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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

FlexPAC Maximizing Data & Insights With MITS

Since 1985, Indianapolis-based FlexPAC has been a leader in packaging and facilities solutions. With 25+ solutions providers and specialists--in areas ranging from automation and package design to cleaning procedures, FlexPAC has resources and experience to solve any challenge. The company’s culture is both value-based and customer-centric, with a commitment to helping customers “gather data, gain insights, reduce costs” driving daily interactions and decisions across the 82-person company.

Data and insights are equally important inside the company as they are when interfacing with customers, especially in terms of mining the rich operational information stored in their ERP system, DDI Inform.

Steve Russell, CFO of FlexPAC explains, “Access to better data and insights doesn’t just help our customers be more successful, it also helps FlexPAC be a more nimble, and ultimately more successful, company.”

Down the road, Steve envisions every member of the company having a dashboard in MITS where they can track the metrics they are accountable for and measure progress towards their own personal goals. FlexPAC has already incorporated the use of MITS into staff meetings, and members are thinking about directed questions that can be answered using MITS. MITS is so easy to use that even some of their most techno-phobic team members have joined on to the MITS adoption train.

To read more about MITS and their customer reviews and case studies, visit the MITS Newsroom.

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Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Iptor Named to Food Logistics’ Top Software and Technology Providers List

Food Logistics, a publication dedicated to covering the global food supply chain, has named Iptor Supply Chain Systems to its 2016 FL100+ Top Software and Technology Providers list. Iptor, formerly International Business Systems (IBS), provides supply chain management, planning and logistics software and services.

The FL100+ Top Software and Technology Providers list serves as a resource guide of software and technology providers whose products and services are critical for companies in the global food and beverage supply chain.

Iptor’s expertise as a distribution software and services provider to the food and beverage industry is proven among distributors, wholesalers and 3PLs across a number of micro-verticals, including Ardo, SKANLOG, Smeding, Everfresh/Total Produce and many others. These customers use Iptor solutions to achieve added control and flexibility, comply with legal and regulatory demands, automate processes and overcome complexity to strengthen their competitive stance.

“The software and technology sector continues to generate new and exciting opportunities for growers, food manufacturers, grocery retailers and the many logistics providers that support them,” notes Lara L. Sowinski, editorial director at Food Logistics. “Today’s cloud-based solutions and mobile connectivity are helping create tools that are more flexible, affordable and responsive, making software and technology even more valuable to those in the global food supply chain.”

Companies on this year’s 2016 FL100+ Top Software and Technology Providers list will be profiled in the November/December 2016 issue of Food Logistics, as well as online at www.foodlogistics.com.

To learn more, visit Iptor's Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Global Stroller Manufacturer To Implement IFS for International Growth

IFS, a global enterprise applications company, recently announced that Bugaboo International has selected IFS Applications™ 9 to support business processes including finance, purchasing, manufacturing, sales, quality control, product lifecycle management, and human resources.

Bugaboo International is a global mobility company that makes strollers for infants and toddlers and a luggage system, the Bugaboo Boxer, for travelers. Its products are available in more than 50 countries around the world. Bugaboo employs over 1,200 people working at its headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and at offices in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, USA, France, Australia, and in the assembly plant in China.

In looking to enable future growth, the company wanted the support of a high-quality business application. IFS Applications 9 will empower Bugaboo with one global system for production, sales, and finance. A unified environment will improve collaboration between sales, manufacturing, and Bugaboo’s head office—boosting the company’s time to market and customer service.

“We selected IFS Applications because it proved to be the best manufacturing solution. IFS has a global presence and we were impressed by their understanding of our requirements and the solution we are now implementing,” said Barry van der Groep, CIO at Bugaboo.

To learn more about IFS Applications™ 9 and read additional manufacturing case studies, visit the IFS Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Del Monte Acquires a Taste for Kenandy Cloud ERP

Del Monte Foods is one of the country’s largest consumer food and pet products companies—including iconic brands such as Del Monte®, Contadina®, Milk-Bone®, and Kibbles ‘n Bits®.

While having a powerful and growing brand portfolio has enabled the company to significantly expand its market share, the company’s own on-premises corporate ERP was not only costly, it was increasingly difficult to deploy to new lines of business, and was nearing the end of its support life. The company’s recent acquisition of Natural Balance Pet Foods presented the perfect opportunity to begin the rollout of Del Monte’s new Kenandy cloud ERP system. “We decided to put Natural Balance on our chosen ERP system—Kenandy—from day one, so they would be up and running quickly, using Del Monte’s enterprise standards,” explains David McLain, Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Chief Procurement Officer at Del Monte Foods.

Inheriting the benefits of the Salesforce Platform on which it was built, Kenandy ERP not only provides flexibility and extensibility, it’s also extremely fast to deploy. Deployment is so fast, in fact, that Kenandy CEO and Chairman Sandra Kurtzig made a commitment to Del Monte to go live with Kenandy at Natural Balance just 90 minutes after the acquisition was complete. The system was up and running even faster than that.

Del Monte is realizing a number of benefits from its deployment of Kenandy at Natural Balance, including better visibility through a “single source of truth” and the elimination of many manual processes. Kenandy also enhances productivity in production, quality management, shipping, and receiving, while seamlessly integrating Del Monte’s best practices—an all around win-win.

To learn more, visit Kenandy's Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Century Metal Recycling Reduces Costs, Gains Operational Efficiency With Infor

Century Metal Recycling (CMR) is the largest producer of aluminum-based die cast alloys and zinc alloys in India. The company has a 20 percent market share with facilities in Palwal, Haridwar, Gurgaon, Bhiwadi and Manesar. The state-of-the-art technology plant at Tatarpur, near New Delhi, was imported from Europe and is the first and only aluminum recycling plant in India to deploy many high-end technical features, such as a shredder, an eddy current separator, a de-coater, metal circulation pumps, and high capacity melting furnaces.

