Inventory Management Software

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Inventory Management · Inventory Management Software · Inventory
Management Systems ...

Inventory management refers to the process of managing the stocks of finished products, semi-finished products and raw materials by a firm. Inventory management, if done properly, can bring down costs and increase the revenue of a firm. How much one should invest in inventory management? The answer to this question depends on the volume and value of inventory as a percentage of the total assets of a firm. The importance of inventory management varies according to industries. For example, an automobile dealer has very high inventories, sometimes as high as 50 per cent of the total assets, whereas in the hotel industry it may be as low as 2 to 5 per cent.

The process of inventory management is a continuous one and there are various kinds of solutions available. It is advisable to employ specialized staff for inventory management.

The inventory management process begins as soon as one has started production and ordered raw materials, semi-finished products or any other thing from a supplier. If you are a retailer, then this process begins as soon you have placed your first order with the wholesaler.

Once orders have been placed, there is generally a short period of time available to a firm to put an inventory management plan in place before the supplies are delivered. Inventory management helps a firm to decide in advance where these supplies should be stored. If a firm is getting supplies of small-sized goods, it may not be much of a problem to store them, but in the case of large goods, one has to be careful so that the warehousing space is optimally utilized.

From invoices to purchase orders, there is lot of paperwork and documentation involved in inventory management. Several software programs are available in market, which help in inventory management.

Who Is ExchangeFrame?

By Matt Odom
Collectively, Predictix has over 100 work years of experience integrating the most complex

supply chain, inventory management, planning, forecasting, assortment and merchandising

systems on the planet. Some of the names on their client ...


We get this question a lot. As a general philosophy, we believe that it matters less about who we are, and more about the value of the solutions we provide to you, our customers. Nonetheless, it’s still a fair question and we have a great story to tell, so here you go.

ExchangeFrame is a joint venture between Predictix (www.predictix.com) and some of the principal founders of Trafik tradeshow (www.trafiktradeshow.com ), where Predictix is the majority partner in the JV. Our team is a hybrid of some of the brightest minds in retail software and experts from the apparel industry.

Predictix is a fast growing specialty consulting and software company that solves challenging retail science problems for the most elite retailers in the world. With consultants and engineers based in the US and UK, they have worked with retailers on 4 continents, including major grocery retailers, fashion retailers, electronics retailers and more. Collectively, Predictix has over 100 work years of experience integrating the most complex supply chain, inventory management, planning, forecasting, assortment and merchandising systems on the planet. Some of the names on their client list include Office Depot, Best Buy, Kroger, Walgreens, Oracle, Michaels, Hugo Boss, Perry Ellis and more.

The Predictix core of scientists and engineers includes world class talent and some of the very brightest minds in retail software. In fact, many of the engineers on staff were instrumental in designing a significant portion of the Retek Predictive Analytic Stack which was bought by Oracle Retail in 2005 for $630M.

In 2005, Dan Caplin (a co-founder of Trafik Tradeshow) and I were having dinner and trading stories about our respective businesses (at the time, I was working for as a manager at Accenture, on assignment at the Retek Solution Center). Dan said that in hosting tradeshows for the apparel industry, he observed that the nature of the apparel industry was (and still is) largely paper based, from the paper line sheets to the actual order form. Certainly there was an opportunity to help his customers do business better.

Why not digitize the whole interaction and transaction and in doing so, help all players operate more efficiently, create a common platform for all, and ultimately promote more profitable business across the greater apparel industry? While Dan and his colleagues at Trafik had plenty of industry knowledge, could supply subject matter expertise, and provide access to potential users, they simply didn’t have the experience building retail technology platforms.

