Demand Solutions Discovers Supply Chain Opportunities

Demand Solutions, a global resource for supply chain management solutions, has recently launched an easy-to-use survey to help businesses assess their supply chain optimization performance and identify improvement opportunities. The assessment tool allows Demand Planners and Forecasters to quickly evaluate the current state of a company’s supply chain.

The assessment guides participants through the five stages of the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process: Sense, Shape, Collaborate, Integrate and Orchestrate. A detailed and customized assessment report identifies the areas of the IBP process in which the company is excelling as well as the areas that represent opportunities for improvement in driving tangible business value.

Demand Solutions' Supply Chain Assessment survey takes approximately five minutes to complete and respondents will receive an optimization performance score along with a free report detailing how the business compares to industry leaders. Also included are valuable insights on improving the planning process to achieve greater profits, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction and increased market share. In addition, Demand Solutions also offers a supply chain planning suite for forecast management, demand planning, collaborative forecasting and inventory planning as well as modules for advanced planning and scheduling (APS), sales and operations planning (S&OP) and point of sale analysis.

To learn more about the assessment and software solutions for distributors and manufacturers, visit the Demand Solutions NewsRoom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

NetSuite Report: Businesses See Cloud Computing As A Competitive Advantage

NetSuite, a provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omni-channel commerce software suites, recently announced the results of a study titled, 'Disrupt, Collapse, Transform: The Role of the Cloud in Industry Transformation', sponsored by NetSuite and conducted by global industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan. The study, completed in October 2014, surveyed 1,500 senior executives across multiple industry sectors in seven countries—the US, Australia, Singapore, the UK, Japan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. Two-hundred of the surveyed participants were from the US.

The study examined the drivers for disruption across all industries and how modern businesses respond. Among respondents, 81 percent of US cloud-based software users told Frost & Sullivan that the cloud has provided them with a competitive advantage over their rivals—particularly with regard to entering new markets—and has helped them react more quickly and effectively to change.

Survey respondents identified four significant disruptive drivers impacting their businesses and motivating them to transform.
The four drivers are:

•New disruptive competitors

•Digitalization

•New business models

•Productization/Servitization

Frost & Sullivan research shows that cloud computing is both a contributor to industry transformation, as well as a necessary response for organizations to survive.

According to the research, greater adaptability to industry change is now a main driver of cloud adoption in the US.
•62 percent of those surveyed in the US describe cloud computing as representing an opportunity for their business.
•51 percent of US respondents said they are leveraging the cloud to access elements of their business management software, with customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce being the cloud-based business applications they most commonly use.

To read more of the Frost & Sullivan research study, and learn more about the benefits of cloud computing in the manufacturing and distribution sectors, visit the NetSuite NewsRoom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

  

Thymly Products Enhances Operations Control With xTuple

Thymly Products, Inc., is an East Coast dry mix manufacturer specializing in food ingredients and bakery blends for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Thymly needed greater control over their operations (accounting, purchasing, CRM, manufacturing, inventory and distribution) which was not possible through their current legacy accounting software.

After much investigation and consideration, Thymly chose xTuple because of its rate of implementation, affordability and customer support in the ever-changing areas of government restrictions and regulations in the food industry.

In making the switch to xTuple, Thymly shut down its previous accounting system and went live with Linux-based xTuple software the very next day with a full integration with Thymly’s other software and production equipment. As a result, cost savings were realized within three months in inventory control. Traceability also improved as Thymly is able to tag each product with a weight and lot number and track it through the entire supply chain. In addition, the company can now respond within minutes, greatly exceeding industry norm, during an FDA recall. Lastly, accounts receivable control has been enhanced allowing for improved collections by automating invoicing and receivables follow-up.

To read more about the Thymly case study and xTuple's suite of open source accounting, Corporate Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, visit the xTuple News blog.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

Acumatica Wins 2014 Business Intelligence Award

Acumatica, a provider of cloud-based accounting software, recently announced that the company has won the top award for "Case Study of the Year" in Business Intelligence’s 2014 BIG Awards.

The BIG Awards annually recognize top-performing companies and organizations. The organization’s proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above their peers.

Acumatica’s winning case study focused on Youngevity, a health products distributor with over 100,000 customers. By implementing Acumatica, the company was able to go global while managing their continued growth. Chris Nelson, Youngevity’s CFO, said the cloud-based system was best equipped to support the company's double- and triple-digit growth rates.

Acumatica, which recently launched beta of its latest version 5.0 in August earlier this year, was also a finalist for Business Intelligence’s Product of the Year award. “We’re really excited to win a BIG Award,” said Jean Gea, Acumatica’s Director of Product Marketing and Chief Customer Officer. “Acumatica wants businesses to take control, empower their people, and play to their strengths. It’s gratifying to win for a case study that showcases how we help our customers.”

A complete listing of BIG Awards winners is available at www.bigawards.org. To learn more about Acumatica and the Youngevity award-winning case study, visit the Acumatica Newsroom.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 

Phocas: 5 Questions To Ask About Business Intelligence Software

Are you feeling as if your business is operating half blind, without free and easy access to the sort of business-critical data that employees need – not just at the very top, but across all of the different levels and departments? Once you’ve decided to investigate implementing a business intelligence (BI) tool, consider these hints and tips:

Q: Where to start looking?
A: Start with one of the authoritative surveys of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions. There are two main ones to consider: BARC Research and Gartner. These highly respected research organizations publish annual comprehensive surveys of the world’s main providers of business analytical tools.

Q: What outside sources should I review?
A: There are numerous places to go looking for that advice - both through professional contacts and online. These might include your company’s suppliers or customers. The same applies to sister/group companies. These contacts probably have a good idea about your company’s character and so will be well placed to give advice about their experiences with BI.

Q: What about my ERP provider?
A: If you're worried about issues of BI compatibility with your ERP/accounting software, be sure to involve your technical team in the discussion. The best BI programs will need to be fully compatible with your ERP in order to be effective.

Q: Which employees should I involve?
A: BI lives or dies by who uses it and how widely. Early version of BI were often skewed towards Sales use but nowadays other departments such as Marketing, HR, Commercial, Accounts and Inventory realize benefits from using BI. Be sure all departments are considered and/or consulted on the issue.

Q: What other issues might come up?
A: One of the most frequent issues that can arise is internal resistance to the idea of BI. Access to company data has, in many companies historically been tightly controlled by a very privileged group. The most common answer to this issue is to make BI Champions key drivers of your project: staff who have successfully shown that freeing up data delivers tangible benefits.

To learn more about BI preparations, and how Phocas Software can help meet you company's business intelligence needs, visit the Phocas News Blog.

The Brown Smith Wallace 2014-15 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about these latest editions.

2014 Distribution Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Distribution_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

2014 Manufacturing Software Guide: 

http://track.websiteceo.com/r/160948/www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2014_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_From_Blog.pdf

 

Additional materials: 

http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx