership and duplication
this is the automated link developed by Exel
and then actioned accordingly. This not only
issues, as well as accountability concerns
to connect EFACS E/8 with the Exostar EDI
provides manufacturers with the ability to take
should a problem arise. EFACS E/8 was
system. Manufacturers reliant on manually
a snapshot across the business of the current
designed from the outset to meet these needs
downloading supplier information from
non-conformance issues, it allows Business
and has integral functionality which allows
portals can take several days to do this,
Intelligence (BI) to be done on historic data
components returned for MRO to be allocated
including verifying the orders, before they
so that trends can be quickly analysed and
a unique item code and routing information,
can even begin scheduling their own work
appropriate responses taken at a strategic as
all of which forms part of an intelligent
requirements. By automating this with the
well as tactical level.
Product Lifecycle Maintenance (PLM)
EFACS E/8 – Exostar link, all information can
approach.
be received and verified, often within
Time savings
minutes, which provides a time saving measured in days as well as all the increased flexibility in terms of work schedule that also comes from this. While every aerospace manufacturer has to make quality and safety two of their key objectives, how they do this is becoming an area where true competitive advantage is increasingly to be found. By integrally automating traceability and workflow at such a highly customisable level, there is the potential to generate considerable cost and time savings not just in the present, but also the future as any external and internal considerations occur.
Finished tank covers.
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\\\ Manufacturing \\\
Product news
LinkFresh ERP continues to grow with new farming enhancements
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inkFresh, provider of supply chain ERP solutions designed specifically
Single consolidated screen
for the fresh food industry, has
Works orders in LinkFresh Farming facilitates the
announced the latest product
management of assigning resources to various
release for its LinkFresh ERP suite
tasks for both farming and non-farming based
on Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
jobs, through means of a single consolidated screen. Additionally, the facility to substitute
LinkFresh ERP is built on the world-class
items used on a farming job with another item
Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP technology,
has also been added. Also, LinkFresh Farming
user for any such changes to a crop from an
and is officially 'Certified for Microsoft
can link employee and fixed assets information
inventory perspective.
Dynamics'. The latest release includes
to a resource used by farming jobs. LinkFresh
features to further enhance productivity for
supply chain forecasting and planning has been
A new LinkFresh farming user role centre has
food supply chain users, including thirteen
expanded to take into consideration the supply
been created added. Role centres are
new enhancements to the LinkFresh
from a harvest yield through LinkFresh Farming,
designed to aid user productivity by
Farming module, further improvements to
to a number of different business demands
conveniently presenting the user with a role
both the warehouse mobility and
including sales or production activities.
tailored, real time snapshot of all data and
production touch-screen services.
operational information pertinent to their role on
LinkFresh Farming functionality has been
Harvest shrinkage offers the ability to record
one screen. LinkFresh warehouse mobility has
enhanced further with additional features
changes in the volume or weight of any crop
been expanded to include an improved
including the introduction of works orders,
that has been harvested, through the possible
production output mobile application. LinkFresh
crop/harvest planning, harvest shrinkage
reduction in moisture content. The shrinkage
production touchscreen services have been
and harvest resource allocation, among
facility within LinkFresh Farming takes the
enhanced to further improve to visibility of live
many more.
system administrative burden away from the
item, packaging and labelling data.
\\\ Manufacturing \\\
Success story
Nutriculture eradicates manual processes with ERP solution from Azzure IT ancashire-based Nutriculture Ltd.,
techniques, Nutriculture Ltd needed a
the wholesale plastic manufacturer
business solution that could meet its
for the hydroponics industry, has
demands.
L
Complete manageability of stock The fully automated system has replaced the
replaced manual processes and Specialist ERP provider, Azzure IT,
manual processes, resulting in increased
a fully integrated Microsoft Dynamics NAV
implemented the Microsoft Dynamics NAV
efficiency and complete manageability of
ERP solution, from Azzure IT.
ERP system, which integrates eCommerce,
stock across multiple warehouses. With a
manufacturing and logistics across all sites in
simple and sophisticated ordering system
Nutriculture is the first company to relate
a single end-to-end solution. “The functionality
controlled directly by Microsoft Dynamics
commercial hydroponic techniques to the
of Dynamics NAV is very easy to navigate,
NAV, Nutriculture have increased opportunity
needs of the home grower. With an increasing
and we like the look and feel of the solution,”
for upselling, and customer satisfaction levels
number of sites, supplying over 600
said Paul Williams, IT director of Nutriculture
are at an all-time high. Craig Such, managing
independent hydro shops in the UK, Europe,
Ltd. “Plus Azzure's way of doing business
director of Azzure IT, commented: “We're
America and East Asia, it became evident that
closely matched our own. From the very first
delighted the system is yielding benefits for
a new ERP business solution was required to
meeting, they demonstrated a considerable
Nutriculture already, and supporting the
provide a solid platform for growth. With an
amount of ERP experience in manufacturing,
company's business growth.”
extremely high level of production
and the references from Microsoft outshone
requirements, plus new manufacturing
the rest of the contenders.”
improved efficiency with the help of
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ERP
CRM
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
W O R K F LO W
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
EBUSINESS
PROUD OF OUR PAST, PASSIONATE ABOUT YOUR FUTURE. Exel Computer Systems plc are proud to be celebrating 30 years as a UK software author. Since our entry into the market in 1985 our innovative and scalable EFACS E/8 ERP business solution has enabled our clients to adapt, diversify, and grow. To ďŹ nd out more about our fully integrated business solutions or to discuss how Exel can help your business, call us now on 0115 946 0101 or email sales@exel.co.uk
www.exel.uk
Business as usual, only smarter.
EXEL
P
lanning Success story
Metalúrgica Fey
secures effective solution from Preactor etalúrgica Fey is one of the
M
– Work in Process) were evident and there
largest manufacturers of
The challenges
were problems related to the flow of materials
fasteners in Brazil,
The sector of PPPC (Planning, Programming
in the manufacturing unit, inefficient
recognised for its extensive
and Production Control) was working under
management of materials sent to be
range of products such as
heavy pressure and did not have visibility for
outsourced, gaps of visibility between the
bolts and nuts, agricultural equipment,
proper control of production. The planning
stages of the production process, low-level
motorcycle, automotive, central pins,
was conducted through analysis based on
management of bottlenecks in production and
spring clips and special parts. Exports are
pre-defined volumes of monthly production of
high volume setups.
destined mainly for South American
families of items and supported by the use of
countries such as Argentina, Bolivia,
electronic spreadsheets and other parallel
Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador. Currently it
controls. The low level of detailed information,
The solution
has a built up an area of 33.500 m² and a
poor flexibility for rescheduling and a lack of
This challenging environment led Metalúrgica
capacity to produce 1800 tonnes per
visibility of the program as a whole did not
Fey to seek solutions on the market to redesign
month.
meet the company's needs.
its planning and scheduling process and characterised the ideal scenario for
Due to growth in the market and the
Other factors were the difficulties with the low
implementation of an APS (Advanced Planning
features of its MTS (Make-to-Stock) service
level of service policies, replenishment of
and Scheduling) system. After conducting the
priority, Metalúrgica Fey realised that it
inventories and the imbalance of inventories
appropriate market analysis, Metalúrgica Fey
needed to make changes in its planning
of finished products. High levels of inventories
chose Preactor software as a solution to its
process and production scheduling.
in the middle of the production process (WIP
problems of sequencing and included the
After conducting the appropriate market analysis, Metalúrgica Fey chose Preactor software as a solution to its problems of sequencing and included the implementation performed by the company ACCERA, as well as assistance in the reorganisation of Planning, Programming and Production Control as a whole, searching for greater visibility of the production process inventory policies, among other goals.
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P
lanning Success story
implementation performed by the company
possibilities as the basis of decision-making by
very significant gain from the beginning of the
ACCERA, as well as assistance in the
the PPPC, thereby removing the responsibility for
use of Preactor, growing from 20 per cent to 75
reorganisation of PPPC as a whole, searching for
the sequencing and scheduling from the factory
per cent, which represents a performance gain
greater visibility of the production process
and bringing it directly to the area of PPPC.
of 275 per cent. Other gains related to work organisation in the PPPC area was its
inventory policies, among other goals. Ricardo Fey is industrial manager at Metalúrgica
relationship with the area of production and
After the reorganisation of the planning process,
Fey. “We obtained significant results in increase
production lead time reduction were also seen.
Metalúrgica Fey had the potential to obtain
of delivery performance, reduced WIP and
better results with the restructuring of the
improvement in production flow.”
Kleverson Alexandre Coelho again, "With the implementation of Preactor, our PPPC is focused
production scheduling process and
on scheduling advanced analysis and
implementation of the Preactor system for advanced sequencing of production. The
The benefits
comparison of scenarios, seeking better results
mapping of the production process and
The advanced sequencing of production,
and preventive solutions to meet deadlines.
schedule for production of Screws and Nuts was
considering the various constraints of the
Today, Metalúrgica Fey, through the Preactor
then performed, where several opportunities for
production process and the timing between
tool, has transformed the PPCP area into an
improvement were identified.
operations, combined with an analysis and a
information transformation centre, which
proper sizing of production shifts due to the
examines the future by performing simulations in
An important feature with the early use of
occupation of resources provided to Metalúrgica
the present.