CMR selected Infor® LN, Infor Ming.le™ and Infor BI to enhance their operational efficiency and reduce costs. Why Infor? Infor delivers:

■ An integrated system that replaces all previously distributed systems.
■ Real-time visibility into data, so management can make better, more timely decisions.
■ Achieve greater operational efficiency.
■ Reduce costs with process integration.
■ Attain a more competitive position in a tough market with better managed inventory levels.

To read more about the CMR Infor implementation, and to learn about the products and services Infor offers, visit the Infor Industrial Manufacturing Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Emma & Tom’s Gains Scalability To Support Growth With NetSuite

Emma & Tom’s, an Australian producer of healthy drinks and snacks, has replaced its previous MYOB system and implemented the JCurve edition of NetSuite to manage its mission critical business operations across its entire distribution supply chain, financials, financial reporting, customer relationship management (CRM), sales and marketing, order management and warehouse and inventory management. The JCurve edition of NetSuite allows businesses to run their entire business on an all-in-one cloud ERP, bringing together inventory management, financials, CRM, sales and more. Since going live on NetSuite, Emma and Tom’s has achieved 30 percent revenue growth year-over-year and has been able to gain the scalability needed to manage its fast growing business, which today has 40 distribution vans delivering to more than 3,000 café and retail customers around Australia.

Emma & Tom’s chose NetSuite based on its breadth of functionality and scalability—both of which exceeded those of other platforms while remaining extremely affordable. Emma Welsh, CEO of Emma & Tom’s, said, “The platform not only gives us extremely high flexibility in how we optimize, integrate, and expand our operations nationally, but does so with a finesse that ensures the quality of our personal customer service. We have gone from small start-up to now having 60 people—and we’re excited to fuel further growth through NetSuite.”

NetSuite delivers the features and benefits to Emma and Tom’s:
◾Track sales and inventory in real-time, minimizing delays and ensuring customers receive the freshest products available.
◾Expand product range without increasing operational complexity. NetSuite tracks multiple inventory locations and stock lines through a single, integrated viewpoint for Emma & Tom’s  staff.
◾Multiple warehouse management.
◾Real-time financial reporting speeds up the financial close.
◾Built-in business intelligence that provides real-time insights into key business performance indicators for a unified view of the organization.
◾A flexible and agile platform that can easily capturing data from new resources like vans and warehouses as and when these are added to the distribution network.

To read more, and learn about the JCurve edition of NetSuite, visit the NetSuite Newsroom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

M&B Products Increases Profits, Customer Satisfaction With Interlink's WMS

M&B Products, Inc. is a supplier of juice and milk related products to the food service industry including schools, nursing homes, hospitals and prisons. Located in Temple Terrace, Florida the business was founded in 1987 and has grown into a distribution network throughout 33 states.

M&B's warehouse operations used a paper driven system that could not offer real-time information and therefore forecasting decisions were based on best guesses and hoping that product would be available. The lack of real-time knowledge did not allow efficient use of space and required M&B to use additional outside storage with limited knowledge of what was actually in outside storage. Physical inventory was performed every month. It was a very time consuming process that did not yield real-time or accurate numbers.

As the business grew, the paper system was unable to provide a guarantee that they were shipping the oldest product first. M&B's requirements for a WMS included interfacing smoothly with the existing accounting solution on the IBM iSeries platform, as well as address the top three business priorities: 1.Customers were getting properly dated product
2.They were shipping the oldest product first
3.They were using real, live, actual inventory information of what was on hand to manage inventory levels

Since implementing Interlink Technologies' Warehouse-LINK® WMS system, M&B has accurate, live inventory that is traceable and designed to provide the best possible customer experience. Another important benefit achieved by implementing Warehouse-LINK® WMS is efficient space utilization and the ability to conduct inventory cycle counts. M&B uses the cycle count feature to confirm physical inventory, which makes the process a lot faster. Through the Warehouse-LINK® system staff are able to confirm inventory count with a might higher degree of accuracy than before.

To learn more about Warehouse-LINK® WMS and the services Interlink Technologies can provide to you business, visit the Interlink website.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

MA Ford Gets Cutting-Edge Quality & Services With Phocas

MA Ford, headquartered in Davenport, Iowa manufactures high quality precision cutting tools and employs over 300 globally.

MA Ford needed a reporting tool that gave them insight into their sales figures as well as a better understanding of their customer base of over 900 distributors across the globe, selling their products to a variety of industries.

Prior to implementing Phocas, MA Ford generated reports from their Global Shop ERP system. As well as consuming IT resources, it could take up to 40 days from a Sales Manager requesting a report to when they received it. By the time the report was delivered, it was already out of date.

Impressed with the speed of Phocas and the ease of generating reports, MA Ford decided to implement Phocas business intelligence software to run their sales reporting. Rather than static reports that would come from a standard system, Phocas allows their data comes to life and gives them a clear picture of what’s happening in the business. MA Ford believes that over time and as they understand the product better, Phocas will deliver even greater benefits to their business.

At present Phocas is used primarily for sales data and analysis. In the future, MA Ford plans to extend the product to other areas of the business including inventory as well financial data.

To learn more about the role Phocas can have in your business, visit the Phocas Newsrom.

New Software Research Guides Available
Finding that you cannot keep up with all the changes in the latest software?
Want to know how the software's features and functions can assist you?
Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard.
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