Acumatica Named One of 2012’s Coolest Cloud Vendors

Acumatica, a provider of Cloud ERP software, recently announced it was named one of CRN’s Top 100 Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors of 2012 as well as one of CRN’s Top 20 Coolest Cloud Software Vendors in 2012. The CRN list highlights the most cutting-edge and exciting cloud products to hit the channel over the past year. Each winning vendor offers a cool new product that delivers benefits to both solution providers and end-customers. The full news release can be read here.

Fast and Easy ERP?

Looking for fast, easy ERP? Take a look at the Gallus BioPharmaceuticals case study. Seventeen weeks and limited staff resulted in this...
http://www.cio.com.au/article/418798/fast_easy_erp_here_how_get_it/
But what about the "couple million dollar" price tag?

ERP and E-Commerce: Integrate and Benefit

From B2B to B2C companies, more businesses are leveraging their existing ERP system and integrating it with their online e-commerce or sales order websites. Read more and see examples of how this could work for your company.

http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2012/03/companies-are-benefiting-from-integrating-erp-with-e-commerce/

Whether it’s reducing countless hours of manual data syncing, or eliminating data integrity issues between multiple solutions and applications, having payment, shipping, inventory, financial and e-commerce systems on the same page helps companies progress and grow.

Infor ERP Software Integration with Salesforce.com CRM

Infor announces the integration of Infor ERP software with Salesforce.com CRM solution. 

Interesting independent analysis of the announcement has been posted by Frank Scavo. 
Read his analysis here: http://fscavo.blogspot.com/2012/03/infor-and-salesforcecom-more-than.html

There appears to be great value in this partnership for all involved: Infor, Salesforce.com, and their customers.

Announcing 2011 Mid-Year Supplements

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Distribution, Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazines, and the Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group, these 14 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Readers will find detailed software company information, which vertical markets the software packages serve, highlights of functions and technology features, new developments to the software packages, graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel information like how and where the software is sold, along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides address numerous key areas in the software evaluation and selection process.

To learn more about researching, evaluating, analyzing and comparing software request the 2011 Mid-Year Supplement Guides released this month.

To order a free print and online version, visit:
http://www.software4distributors.com/mid-year_supplement/Download_2011_Supplements.html

The Next Wave of Supply Chain Innovation

We have seen in several sources (Modern Materials Handling Blog, Logistics Management, and Manufacturing.net) Venkat Rajaji's (global product manager for Infor) theory of the next big push for technology in the supply chain will probably come about because of government regulation. He is watching the recently passed Food Safety Modernization Act. This bill aims to make food safer by giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increased power to inspect food processing facilities and force companies to recall tainted food. As Infor points out, the bill and any new government regulation, for that matter, has been met with its fair share of controversy.

In a press release, Rajaji argued that technology solutions can aid food manufacturers by helping companies better manage their internal processes and, where possible, implement solutions to prevent future outbreaks. “Savvy companies throughout the United States have already implemented technology solutions that provide better visibility into their operating processes and address manufacturing problems before they happen,” he said. “However, with this new regulation in place, more companies will likely invest in technology solutions to compliment their processes to ensure quality and prevent the lofty expense of food recalls.”

As a result of this new bill, Rajaji said, "Food safety will have to be part of your DNA from top to bottom. You will need to design your processes and systems for food safety." So, everything from the R&D process to buying from the right vendors to how a company maintains its machinery may have an impact on food safety.

To comply with the law, to minimize the impact of a recall, and to provide transparency to distributors and retailers, Rajaji believes the food industry will increasingly turn to supply chain software and technology tools, like RFID and sensors that can monitor temperature to insure that food products were stored at an optimal temperature.

“You will need to make sure that you’re accountable and that every touch point across the supply chain is safe until it gets on the shelf,” he said. “To do that, you need tools to help you manage and capture data at every point. The legislation is going to drive the need for technology adoption to stay in compliance with the food safety legislation.”

Taken from interview done by Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor of MMH

Manufacturers Must Brace for Global Supply Chain Uncertainty and Risk

Smart companies build risk management into their day-to-day supply-chain management processes and prepare contingency plans.

By Mark Humphlett, director, Enterprise Resource Planning Product Marketing, Infor

Triggered by Japan's natural disaster, skyrocketing oil prices, tornadoes, floods and other global upheavals, companies are gauging the resilience of their supply chains. They're determining what processes and technologies to employ to mitigate disruptions in the flow of essential supplies when an unplanned event erupts.