Preactor was the ability to quickly identify
Fey a reduction of 40 per cent of the in-process
bottlenecks of production and be able to act on
inventory volume (WIP). Such gain generated a
them with better scaling of production shifts. The
better organisation and flow of materials within
The future
simulation of different scheduling scenarios
the plant.
Metalúrgica Fey plans in the coming months to
identified with specific reports showed the
expand the use of Preactor to the area of
comparison between them and generated an
One of the key performance indicators in the
manufacturing raw materials and for the future
analysis of different programming performance
area of PPCP and production, delivery
area of tooling, further increasing the gains from
indicators which enabled countless new
punctuality indicators for the stock, achieved a
the use of Preactor.
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P
lanning Success story
Wolfberger selects Ortems
planning software to improve the percent of fill and decrease inventories olfberger Group, expert in
W
the wine, sparkling wine and spirits industry with 12 per cent of Alsace AOC (Controlled Origin Label),
produces more than 14 million bottles annually, of which 23 per cent are dedicated to exports. For the past five years, this Alsatian company has seen its revenues and volume of orders increase steadily with significant growth in export markets. To support its growth, the Wolfberger Group has selected Ortems solutions to model its medium-term planning processes using Ortems Master Production Schedule (MPS) and its short term planning with Ortems scheduling software. project is based on wines and sparkling wines.
Continuous improvement
Company-wide strategic project
“Subsequently, it will also include our
This approach is part of an effort to
Before selecting the Ortems solution, we
‘distillery’ business. Our expectations include
continuously improve and monitor its process
carried out a company-wide strategic project,
improving our inventory coverage for finished
activities. It builds upon a commitment to
including rationalising our production facilities
goods and components and also improving
rationalisation, responsiveness and
and investing in the renewal of some of our
our service rate while simultaneously
adaptability with a constant concern for the
machinery. One of our objectives is to
improving our responsiveness and visibility.
quality of service provided to customers:
increase our productivity as well as our
Henceforth our planners will be able to focus
responsiveness.”
on higher added value tasks and spend more time analysing the master schedule in order
• The Master Production Schedule will be prepared over a 12-month timeline for wines and from 24 to 36 months for sparkling wines (returned to the cellar 12 months before packaging). • Scheduling will be done over a 2 to 6-week timeline.
“
Henceforth our planners will be able to focus on higher added value tasks and spend more time analysing the master schedule in order to make the right decisions with all the parties concerned (technical, sales, production and supply chain).” – Mathieu Greffe, Wolfberger Group.
Mathieu Greffe, industrial director, commented: "Our inventories represent
Greffe continued: “Choosing a planning
to make the right decisions with all the parties
significant tied up capital (approximately 2/3
solution like Ortems gives us a stake in the
concerned (technical, sales, production and
of our sales). We need to manage our supply
future by being more responsive and
supply chain).”
chain to optimise our finished goods inventory
qualitative in the face of international
(more than 1200 SKUs) and to plan the
developments in our premium market and the
Greffe concluded: “We chose Ortems over
packaging process, which must be highly
size of orders (smaller volumes but
competitor solutions because we greatly
responsive in order to manage the different
increasingly frequent). The internationalisation
appreciated the product's ease of use, the
sizes of work orders, which can vary from 96
and challenges of exporting increase the
expertise in the wines and spirits business as
to 13,000 bottles.
range of SKUs with more complex labelling,
well as the high professional standards and
which we must be able to anticipate. Our
availability of all of the team."
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Insight
Supply Chain
Frost & Sullivan identifies disruptive opportunities for Internet of Things he massive potential of Internet of Things (IoT) to stoke convergence and collaboration worldwide has been reined in by the lack of data security and interoperability among devices and objects. Acknowledging this hurdle, various institutes and organisations in key sectors are striving to frame standards for privacy policies regarding the sharing of information over the Internet.
T
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, ‘Internet of Things (IoT) - Disruptive Opportunities in Key Sectors’, finds that several standardisation bodies from Europe and the US are working towards addressing the issue of device interoperability and standard privacy policies. Both European and American organisations are striving to simplify the seamless flow of information among devices, globally. A case in point is the separate committee formed by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI) to focus on Machine2Machine (M2M) communication privacy standardisation. Similarly, the Open Automotive Alliance is a global alliance of automobile companies and technology partners that is working to establish a standard Android platform for communication between mobiles and vehicles. Another solution to accelerate the wide-scale adoption of several applications and technologies in the IoT space is a unified gateway.
Interoperability enhancements “Gateways that are developed covering all aspects of communication and data handling for various applications could simplify the implementation process for IoT," noted Technical Insights industry analyst Swapnadeep Nayak. “Gateways embedded with Java – often used for cloud application development – could further enhance the capability of the platform in terms of interoperability.”
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Nanotechnology has its part to play in promoting IoT. The rapid progress made in the miniaturisation of sensors and radio frequency identification (RFID) will aid the integration of transistors into any kind of physical object, irrespective of the footprint of the device. Participants can also enhance privacy and network security by incorporating smart sensors to track user habits and movement within the cloud.
Nayak. "Therefore, the success of IoT could well be linked to the efficiency of the cognitive radio network architecture.”
As IoT requires an open architecture, users tend to be sceptical about the platforms' ability to maintain the integrity of their data. Their concerns can be assuaged to some extent with the convergence of emerging technologies such as Big Data and context-aware computing with IoT. Leveraging the advantages of converged technology will improve the analysis of user data and access rights for the creation of a secure environment for IoT.
Internet of Things (IoT) - Disruptive Opportunities in Key Sectors, a part of the Technical Insights subscription, analyses and assesses the diverse factors influencing the adoption rate and impact of IoT in various sectors such as energy, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, aerospace & defence and microelectronics. This research service also includes detailed technology analysis and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Technical Insights is an international technology analysis business that produces a variety of technical news alerts, newsletters and studies.
“The huge pressure on the network for connectivity with multiple devices could lead to a new artificial intelligent cognitive architecture for managing data network," said
Overall, by employing a common Cloud infrastructure with a unified application programming interface for all application sectors, IoT can bring down the costs of deployment while enhancing the efficiency of devices with data from countless gadgets.
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Supply Chain
Company news
TmaxSoft makes rapid expansion into global markets TmaxSoft, a specialist in middleware and enterprise IT infrastructure, has introduced a number of new business initiatives designed to harness its rapid growth in the middleware and database management system (DBMS) market as it continues its aim to directly challenge Oracle. maxSoft has identified the opportunity to expand internationally, with subsidiaries working with local partners to meet the rising demand. TmaxSoft has also publically stated that it is aiming to achieve revenue of $100 million in its domestic Korean market, with a further $110 million in overseas sales, reflecting its aggressive expansion plans to become a global software company.
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Voicing demand TmaxSoft CTO, Dae Yeon Park commented: "Markets in Korea and overseas are continuously voicing their demand for an alternative to Oracle. Focusing on countries such as the UK, China and Brazil – large markets with numerous business opportunities - and Japan, which contains an abundant number of highly loyal TmaxSoft clients – we are planning on greatly increasing sales overseas, particularly focusing on our DBMS offering Tibero, a cheaper and viable alternative to Oracle's comparable product." TmaxSoft has recently signed contracts with a number of global companies, including a Russian financial firm, a Chinese IT firm and a Singaporean airline, putting itself in direct competition with Oracle. In Japan, TmaxSoft has also entered a partnership with Red Hat Japan to sell a product that combines Linux with Tibero, which is compatible with Oracle but costs 50 per cent less than its comparable Oracle product in licence and maintenance fees. "To quickly infiltrate the overseas markets we are forming strategic alliances with our partners, while scaling up our teams with local talent in order. In addition to the seven markets we are already operating in, we will be planning a roll-out to an additional 30 including France, Germany, Canada, Australia 28
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Oracle, the results proved Tibero had superior performance, which in turn prompted its migration from Oracle to TmaxSoft.
and the UAE," continued Dae Yeon Park.
Catalyst for growth The catalyst for this positive growth forecast in both its domestic and overseas markets are the continual upgrades being made to TmaxSoft's DBMS Tibero, which includes improvements to stability, security and scalability.
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We are planning on greatly increasing sales overseas, particularly focusing on our DBMS offering Tibero, a cheaper and viable alternative to Oracle's comparable product." – Dae Yeon Park, TmaxSoft. The improved performance of Tibero was recently verified by the Seoul National University of Science and Technology. After comparing the performance of its integrated information system through both Tibero and
TmaxSoft is aiming to be the frontrunner in the system software market and it plans on releasing key products as part of its "Big Data Platform" strategy to infiltrate the rapidly growing Big Data market. As part of its overall strategy to be market leaders, it will be launching a range of new products and upgrades including Tibero 6 DBMS, which is due to be released in the first quarter of this year and has a wider range of functionality and greater stability; and ProObject, a new Java framework with a high performance architecture released last year; in addition to releases of ZetaData, AnyMiner and DataHub. Dae Yeon Park concluded: "2015 is the year that TmaxSoft will enjoy explosive growth in both the domestic and overseas markets. With superb product reliability and credible references, we are confident that Tibero DBMS will become the growth engine that will edge out Oracle in the global market."
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Product news
Supply Chain
New Barloworld SCS software builds agility in supply chain networks arloworld Supply Chain Software, provider of strategic and tactical supply chain solutions to optimise network design, demand and supply planning and inventory management, has launched its new CAST Flow solution, giving businesses with domestic and international supply chain networks greater agility.
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According to the company, the new CAST Flow solution will bring organisations powerful new strategic and tactical tools, enabling them to respond much faster to supply chain disruption or sudden changes in manufacturing. At present, businesses are often designing their strategic and tactical networks a year or more ahead, making it difficult to re-model an existing design. CAST Flow integrates demand planning and forecasting, enabling organisations to generate a representative short-term model. The
sophisticated tool also allows them to run tactical models across the network for a defined product set or single SKU in order to analyse supply, inventory levels and the flow of goods within the constraints of the network. "The CAST product suite and CAST Flow module help organisations determine flow path strategy and risk-mitigation on an ongoing basis," said Fraser Ironside, director, Barloworld Supply Chain Software. "Developed around the need and use case of complex supply chains and global businesses, we are confident that CAST Flow will benefit the many businesses that require short as well as longer-term planning capability. Meeting the growing need for improved internal and external supply network visibility, the tactical planning and optimisation tool covers a range of key functions including demand planning, forecasting, segmentation and SKU flow optimisation. This enables users to
model a change in forecast or to successfully accommodate sudden disruptions or alterations to customer service commitments on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Ironside continued: "Used in conjunction with CAST Aurora strategic network design solution, CAST Flow makes businesses more equipped to accommodate short term changes in their endto-end supply chain operations, as well as midto-long term changes in the network. This meets a real and pressing requirement in the market. For example, the ongoing congestion plaguing US West Coast ports at present is forcing shippers to re-examine alternative product flows through their supply chains and safeguard against possible shortfalls in product imports. This is a prime example of where the software can help organisations affected respond more strategically and effectively to an unexpected short-term disruption."
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Supply Chain
Success story
The Cloud provides support for GINAF Trucks’ globalisation bid Operating from its headquarters in Veenendaal in the Netherlands, truck manufacturer GINAF is conquering the world with its many innovations. The organisation maintains its focus on its core business. IT should simply do what it has to do. For this reason, GINAF has migrated its entire IT environment in the Cloud, including its ERP solution. INAF Trucks is known for its innovations, whether it concerns a more agile truck for city use or an even more reliable and robust vehicle for heavy-duty applications such as mining. This innovative power has not gone unnoticed abroad. For this reason, the Veenendaalbased company is now spreading its wings, explains chief operations officer André Molengraaf. “We are making preparations for opening up service branches abroad. It is an advantage when all your systems are running in the Cloud, as all you need is a laptop and an Internet connection to open up a new office.”
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Security and business continuity GINAF has opted for the Cloud for a number of reasons, security coming first. “Employees are working mobile, whether you develop a policy for it or not. If they have to log in using a VPN connection and are tempted to store business documents locally on their laptops, then, as an employer, you no longer have any sort of control of where data is located and
who can access what. If everybody works in the Cloud from start to finish, this means all data is located at the data centre, so nothing has to be stored locally any more. We are convinced this is a much safer arrangement, simply because security is the core business of our Cloud suppliers and not ours.” Another argument involves business continuity. “In case of downtime of our ERP solution, half of our staff might as well return home,” Molengraaf explains. “We are a company with approximately 80 employees. If we had our own internal IT department, at most two employees would work there, who would need to have knowledge of everything, from the infrastructure to the applications. Nowadays IT has such a specialist nature that this is completely impossible. Added to which, you immediately run into problems if the person in question is on holiday. Now all management activities are performed by various cloud suppliers, and we have a specialist coming over once every two weeks to check if everything is functioning properly at our site. Usually he is ready within the hour.”
What is also important from the perspective of business continuity is the fact that suppliers of cloud solutions are responsible for updates, patches and backups. “The reliability of the environment is simply a lot higher. In the past, we regularly experienced downtime of our ERP system. This has no longer occurred since we started using QAD Cloud ERP.” Finally, Molengraaf considers it an advantage that he knows exactly how much he is paying for IT. “We are no longer confronted with unforeseen costs. It is now much easier to budget.”
Areas of focus Although Molengraaf is generally satisfied with the Cloud environment, he cites the Internet connection as a drawback. “Since all our software is running in the Cloud – including heavy-duty CAD/CAM systems – a lot of data is transferred across the line. We actually should have a dedicated line, but that would be quite expensive.” Incidentally, the amount of data that is transferred for QAD Cloud ERP is highly limited. Another area of focus is the integration of various Cloud applications. Systems are linked differently than when they are hosted on an on-premise server. Integration is absolutely possible from a technical point of view, but it is a job for specialists. “In our case it took quite a while before the ERP environment was properly integrated with the other systems. My advice would be to make clear agreements with your supplier in advance. It is better to spend more time during the design phase than getting frustrated when things take longer than expected.”
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QAD Cloud ERP Cloud ERP Exclusively for Manufacturing Companies
“The all inclusive price of QAD Cloud ERP is lower than the average cost of a traditional licensed on-premise solution� - Aberdeen Group QAD Sir Stanley Clarke House 7 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom, B32 1AF +44 (0) 121 506 6500 uk_marketing@qad.com www.qad.com
Supply Chain
Success story
CFC Food Partners improves efficiency with BCP’s Accord BCP customer, CFC Food Partners Ltd. (CFC), is claiming company-wide improvements in operational efficiency from its investment in BCP’s Accord distribution system.
particularly relating to stock control and telesales, as a foundation for growth and expansion. Existing operations were largely manual and paper-based, with limited, very general, IT functionality. “We’d been struggling for a while and having to work hard to make up for the limitations of our existing system,” said Shawn Giles, MD at CFC. “We realised that a sector specific solution would make life a whole lot easier and, if we chose carefully, would scale up to meet our needs as we grew.”
The solution Shawn Giles: “It was as if the system had been designed especially for us. Its rationale and functionality just mirrored our business model.”
ased in Wakefield, W Yorkshire, CFC Food Partners (CFC) is a rapidly growing foodservice wholesaler supplying cafes, sandwich bars, colleges and hospitals across the North East of England, covering a geographical area that extends from Middlesbrough in the north to Nottingham in the South and from Manchester in the West to Hull in the East. With its own fleet of nine multi-temperature vehicles, the company provides a wide range of ambient, chilled and frozen foods, together with a selection of non-food items like disposables and cleaning materials. It specialises particularly in sandwich fillings (many of which it manufactures), bacon, cooked meats and tuna, often purchasing the latter in bulk and re-selling on a wholesale basis.
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The challenge
Following a thorough selection process, CFC opted for BCP’s market-leading Accord foodservice system, investing in a complete solution to encompass Purchasing, Sales Order Management, Stock Control, Telesales, CRM and Financial Accounting. BCP secured the contract because of its food and drink industry background, consistent track record of delivering successful implementations and, not least, Accord’s powerful functionality, which proved an excellent fit for CFC’s business. “It was as if the system had been designed especially for us,” said Giles. “Its rationale and functionality just mirrored our business model.”
Telesales Existing Telesales was a paper-based ordertaking system. Operators took orders ‘blind’ in terms of stock availability, which could adversely impact on service levels. With Accord, Telesales operators have real time stock and pricing data, plus a wide range of other information, at their fingertips so they can react quickly to customers’ requirements, offer exceptional customer service and work proactively to increase sales. Shawn Giles: “The results have been excellent and the telesales operators really like it – it’s so easy to use – so they can work more efficiently, contacting more customers each day. It’s played a key part in helping us to grow the business. Sales have gone up significantly without any increase in staffing levels, which means we’re operating more profitably.” All CFC’s orders are now handled via Accord telesales.
Replenishment Purchasing has improved significantly. CFC can now ‘buy better’ in terms of price and availability, and, critically, in terms of quantity, balancing orders and stock to minimise the occurrence of out of stocks while at the same time minimising the amount of working capital tied up in stocks.
CFC has realised efficiencies across its business as it benefits from a fully integrated, powerful IT solution that controls all operations, delivers true visibility, improved reporting and key sales, product and buying information. Particular improvements have come in the areas of Telesales/Sales Order Processing, Replenishment and Stock Management.
The investment was prompted by CFC’s wish to modernise and improve efficiency, 32
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satisfy orders much more efficiently,” remarked Giles.
Operations Operations are now much more efficient, allowing optimum use to be made of human resources and there have been considerable improvements on the logistics side with Accord providing a much more flexible approach to logistics and planning customer deliveries on particular rounds on particular days.
Stock management Stock control had been difficult with only physical stock showing on the existing system and a lack of integration. A lot of time was spent on manual stock checking and service levels were challenging. The fully integrated Accord system allows CFC to streamline inventory levels, minimise losses from out-of-date products and significantly improve customer service levels. “We now know exactly what’s in stock, where it is in the warehouse, what’s on order and when it’s due in, so we can
Better stock control and more flexible delivery planning have contributed significantly to improved services levels, which are now averaging around 98 per cent – a vast improvement on previous service levels. Since the initial implementation of Accord, CFC has extended its use to manage another foodservice depot in Hull on behalf
Supply Chain
of a charity, making use of Accord’s powerful multi-depot functionality to manage operations at both locations. It’s early days there, but already, the same benefits experienced at the main depot are coming through – across all areas. Giles concluded: “Accord is an excellent fit for our business, and has lived up to its reputation, delivering even more functionality than we’d expected. BCP itself has given us an A* service which we could not fault, always prepared to go that extra mile to satisfy our requirements.” The company is now looking at extending the use of Accord’s comprehensive pricing functionality and to make use of its CRM system in order to help manage further growth more efficiently. “Longer term, we’ll be looking at implementing Accord’s Voice Picking solution, to drive further efficiencies in the warehouse, and online ordering, which we believe will deliver benefits for both ourselves and our customers.”