This type of risk-management assessment is essential today. Much is at stake, simply in terms of the millions of dollars -- and often much more -- that flows through the supply chain. You then have the impact on long-term competitiveness through a failure to deliver, or the potential damage to brand reputation from if you fail to launch a product on time or if you end up with a product recall from a material defect.

A natural disaster or major geopolitical event can stir up major headaches for supply-chain directors. But, companies should consider other, much more mundane factors and re-examine their game plan for dealing with such disruptions rather than adopting a "We'll deal with it when it happens," mentality.

Looking Beyond a Natural Disaster
Here's a case in point. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the southeast coast, it proved a disaster for Lagasse Inc., a wholesale distributor, and, specifically, its call center, distribution facilities and employees and their families. In supply-chain terms, however, the hurricane had minimal impact. Lagasse didn't record any system downtime, lost less than three percent of network capacity for a few weeks and, reflecting the cleaning products it distributes, actually recorded some of its highest sales in the weeks that followed.

Lagasse had carefully prepared for a possible hurricane and was ready to take actions that included the rapid rerouting of supply from other U.S. distribution centers, switching to common carriage from owned transport and anticipating spikes in demand for certain product lines with the ability to switch supply sources quickly.

Many companies like Lagasse accept that risks -- both predictable and unpredictable -- are a natural part of operating a business. They build risk management into their day-to-day supply-chain management processes and prepare contingency plans they can employ immediately when necessary.

And what events had a much greater long-term impact on Lagasse's supply chain than the hurricane? They were all entirely predictable and largely within its control, including:

• Rapid growth, year over year for more than eight years
• Expanding and opening new facilities
• Massive increase and churn in product range
• Adding new, large customers
• Substantial changes in the supplier base
• Changing or implementing IT systems

So how do you build a chaos-tolerant supply chain?

Savvy supply-chain chiefs who strengthen the agility and resilience of their supply channels first answer several key questions, which include:

• Have the key sources of risk been identified and their impact assessed?
• Have we built a supply chain that can absorb the disruptions?
• Is risk management viewed as a one-off exercise, initiated after an unexpected event occurs, or are employees actively building risk mitigation into their everyday activities?

They also develop a plan that can be turned into a competitive weapon allowing them to take an unplanned event and turn it into an opportunity. Here are some strategies for doing just that:

• Develop networks that endure potential upheavals.
• Software tools and other technologies are available to analyze the sources of risk for your company. In the process, they can help determine where and when to make, buy, store, and move products through your networks. These tools help to evaluate different sourcing, production, transportation and inventory strategies to match changes in the business environment, such as the impact of supply disruption, single sourcing versus dual sourcing and alternate parts, for example. Companies can then make use of their assets most effectively, trim costs, reduce inventory levels, and improve customer service.
• Employ advanced supply-chain tools to assess all risks.

Companies should construct various what-if situations and test them extensively.
For instance, determine how the company would cope with, say, a three-month disruption in supply of a critical part or product. You can assess where you can obtain supplies from different vendors, and at what cost. You can figure out how much the changes could affect costs and profits and customer deliveries. These and other real-life scenarios can be tested in advance allowing you to make contingency plans.

Establish a companywide business process that takes risk into account.
Ensure the process assesses the risks and the impact to your supply chain. Involving your sales, operations and financial units in this strategic planning process will help identify and flesh out the issues. Using a comprehensive sales and operations planning process involves more than simply demand-supply balancing because it takes into consideration alternative demand-supply situations as well as their effect on profit margins and sales.

Include risk identification into your operations.
Managers should recognize what potential sources of risk could impact their part of the business and identify new ones that emerge. Risk management should be as pervasive as your quality management or your sustainability strategy. Otherwise, the assessment of risk will fail to deal with those sources of risk where the impact may prove the highest.

Developing sound risk-mitigation strategies will help you build an agile supply chain.
These strategies can deliver a huge competitive benefit and greatly diminish your supply chain risk. You should consider all the potential sources of risk to a supply chain and what to do should an unplanned event occur is no easy task. But, it's the only way to mitigate risk proactively rather than after the fact. And today's software tools and other technology make the evaluation and execution process much easier.