Visionary Solutions Wall-to-Wall Voice Directed Warehouse Computing Typical Benefits:
Improve Productivity - by up to 10% Reduce errors - by 80-90% Rapid payback in 6-12 months
Calculate your own expected payback with the Payback Calculator available from http://www.bcpsoftware.com/ solutions/voice-technology-solutions/
%&3·V Accord suite of Voice modules delivers real-time voice control wall-to-wall across the warehouse, from goods in and picking through to labour scheduling and stock taking, as required. As the software authors we are able to tailor the solution to meet your precise needs. No requirement is too complex for us.
First UK wall-to-wall voice solution Business Computer Projects Ltd BCP House, 151 Charles Street, Stockport, Cheshire SK1 3JY. T: +44 (0) 161 355 3000 F: + 44 (0) 161 355 3001 E: accord@bcpsoftware.com www.bcpsoftware.com
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Raleigh gets back in the Saddle with New WMS Solution from BEC ith over 125 years’ experience in designing high quality, innovative and marketleading bicycles, Raleigh is a globally-recognised name in cycle manufacture. As the only bicycle brand appearing in the UK’s Superbrands list, Raleigh distributes in excess of several million pounds’ worth of bikes and accessories every year from its warehousing facility in Nottingham.
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Raleigh also owns several other bike and accessory brands, including Diamondback and RSP. And thanks to ongoing innovation, creativity and an impressive product portfolio which includes road, fitness, leisure and mountain bikes and accessories for children, adults and professional racers alike, the company is experiencing consistent growth in both size and turnover year-on-year.
searching for a product on their pick list within a particular location, only to find that the product wasn’t there. This lack of efficiency was causing unnecessary delays and was a costly and inefficient use of workers’ valuable time. Raleigh realised that it needed to speed up and improve upon the accuracy of its product picking and product placement processes, as it had reached the end of the line with what could realistically be achieved with a paper-based system which could no longer support Raleigh’s ongoing needs and requirements.
expertise spans the complete spectrum of AIDC technologies.
After spending a lot of time researching a number of companies specialising in data capture and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Raleigh eventually chose a WMS solution from BEC (Systems Integration) Ltd., in order to fully automate the product picking and stock movement functionality within their warehouse.
Steve Wigley, distribution manager at Raleigh, commented: “BEC really stood out from the other companies we considered. They are very experienced and have a highly specialist knowledge of all things data capture. They gave us every confidence that they would be able to supply a WMS solution that would meet and surpass all of our prerequisites and criteria.”
The problem Having previously used a paper-based system to record goods in, put-away, stock movement and stock counting, Raleigh was experiencing an increasing number of errors, particularly with regard to stock keeping and stock placement. A lot of time was being wasted by workers
Based in Blackburn, Lancashire, BEC is a specialist provider of future-proof and innovative automated data capture solutions designed to integrate seamlessly into any host ERP system to fulfil business and commercial needs. With a specific focus on the supply chain and manufacturing industries, BEC’s level of
The solution The first thing BEC did was to carry out a thorough data capture survey of Raleigh’s Nottingham warehousing facility. It then came up with a solution that would work for Raleigh’s specific needs and requirements. Tony Hampson, managing director at BEC, commented: “After our site survey at Raleigh’s warehousing facility, the solution which we implemented was based on our eSmart Warehouse software product. Flexible and fully customisable, our eSmart products are designed to seamlessly integrate into a variety of host ERP systems to deliver improved accuracy and efficiency. Our eSmart Warehouse software solution was particularly suitable for Raleigh, as it allows for the automation of all warehouse operations whilst providing real-time validation of all transaction data. This provides improved visibility of stock numbers and location, both of which were proving problematic for Raleigh under their previous paper-based system.” The software was loaded onto a number of rugged Honeywell CK3 mobile computers, while
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cordless 3820 imagers also formed part of the new solution, which has been initially implemented on the Parts and Accessories side of the business. “This is the part of the business where we have the most SKUs, products and pick lists, so it was important for us to implement the new solution within this area first,” explained Wigley. “We will be rolling the solution out to include the bicycle portion of the business next month.”
losing control of with our previous paper-based system. We are already experiencing extremely positive results and we are expecting our accuracy levels to improve quickly. The new solution has even enabled us to find missing and misplaced stock which we had previously written off. We have also received positive feedback from the users of the new system as they have found it easy and intuitive to use, and can definitely recognise the benefits of implementing an automated solution.”
The result
Wigley continued: “As far as BEC is concerned, we could not have asked for more. There are plenty of companies which Raleigh does business with, and BEC has always come across as very personable. Most importantly, they get the job done. And in the event of the occasional issue arising, as is expected when implementing a new IT system of any kind, they are quick to respond and resolve problems in an efficient and professional manner. They have done exactly what we asked for – and more.”
The new solution now enables Raleigh to capture and record data for mission-critical applications such as goods receiving, stock movement, stock replenishment and stock audit, helping to reduce inventory inaccuracies, improve upon efficiency, maximise throughput and streamline overall business processes. “The new solution has quite simply transformed our warehouse applications,” said Steve Wigley. “We now feel fully in control of our product placement, stock control and picking procedures; procedures which we felt we were
Tony Hampson concluded: “We are really excited to have been working with such a wellknown and respected company as Raleigh
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over the past few months. The project is going really well so far, and we are looking forward to extending the project later in the year to further enhance the overall operability and functionality of Raleigh’s warehousing and manufacturing facility.”
Is there more room for profit in your warehouse or distribution centre? BEC specialises in unlocking hidden cost within warehouses and distribution centres. Our eSmart Data Capture Software offers fit-for-purpose solutions to a variety of data capture challenges. Our customers recognise considerable business advantages with their overall IT infrastructure, whilst achieving a significant return on investment. This helps them to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition. Want to know more? Call us today on +44 (0) 1254 688 088, visit www.becsi.co.uk or email us on info@becsi.co.uk
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SOLUTIONS
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Futura and Peoplevox support business expansion at This is It Specialised discount retailer This is It, which operates stores in the South West of England and a fast growing online business, is the first to benefit from a new relationship between Futura Retail Systems and the Peoplevox warehouse management solution. ntegration work by Futura using the Peoplevox API (Application Programing Interface) has created a seamless link between its retail management solution and the Peoplevox platform to provide 'This is it' with live stock visibility wherever it resides in the business, together with fast and accurate fulfilment for its expanding ecommerce activities. Integration has improved information and management control, while intelligent multilocation stock management and automated fulfilment has increased speed, accuracy and reliability in the warehouse.
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Marcello Rossi, head of retail at This is It, explained: "As our ecommerce business expands, we needed to up our game in the warehouse, replacing paper based systems for pick and dispatch to drive efficiencies, reliability and accuracy. Peoplevox is an ideal solution and a perfect fit with our embedded Futura
held in multiple locations and new inventory is ready for sale online the second it is scanned in. "This is critical," said Rossi. “In the past it took one to two days to get new stock online;
Scanned returns are immediately available for sale online. Past delays between order confirmation and despatch are reduced and customers now receive accurate, automated communications as their orders progress.
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Peoplevox is an ideal solution and a perfect fit with our embedded Futura retail systems. Futura has done all the integration providing seamless links with Peoplevox and picking and dispatch are already 99.9 per cent more reliable and faster because of it." – Marcello Rossi, This is It retail systems. Futura has done all the integration providing seamless links with Peoplevox and picking and dispatch are already 99.9 per cent more reliable and faster because of it."
we're really getting best value from Peoplevox. With plans in 2015 to expand our store network with three new branches and to grow online sales by 50 per cent, with similar incremental growth planned for the next five years the combination of Futura and Peoplevox is essential."
Best value With Peoplevox, all warehouse functions are automated using handheld scanners. Product replenishment and goods in are said to be four times faster than traditional warehousing methods and more reliable. Products can be 36
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Integrating Futura with Peoplevox delivers a range of additional benefits. Accurate stock information can be managed in one feed and shared with multiple marketplaces including Channel Advisor and others. Partial deliveries are easier to handle using Futura's task list workflow.
Tina Royall, marketing director at Futura said: "The integration with Peoplevox has gone extremely smoothly and it makes perfect sense to integrate with systems like this to deliver powerful solutions for our customers. The new module will be available to all Futura customers looking for a best of breed web-based warehouse management solution to drive accuracy, speed of fulfilment and customer satisfaction."
Strong partner Jonathan Bellwood, founder and CEO of Peoplevox commented: "We are delighted the way the Futura partnership has developed over the last 12 months with This is It and others. Finding a strong partner serving companies with traditional retail stores and ecommerce has been essential to provide a total solution to retailers."
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Warehouse Management
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Insight
Six steps to flawless fulfilment By Steve Northcott, senior solutions marketing manager, Zebra Technologies. he warehouse is at the centre of your business. It’s the key hub through which nearly everything in your business must pass – from raw materials and finished goods in a manufacturing plant, to pallets and cases in a distribution centre, to a wealth of products in a retail warehouse. But in today’s highly competitive markets, there’s something even more important that’s dependent on more efficient warehouse operations: customer satisfaction. What is it that your increasingly demanding customers want from your warehouse and logistics operations? The answer is accurate, on-time and flawless fulfilment – every time.
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demand; • Better manage the risks of managing a lean warehouse.
The good news is that, through mobility, realtime warehouse data can be leveraged to enable a new level of visibility throughout the supply chain and, most importantly, help meet your customers’ demands. More specifically, mobility in the warehouse enables you to:
So, what can be done to ensure customer satisfaction rates are maximised, the warehouse operations become more integrated and less fragmented, and speed and accuracy levels can be substantially improved in order to both increase profitability while also ensuring you differentiate your business in the market and secure return orders from satisfied customers for years to
• Automate and streamline processes; • Enhance flexibility to respond to customer
Processes across the warehouse are streamlined, reducing cycle times. Worker productivity is increased, reducing the cost of labour across the warehouse operation. Orders are fulfilled more accurately, improving customer service and enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The cost of sales attributed to movement through the warehouse is reduced. The right set of data is available in the right place at the right time to enable the most efficient next action, and the most effective business decisions.
come? Zebra has put together a white paper, 6 Steps To Flawless Fulfilment, comprising six key steps to what we believe can lead to flawless fulfilment in the warehouse. The following article looks at some the key points outlined in the document:
Step 1: Deploy industrial wireless solutions Warehouse and distribution centres are classic examples of dynamic industrial environments that present communications and technology challenges much more stringent than those of the carpeted space. Today’s warehouses are bigger, taller and more densely packed than ever. There are more SKUs, shorter cycles, and a premium on fast, accurate fulfilment. So, from a technology standpoint, the first step to flawless fulfilment in the warehouse is to deploy an efficient, reliable and flexible wireless LAN solution. In the past warehouses professionals had to rely on paper pick and replenishment lists and batch updates for MC3100 rugged handheld computer.
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stock and asset management. However, today, in order to have accurate visibility over your stock warehouse operations really need to be undertaken in real-time. In today’s warehouse operations asset visibility at any given time is critical, and so the process of scanning-in items, putting them away and picking for despatch needs to be optimised. The first step in order to facilitate this process is to install a reliable wireless LAN solution. In the industrial environment this can be a challenge because of the design and size of certain warehouses and the fact that there will be an abundance of materials such as metals that could compromise the effectiveness of a wireless network. Therefore, it is important to source your wireless LAN system from a reputable provider that has the right capacity and the right coverage given the specifications and requirements of your particular warehouse environment. It is also important to deploy a wireless solution that has the built-in flexibility to be upgraded as and when necessary and can cope with peaks in demand, fior example to meet increased Christmas demand.
Step 2: Improve staff communications and management Flawless fulfilment doesn’t happen without everyone in the warehouse working together productively. This demands fast and efficient task management enabled by real-time voice and data communications between supervisors and employees everywhere in the facility. Managers can proactively direct work orders and assign tasks that are not currently driven by the WMS, as well as monitor the efficiency and progress of work as it is being performed. The latest version of the Zebra Technologies TC70 is an example of an ideal mobile touch computer for this purpose. It utilises the latest Android operating system, has a large touch screen and is highly ruggedised while also having an attractive, user-friendly form factor. The TC70 offers a high level of data entry flexibility with a convenient dual mode touch panel. In terms of data capture, the device offers Zebra’s proprietary PRZM Intelligent Imaging technology, a megapixel sensor and advanced optics that work together to deliver optimum data capture performance. Workers can capture 1D and 2D bar codes in virtually 38
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any condition at very fast speed. The 8 MP camera enables the easy capture of high-resolution photos, signatures, videos and more, allowing you to capture more types of business intelligence to streamline more business processes. Another advantage is that the TC70 offers up to four times the loudness of many currently popular smartphones. And with state-of-the-art noise cancelling technology, the TC70 provides crystal clear audio on both ends of every call. Support for Workforce Connect Push-to Talk Express allows you to easily give your workers walkie-talkie style voice communications right out of the box, creating a highly collaborative workforce that can respond instantly to customer needs.
Step 3: Streamline order picking processes Warehouses are becoming larger with an increase in the number of items carried, both of which impact the achievement of flawless fulfilment. In Zebra Technologies’ recent warehouse survey, ‘From Cost centre to Growth Centre, Warehousing 2018’, more than half of respondents reported plans to increase the number of SKUs (54.2 per cent), the volume of items carried (54.2 per cent) and their annual inventory turnover (50.6 per cent). In the next five years, almost 70 per cent of respondents indicated plans to increase automated processes and 66 per cent plan to equip staff with more technology. These initiatives are especially valuable for pick and fill functions where costs are high and errors can easily snowball into less accurate, less timely shipping and greater numbers of dissatisfied customers. Key solutions to enhance productivity and reduce errors include the WT41N0 wearable terminal. The TW41N0 arms workers with advanced, real-time, hands-free mobile computing. This rugged device can allow you to achieve maximum error-proof productivity, operational efficiency and accuracy through voice compatibility for streamlined warehouse and package handling functions. And the fact that it’s worn
TC70 touch computer. conveniently on the forearm means the comfort factor is substantially increased during long shifts; reducing the risk of repetitive strain injury. We have also seen a lot of interest in the Zebra Technology TekSpeech Pro, our endto-end voice-enabled solution that can boost the effectiveness of voice directed and multi-modal picking, put-away, replenishment and other warehouse applications. When TekSpeech Pro is combined with an effective mobile Voicedirected picking and replenishment solution such as the WT41N0 users can benefit from having both Voice and also a traditional screen-based solution. I think that this offers the best of both worlds; you can reduce errors through receiving picking or
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Warehouse Management
replenishment instructions from both visual and audio point of view. Also, as you’re picking one item you can glance at the screen to see where you’re going next. This means you can anticipate what needs to be picked during the next stage, which again can save more valuable time between and during each pick.
Step 4: Advanced inventory and storage capabilities Key to achieving flawless fulfilment is realtime inventory visibility and control. To meet operational and financial requirements, companies must regularly conduct comprehensive inventory counts. When cycle counts are conducted manually, or with older or fragmented technology solutions, they can be extremely time consuming and often fraught with errors. That’s beginning to change. In the Zebra Technologies ‘Warehousing 2018’ survey, respondents noted a dramatic drop in use of manual processes, with pen and paper usage going from 41 per cent today to a predicted 12 per cent in five years. Tellingly, cycle count motivation is evolving from concern about compliance to WMS optimisation. In the survey, respondents reported that the top two cycle-count motivating factors are reduction of out of stock conditions and ensuring WMS accuracy. In order to meet increasing customer expectations in terms of faster and more accurate delivery, warehouse professionals need to have real-time and accurate visibility of current stock levels at any particular time. And if you have to shut your warehouse for a few days in order to do cycle counts, this is going to have a major impact on the extent to which you can deliver things to the customer on time. This is why it is so important to utilise the benefits of modern data capture and mobile computer technology and be able to link this to the WMS in order to have that allimportant real-time visibility and capability. The good news is Zebra’s report clearly shows that warehouse professionals recognise the importance of this type of technology and methodology in order to ensure the best possible customer service while also optimising efficiency, speed and accuracy of the processes within the warehouse environment.
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Step 5: Upgrade inbound handling operations Receiving and sortation are critical steps in assuring flawless fulfilment. They are critical because issues in receiving all too often morph into other issues throughout the warehouse management process. To streamline inbound operations, today’s warehouses must be prepared to take advantage of increases in the number of incoming items that have barcodes. At the receiving dock, mobile processes empower workers to be more accurate and more productive. A simple scan of a barcode, RFID tag or RMA label enables incoming shipments to be identified and verified in realtime. It also allows returns to be quickly validated and updated, with automatic issue of any customer credit due. Orders are delivered right to the worker, enabling accurate staging of shipments for put-away or cross-docking, and streamlining the handling of any errors in the shipment. At the same time, velocity and productivity in the receiving and sortation functions increase because the same workforce can process more shipments, reducing dock-tostock cycle times. This increased inventory visibility allows you to intelligently direct putaway or conveyance for items that are low in stock first, reducing costly OOS impact on the order fulfilment process. Returned items are automatically noted in the inventory systems and instantly available for fulfilment of new orders. Real-time visibility into the order system also enables more efficient crossdocking, reducing handling time and costs for incoming shipments. If an item is received with a damaged barcode or without a barcode then a fixed or mobile printer can be used to print the required label and ensure onwards visibility through the supply chain. When it comes to issues such as efficient and legally compliance track and trace of goods, this is where Zebra’s printing & labelling solutions portfolio, together with the highly complementary benefits of Zebra Technology’s wide enterprise solutions range, can prove invaluable. For example, if you receive materials, parts or components from another distribution centre for the factory, the package may have a damaged barcode. However, by sourcing the right specification of Zebra printer for the task, you can easily print out a fresh barcode to ensure you retain visibility of supply. Also, by deploying RFID technology to track the goods as they come in to the warehouse and during the put-away process – and even during cross
MC3200 rugged handheld computer. docking – you can rest assured that seamless visibility is at hand.
Step 6: Turnaround outbound handling performance Packing, loading, staging and shipping are the equivalent of the ‘last mile’ in flawless fulfilment. In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, these functionalities are key to turning around warehouse and distribution centres to streamline delivery, enhance competitive advantage and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Whether you’re shipping to a manufacturer that needs raw materials for just-in-time production or a retail customer waiting for delivery of her holiday gifts, the importance of timely, accurate deliveries cannot be overstated. Yard Management Systems can be deployed to optimise yard operations, especially for yards that require fast throughput. This is accomplished through faster gate transactions, efficient parking assignments, fewer yard moves and greater door turns. A scheduling system is used for planning expected arrivals and departures whilst an execution system responds to unplanned events based on business rules that are configured for your particular operations. The combination of effective planning and exception handling allows the Yard Management System to direct the right trailer to the right door at the right time.
Summary Leveraging mobility in the warehouse and beyond can yield highly beneficial results, including reduced costs, improved quality, better customer service, higher margins and greater profitability – delivering real business advantage and differentiating your business in the marketplace in terms of efficiency, reliability and reputation.
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Printing & Labelling
Opinion
Towards a universal future: meeting the labelling needs of today’s manufacturing and logistics industries By Richard Scott, European Product Manager, SATO. Ease of installation and maintenance
Durability
For businesses which are often running 24/7, reducing downtime is key to responding to customer queries effectively while improving operational efficiencies. Plug-and-play printers that are easy to set up, without needing specialists to install, and that can print immediately are favoured. Richard Scott: “Printers need to connect easily to the network across Cloud systems and the Internet, but with a high level of security.”
E
-commerce has been growing steadily over the last decade. In the EU, the percentage of ebuyers has more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, jumping from 20 per cent to 47 per cent of the population1, and a current EU Policy has set a target of 50 per cent of the EU population buying online and 33 per cent of SMEs conducting online purchases/sales by the end of 20152. As the number of online buyers rises and more enterprises move into e-commerce, the manufacturing and logistics market is becoming faster and competition is growing. That is why fast processes such as crossdocking – whereby material is unloaded from an incoming truck and loaded directly into outbound trucks with little or no storage in between – are becoming the norm when it comes to fulfilling orders. To ensure that labelling processes run efficiently and consistently in such a fastpaced working environment, logistics businesses are first of all demanding barcode label printing solutions that are fast, quick and easy to install and operate. But what are the key considerations to take when specifying printers? 40
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Furthermore, the latest printers, such as SATO’s NX Series, are designed to allow for fast parts replacements. ‘Wear parts’ such as print head and platen roller are quick to replace with no tools needed, while help videos are also available in the front display, to aid with maintenance.
Ease of use In the EU workforce turnover rates are becoming higher3, and businesses are looking for label printers that can be used by anyone with little or no training. With freedom of movement within Europe and 24 languages spoken, printers are being designed that offer multiple user-selectable languages. For example, the SATO NX display reads in 31 languages. For further ease of use, some of the latest label printers are designed to handle a wide range of media including different sized labels and feature label design software and wide head openings for easy media installation, with no ribbon core needed. In addition, some of the latest printers feature large 3.5 inch full colour screens which include icons for intuitive operations and trouble-shooting videos, which provide a simple step-by-step guide for users.
To ensure reliability in demanding manufacturing and logistics environments, printers need to sturdy. Essential parts of modern label printers including frame, base plate and print head should be manufactured using highly strong materials such as die cast aluminium. This design offers enhanced durability while minimising the risk of ribbon wrinkling to achieve consistent high quality printing.
Connectivity Often there is a need to generate label design in one location, and print remotely from another. Printers need to connect easily to the network across Cloud systems and the Internet, but with a high level of security.
Print quality, processing and throughput speed Industrial-use printers are required to quickly print large volumes of labels and throughput speeds of up to 10” per second are often needed. To deliver this, the latest generation of printers include twin processors. Printers such as SATO’s NX family is equipped with 100MB user accessible memory allowing formats, large graphics and custom fonts while delivering best-in-class speed processing and fast throughput. Printers also include several components to control ink ribbon and the position of labels to ensure quality of print in a long print run and high accuracy of the position of the print on a label.
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Opinion
Future proofing With more companies now moving towards RFID labelling, demand for scalable solutions that can be upgraded and expanded at a later stage is growing. Some of the latest models of label printers are also designed to allow for integration and expansion via remote access and configuration with high level security, ensuring multi connectivity through specific programmes and common IT platforms.
Space-saving Some of the latest printers also feature space-saving designs. For example, SATO’s CL4NX offers 53 per cent width saving and 27 per cent height reduction compared with previous models. As a result, it occupies very little space and is a perfect ‘fit and forget’
solution for printing barcodes and supporting stock and order management systems.
Printing & Labelling printers are now offering enhanced memory capacity to be able to effectively handle large volumes of data, often in different languages.
Data storage Manufacturing and logistics businesses are also demanding solutions that enable them to store more data within barcode labels and there has been a growth in the use of quick response (QR), Datamatrix and two other dimensional codes. One reason for this is that, with new labelling regulations coming into force in recent years, companies are now requested to provide more detailed information about their products. For example, food businesses now have to comply with European Directive 1169/2011 on food labelling, which stipulates that labels must provide customers with vital information such as the origin of fresh meat, fruits and vegetables as well as the presence of allergens and glutens. With this in mind,
A move towards truly universal printers There is also a tendency towards using family products as printers within the same family share key features and parts. Depending on the application, businesses need to print different label sizes (generally four or six inches in width) and product families enable them to do so using the exact same printer but in a different size. One clear advantage is that no further staff training is needed whenever a new product is introduced and the need to store new spare parts is minimised. This could be particularly beneficial to resellers, who can save on warehousing costs while spending less time on training technicians.
http://media.wix.com/ugd/b18286_b7c9aa075e25479c94f933ed3f67e1fe.pdf http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0245R(01)&from=EN 3 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/eie/chap3-9_en.html 1 2
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Printing & Labelling
Product news
Datamax-O’Neil presents printing solutions at Retail Business Technology Expo 2015
D
atamax-O'Neil, the manufacturer of stationary, vehicle mount, portable label and receipt printers, presented new solutions for retail at Retail Business Technology Expo 2015 (10 – 11 March, Olympia, London) including Managed Print Services (MPS) that enable users to achieve high efficiency and productivity gains.
Performance series can be handled the same way as laser printers and provide maximum efficiency. According to DatamaxO'Neil, the industrial quality of the Performance Series makes it ideally positioned for high capacity printing on a range of material including textile wash care tags.
With the E-Class Mark III, Datamax-O'Neil showcased another space-saving solution for higher volume in-store mark down pricing or shelf edge labelling.
Desktop printing solutions At booth 372 of its partner ScanSource, Datamax-O'Neil showcased the new range of PCL enabled Workstation & Performance Series printers, that are claimed to deliver true innovation to users of label and tag printers. The printers support Managed Print Services enabling retail companies to actively manage and optimise document use and output as well as all printer activities within one network. Through PCL standard printer language compatibility, the
For retailers who require small footprint solutions, Datamax-O'Neil presented its Workstation Series that stands for the most ergonomic and compact label printers supporting PCL. The printers are claimed to be ideal for instore applications to ensure compliance with the new food directive, such as labelling fresh produce or produce labels in-store. With the E-Class Mark III, Datamax-O'Neil showcased another spacesaving solution for higher volume in-store
mark down pricing or shelf edge labelling. The desktop printer can function as a standalone solution with keyboard or scan input. The battery pack MPU4000 allows the printer to be used in mobile applications, for instance on a trolley right at the place of action.
Mobile and portable solutions At Retail Business Technology Expo 2015, Datamax-O'Neil also exhibited its mobile and portable printer solutions, including the MP Compact4 Mark II Mobile. The printer is a popular choice in the retail supply chain for labelling on a forklift or trolley in the warehouse. Due to its all-metal design and shock absorption system as well as its integrated DC power supply, it is built to last in tough environments. From its ultra-rugged and lightweight portable printer portfolio, Datamax-O'Neil showed its 3- and 4-inch RL3 and RL4 portable printers that offer rugged mobility for warehouse to retail floor applications. With a 2-year warranty, drop test certification and cold storage capability, the RL series protects retailer's investments. The portable receipt printers of the Apex series in 2-, 3- and 4-inch width offer user Android and iOS support, comfort, reliability and long lasting battery power. The printers can be deployed for Qbusting, promotion printing, mobile POS applications and field sales.
At the show, Datamax-O'Neil exhibited its mobile and portable printer solutions, including the MP Compact4 Mark II Mobile.
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Product news
Printing & Labelling
Canon imagePRESS C600i brings production technology and premium quality output to offices and SMEs
I
maging solutions provider, Canon, has added to its imagePRESS portfolio with the launch of the imagePRESS C600i. Incorporating best-in-class technologies, the imagePRESS C600i delivers professional quality printing to address the growing needs of internal corporate print departments, creatives and small agile print shops for more frequent, shorter runs of premium output on a wider range of media. It is also the first Canon production print engine to integrate seamlessly and securely into existing office systems.
Management tools Central to the appeal of the imagePRESS C600i for corporate environments and SMEs is its host of management tools designed to maximise production efficiencies and reduce costs. These include print fleet and asset optimisation, output management and control solutions, as well as optimal document workflows to deliver fully integrated managed print services. Operating at speeds of up to 60 pages per minute, the imagePRESS C600i handles an extensive range of substrates, including stocks up to 300gsm auto duplex with media sizes up to SRA3, opening up new business opportunities by enabling users to increase their in-house production of quality printed communications, such as high-end presentations, brochures, pitch collateral and internal communications.
benefits from embedded MEAP and MEAP web platforms, enabling the introduction of data capture and document output management solutions such as uniFLOW, eCopy and iWDesktop. Operator experience is simplified by a series of device management and eMaintenance tools to maximise efficiencies and minimise downtime.
and powerful solution that delivers best-inclass professional quality output with seamless integration into existing office systems. Its ability to tackle even heavy and structured media makes this an exciting allin-one proposition for internal print environments and small agile copy shops looking to expand their service offering.”
“
With the introduction of the new imagePRESS C600i, we now
have a unique and powerful solution that delivers best-in-class professional quality output with seamless integration into existing office systems. Its ability to tackle even heavy and structured media makes this an exciting all-in-one proposition for internal print environments and small agile copy shops looking to expand their service offering.” – Mark Lawn, Canon Europe.
Embedded MEAP and MEAP web platforms In addition, the new print engine is fully compatible with industry standards, such as PCL and PostScript, as well as ERP systems from vendors such as SAP and supports printing from Linux/Unix systems. It also
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Commenting on the launch of Canon's latest addition to its imagePRESS series, Mark Lawn, European and UK marketing director, Professional Print Solutions, Canon Europe said: “With the introduction of the new imagePRESS C600i, we now have a unique
Drawing on the advanced technologies of the imagePRESS platform, the C600i delivers the highest levels of colour consistency, vibrant image quality, enhanced colour calibration and accurate registration.
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AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE
Company news
Red Hat
outlines vision to help enterprise IT take ‘mobile first’ from hype to reality
ed Hat, Inc., provider of open
R
source solutions, has announced its vision to help organisations succeed in the ‘mobile-first’ economy. Customers can take
advantage of Red Hat’s experience in enterprise IT, and its portfolio of enterprise-grade open source technologies – including mobile capabilities from the recent acquisition of FeedHenry – to overcome their mobility challenges. Red Hat reports that mobility is increasingly becoming a top priority for business as a means to drive innovation and streamline operational efficiency; however, it is also creating demand for faster and continuous development cycles that
Adopting a two-track IT approach, using
the FeedHenry platform and roll out new
challenge traditional IT infrastructure and
mobile as the catalyst for building a ‘fast IT’
integrations with the existing Red Hat
development methodologies. To become mobile-
organisation, helps balance agility with stability
middleware product portfolio, giving enterprises
centric, enterprises must evolve in a way that
and fosters greater collaboration and
greater freedom of choice by extending its
supports both the agility of new mobile initiatives
cooperation between the two tracks.
capabilities across hybrid environments.
and stability of core IT. Since accelerating into the enterprise mobile
Craig Muzilla, senior vice president, Application
In response, Red Hat is focusing its enterprise
market with the October 2014 acquisition of
Platforms Business, Red Hat, commented: “The
mobility vision on four areas: platform
FeedHenry, the mobile enterprise application
mobile phenomenon has had a profound impact
architecture, developer experience, technology
platform provider, Red Hat has achieved several
on the way we think and act and consume
integration, and collaboration in two-track IT
notable milestones in its mobile journey,
information in our daily lives. That impact is now
environments.
including:
rippling throughout enterprise IT as organisations
• Platform architecture: The public Cloud or
• Release of platform enhancements for mobile
business in a new ‘mobile first’ world, where
private Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)-based
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and
speed and agility must be prioritized without
architecture of the Red Hat mobile platform
collaboration.
forsaking the stability of core IT. Our vision is to
come face-to-face with the reality of doing
facilitates agile development and DevOps
• Integration of the platform into Red Hat’s
help enterprises evolve in a digital world and
processes, leverages RESTful APIs and
integrated development environment (IDE),
provide them with an open and flexible
microservices, and accelerates time-to-
JBoss Developer Studio.
architecture and the technologies that accelerate
deployment to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Deployment of FeedHenry technology as a
this transition.”
mobile service in OpenShift as part of Red
• Developer experience: A developer-centric approach that embraces modern toolchains, collaboration, and continuous development
Hat’s xPaaS strategy for Cloud-based
Chris Marsh, principal analyst, Enterprise Mobile
application development.
App Strategies, 451 Research, commented: “51
• Customers in industries ranging from
per cent of organisations recently surveyed are
and integration allows organisations to use
manufacturing and transportation to workforce
further increasing their mobile budgets this year.
existing IT skillsets for new mobile initiatives.
management are using Red Hat mobile
The enabling technologies are falling into place
technologies to reduce costs, increase
for companies to break out of the way they think
of the platform with other enterprise
efficiency, and extend critical enterprise
about mobile from the silos in which it has
middleware components, based upon a
systems to mobile devices.
traditionally resided, but the process needs to
• Technology integration: Simplified integration
common REST API architecture, captures and
• Recognition of the FeedHenry platform as the
evolve to support this. Over the past year, it has
stores new data generated by connected
top Mobile Backend-as-a-Service (MBaaS) in
become clearer that traditional waterfall
devices to help unlock the value in existing
a sector analysis by GigaOM Research.
development across the software lifecycle is ill-
systems of record. • Collaboration in two-track IT environments:
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suited to mobile, and that agile methods are Red Hat plans to expand deployment options for
more applicable."
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AUTOMATIC DATA CAPTURE
Tablet adoption
in commercial segment to drive growth in Western Europe, says IDC ccording to figures published
A
by International Data Corporation (IDC), the commercial tablet market will reach more than 11 million units
by 2019 in Western Europe, achieving more than 130 per cent growth (CAGR 2014–2019) (IDC EMEA Tablet Tracker Forecast, 4Q14, February 2015). Tablets continue to represent a significant opportunity for device makers in the coming years.
Increasingly differentiated Since their launch in 2010, tablets have been strong in the consumer segment and have benefited from early adopters in enterprises. The introduction of tablets contributed to an ever-growing number of computing devices
period. "Tablets are used in companies of all
1s meeting productivity needs similar to
increasingly differentiated in terms of screen
sizes," said Chrystelle Labesque, research
notebook and providing longer battery life,
size and product features as demand is
manager, IDC EMEA Personal Computing.
their penetration in the corporate and SMB
influenced by end users' differing mobility
"While the first perception might have been
areas is expected to increase. The launch of
needs. Among other things, innovation has
that tablets were entering enterprises mostly
Windows 10 will also facilitate the integration
brought new product designs, with devices
as employees were bringing in their own
of the device as a notebook replacement,
becoming lighter and better connected, and
devices, the reality is that more than two-
additional mobile device, or computing device
with greater input options, including
thirds of the enterprises surveyed in France,
in the new era of digital processing. Interestingly, Apple announced in 2014 a
“
As more companies embrace digital transformation and their workforce become increasingly mobile, tablets have clearly emerged as a winning form factor to provide computing power for new users and processes in enterprises. The commercial segment is therefore expected to grow significantly in the coming quarters.” – Marta Fiorentini, IDC EMEA Personal Computing.
partnership with IBM to meet demand from the commercial sector, and earlier this year Google introduced Android for Work, which is expected to increase the relevance and integration of Android in the enterprise area. "Increasing employees' productivity is the main driver behind tablet adoption in enterprises," said Marta Fiorentini, senior
keyboards. With traditional PC vendors
Germany, and UK have already deployed
research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal
expanding their offerings to include tablets,
tablets." (For more information, see IDC's
Computing. "As more companies embrace
devices are increasingly coming with the
Western European multi-client study Tablets in
digital transformation and their workforce
features requested by IT departments
Enterprise: The Big Opportunity.)
become increasingly mobile, tablets have clearly emerged as a winning form factor to
(security, for example), while Apple and
Continuous price erosion and innovation
provide computing power for new users and
features for enterprise use. Based on IDC's latest survey of tablets in
While the volume of sales remained limited in
significantly in the coming quarters. This will
enterprises, their adoption rate is expected to
2014, IDC expects the market to thrive in
support overall market stabilisation in 2015
double between 2014 and 2015 and to grow
2015, benefiting from continuous price
and will drive tablet penetration further and
significantly until the end of the forecast
erosion and innovation. In addition, with 2-in-
beyond the forecast period."
Samsung have been promoting some of their
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processes in enterprises. The commercial segment is therefore expected to grow
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Product news
PHS Teacrate’s barcode scanning system delivers efficient crate control
F
acilities managers and removal companies will no longer struggle with locating crates across multiple locations following the introduction of barcode scanning
technology by crate rental provider, PHS Teacrate. PHS Teacrate, which forms part of the PHS Group, handles around 25 million crates every year in a variety of dimensions. The new technology has been introduced as part of its ongoing plans to improve the information and feedback provided to its clients to allow better crate management. In conjunction with improved reporting and automatic alerts Teacrate is bringing crate rental into the information age. Barcode scanning will enable facilities managers and removal companies to have
This latest development effectively gives the
development of tools to enhance the service
effective tracking and traceability information
crate a unique identity which is scanned to
on site."
at their fingertips on the delivery and
provide important tracking information aimed
collection of crates and which job they were
at reducing stock losses, while highlighting
allocated to. Future development plans
potential bottlenecks. It also helps to
include the ability to extend this traceability
overcome some of the perceived anonymity
into the department they were allocated to.
involving unmarked delivery crates. The
He added: “The combined introduction of
paperless solution provides vital delivery and
PHS Teacrate’s environmentally friendly
collection information which can either be
handheld PDA devices and barcode
Real-time information
automatically emailed directly to the
scanning will reduce the amount of
customer or accessed via Cratelink, PHS
paperwork involved and allow large
This technology is especially useful for
Teacrate's portal login solution.
organisations to handle their own internal
Reduced paperwork
moves by giving facilities managers access
customers who need more than a standard box if dealing with priceless or fragile items
Sales director, Patrick Sheehy, explained:
to optional barcoded delivery crates. In
from organisations such as government,
"Barcode scanning will allow PHS Teacrate to
conjunction with the barcode developments
museums and universities. Barcode
capture where the crate has come from and
we are also introducing various additional
scanning follows the company's introduction
exactly which job it was used for. For
reports including unallocated crates, stock
of handheld personal digital assistants
example when working with a large facilities
flow, daily summary reports and even
(PDAs) in 2014, which provides real-time
management organisation that required
extended rental alerts.”
information for its office removals operation.
different deliveries to various departments, we could potentially highlight which
PHS Teacrate envisages that rental customers
PHS Teacrate is now rolling out barcode
departments they came from when we
will enjoy the most benefits from the new
scanning for its lidded containers LC1, LC2,
collected the crates. This gives an extra
service due to the often high volume of crates
LC3, LC6 and computer crates IT1 and IT2
layer of traceability and as we develop the
involved. PHS Teacrate operates its own fleet
with barcodes soon to be added, as an
system further customers will get more and
of vehicles from eight depots and has a
option, to is roll cages (SC1) in response to
more control. The next phase of our move to
reputation for fast and reliable delivery which
customer demand.
21st Century removal solutions will be the
has put it at the forefront of the industry.
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Opinion
TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
Mobile device integration starting to power fleet software sales obile device integration is increasingly powering fleet software sales, according to Chevin Fleet Solutions. The company adds that, more and more, fleets are beginning to realise that utilising the power of smartphones and tablets out in the field – whether company or employee owned – brings a whole range of new possibilities. Chief among these, according to Chevin Fleet Solutions’ sales director David Gladding, are the ability to use devices to help manage compliance, fulfil legislative obligations and to proactively monitor maintenance needs.
M
Automating the process "Especially among commercial vehicles fleets, we are seeing smartphones being used for a range of tasks – for example to enable the carrying out of basic daily maintenance checks that are part of O licence requirements,” said Gladding. “We are working with an 800 vehicle fleet where this fundamental job generated a paper check for each van every day, but a mobile device means that the whole process can become easily automated.”
Gladding continued: "This kind of gain has obvious appeal for fleet operators in terms of much reduced cost, time saved, auditing and general efficiency. As awareness grows in the market, it is increasingly becoming a factor that swings deals in our favour." He added that fleets were also beginning to realise that using mobile devices for proactive maintenance inspections could have a real impact on running costs. "As most fleet operators know, many drivers of company vehicles will continue to use their vehicle with a known problem until it becomes acute and this in itself can prompt further issues. For
example, a gearbox fault that could be easily rectified when it first occurred could eventually lead to outright failure. However, if drivers are required to carry out a formal inspection of their vehicle, almost all of them will report that problem rather than continue using their car or van. Over time, savings will be made for this reason."
Understanding the potential Chevin introduced its own mobile product, FleetWave Mobile early in 2014. Gladding again: "It has taken a little time for the market to fully understand the potential that a product like this offers but we are seeing more and more interest in using it to carry out all kinds of fleet processes – from the vehicle inspections that we describe to areas like delivery verifications, fleet tracking and much more. As a tool, it is exceptionally versatile and, every week, we seem to come across new uses that will deliver real and measurable benefits to fleets." According to Gladding, a key feature of FleetWave Mobile is that it can be used offline and data uploaded when a connection becomes available. "A mobile app that will only work when a mobile signal is available is useless to the vast majority of fleets yet many suffer from this shortcoming,” he said. “You need to have something that will remain useable even if you are regularly in a dead spot."
FleetWave Mobile can be used offline and data uploaded when a connection becomes available.
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TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
Insight
Telematics & liability
– the
laws have changed echnology is rapidly changing the way fleets operate and insure drivers, cargo, and companies. However, utilising telematics for better control over inventory, tracking driver performance, and getting less expensive usage-based insurance for the vehicles can open a Pandora’s Box of sorts for exposure to liability in a dynamic, changing legal landscape.
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“Let me quote, depending on your preference, Voltaire or Spider-Man: ‘With great power comes great responsibility’,” noted auto technology legal expert Bryant Walker Smith, who half-joked about the power of telematics and greater autonomy in vehicles. “Telematics is increasing power, assertion of control over products that you previously couldn't (control); access to
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systems and users of these systems.” He also told attendees of the TU Automotive Connected Fleet conference: “There are new ways of being negligent, new ways of doing harm. Today if someone is drunk and crashes, you're not liable. But in the future, what if you know a person is speeding or based on their record or metrics from vehicles they are a reckless driver – or they are probably inebriated given the time, circumstances, and behaviour. What if you can shut off the power or change their speed you may have an obligation to act. This could mean significantly expanded obligations for fleet owners.” Smith regularly poses these types of ethical and procedural questions to college students; he taught the first course on the self-driving
car and is currently assistant professor at the School of Law and School of Engineering at the University of South Carolina and a fellow at the Center for Automotive Research Stanford (CARS). Gail Gottehrer is a litigator and partner at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider where she frequently represents insurance companies and handles employee litigation matters and class action trials before juries.
More onus on the fleet owner Gottehrer, who also teaches at Columbia University, agrees that using telematics may put more of the onus on the fleet owner: “If you can monitor someone driving erratically, you suspect they're drunk or too tired to drive, a court may say you reviewed the data and chose to do nothing or you did something
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TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
ineffective. On the flip side, if you have (data) and didn't choose to review it, you have constructive knowledge. The courts are skeptical...you could be found liable – you the company – under those kinds of theories which we're likely to see.”
through and compile the data. She argued that a company tracking vehicles could be compelled to produce data as evidence in cases of drug deal locations or child custody battles to show whether state lines were crossed.
The experts say that in current practice the decisions will vary not only from state to state but also from court to court as judges rule on matters that are not always covered by current legislation. “You can't count on what you're going to get in court,” says Gottehrer, the litigator, adding: “A lot of it comes down to who's your judge.”
On the upside, if you can show a driver is not negligent, it can be used to exculpate you in the best situation"—which would be evidence showing a driver in the fleet has an excellent track record. As for privacy issues when it comes to tracking fleets, the geolocation data can uncover patterns and private matters such as frequent visits to AIDS clinics or a psychiatrist – conditions that might have been reasonably protected under HIPAA security laws but could be revealed by a breach.
One issue still disputed is the burden on companies for discovery—how much data can be required even for firms not actively in a dispute? Gottehrer said judges are not showing a lot of sympathy to arguments that it can be too costly and burdensome for companies to produce data even though it may be sensitive, expensive and time consuming for IT departments to comb
Transparency – the best bet Gottehrer does not see fleets or insurance companies faring well in court when it comes
Product news
to such breaches. “Transparency is the best bet, there's no silver bullet. The courts are reactive, the law cannot possibly keep up with technology so while we’re trying to catch up, using these legal terms that judges are confident with, such as informed consent, is a good strategy to adopt.” Meanwhile, global companies need to consider varying definitions of privacy from region to region and country to country. There's less of an emphasis on personal privacy in the US than in Europe, according to Smith. But harking back to his philosopher/WebCrawler quote, the professor noted with collecting great data there are “increased obligations to monitor and supervise and not act negligently to dangers you could know about or discover. If you're hacked, you could be subject to all kinds of liabilities, legal and non-legal issues. Data is a blessing and from a legal perspective, a bit of a curse”.
TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT
Transport Exchange Group
makes
things quicker for owner drivers ransport Exchange Group has launched a new online dashboard for owner drivers using its leading freight trading exchanges to provide instant visibility and control over key business features. Available to individual members of Haulage Exchange and Courier Exchange, the dashboard brings together the most important information and functionality in a single view to save time and enhance their user experience.
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about to go out of date. Lyall Cresswell, managing director of Transport Exchange Group, commented: “We are committed to developing useful features and tools that will make our member's day-to-day operations easier and more rewarding. The owner driver dashboard provides immediate
access to the right information to put them in complete control and ensure we continue to deliver a useful service to our members. We are also planning a company version of the dashboard that will be available later this year, this will contain new features including graphical reports on user activity and rolling gross profit margins.”
Every aspect of the dashboard has been developed with simplicity and usability in mind, so Transport Exchange Group has created a real-time user interface that helps owner drivers make the most of the Exchange. Not only does it enable them to quickly advertise vehicle availability and empty leg ‘return journeys’, but also provides an overview of their most recent booking activity, latest feedback received and a ‘Who's Nearby?’ map. There is also an overview of the driver's own compliance documents, with an easy-to-use traffic light system providing a visual prompt to show if any documents are
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