Enter Predictix. In early 2006, after leaving Accenture / Oracle Retail, I joined Predictix as Director of Operations. Predictix was growing fast and interested in solving interesting retail problems, so I took the idea for ExchangeFrame to Molham Aref, one of the co-founders of Predictix, and an idea started to take shape quickly. After a number of dinner meetings, mad scribbling on napkins, and laying out a business plan – ExchangeFrame was born. Together, the team of veteran retail software experts at Predictix and the contemporary fashion industry experts from Trafik would take ExchangeFrame from being an idea on a napkin to a fully formed company and software service with an immediate goal:

Provide a collaborative, web-based wholesale ordering platform to the boutique and midsized retail community, including retailers, brands, showrooms and tradeshows.

To read more about the birth and launch of ExchangeFrame, you can read a blog entry I wrote on my personal blog called “The 300 Day Gestation of ExchangeFrame”.

Differentiation is the key to success in Multi-channel Retailing

By Deepak Sharma(Deepak Sharma)
Fulfilling 95% of online orders in 15 minutes requires each store to integrate its inventory

management system with that of the e-commerce site. Shoppers then can identify online items

in stock at their local store. ...

Internet Retailer is reporting on how retailers are trying to differentiate the buy online/pick up in store programs to stay ahead of the competition. Started in 1999 by Circuit City, the buy online/pickup in store program was quickly caught on by other retailers. Almost all big US retailers have this program today in one way or another. The strategies adopted by different retailers differ, while some are providing guarantee that the order will be ready for pick-up in less than 30 minutes, others have created strategies/campaigns to target consumers during holidays when time is of great essence to their customers. But all this differentiation is paying, as per CompUSA, "customers who buy online and pick up in store spend 35% more than customers who shop only in stores".

Circuit City stores offer one or both conveniences. Individual stores are provided the choice because Circuit City figures they play a key role in making the program work, Mendelsohn says. The retailer guarantees an item ordered online will be ready for pick-up at a designated store in 24 minutes. If not, the customer receives a $24 Circuit City gift card....

As competitors such as Circuit City enhanced their programs by guaranteeing fulfillment in a specified window, CompUSA began working to achieve fulfillment in 15 minutes. The benchmark was based on customer feedback and store data.

After stores demonstrated they could achieve at least a 95% success rate for fulfilling orders in the prescribed time, CompUSA launched its 15-minute guarantee in November 2006. Shoppers also have the option of picking up an online order later the same day or the following day. “We wanted to differentiate our program. The time guarantee and other pick-up options are a way to do that,” Hurlebaus says.

Fulfilling 95% of online orders in 15 minutes requires each store to integrate its inventory management system with that of the e-commerce site. Shoppers then can identify online items in stock at their local store. To improve customer satisfaction, CompUSA allows customers to search the inventory of stores within a 50-mile radius of a designated ZIP code to provide greater availability of products if a customer’s preferred store is out of stock. CompUSA uses an in-house order management system to link store and web site inventories......

“Offering in-store pick-up in most major categories, reserved parking spots, designated pick-up lines in stores, and in-store signage directing consumers to the pick-up area are points of differentiation from our competitors,” a Best Buy spokeswoman says. While competitors such as Circuit City and CompUSA offer some of these services, they do not offer all of them, she adds.

While providing extra service to online shoppers, in-store pick-up also leads to increased purchases, retailers say. CompUSA says customers who buy online and pick up in store spend 35% more than customers who shop only in stores. To encourage cross-channel shopping, CompUSA’s store associates suggest add-on items after a customer purchases something online and arrives for in-store pick-up; the retailer also prints in-store offers on pick-up receipts. “We have been very pleased with the results,” Hurlebaus says.

Dual-Function Labels combine EAS and EPC functionality.

ThomasNet Industrial News Room (press release) - New York,NY,USA
May 30, 2007 - Designed for security and inventory management applications,
Evolve(TM) dual-function EAS-EPC labels help retailers improve inventory
...

May 30, 2007 - Designed for security and inventory management applications, Evolve(TM) dual-function EAS-EPC labels help retailers improve inventory visibility at case and item level. Integrated electronic article surveillance (EAS) and radio frequency identification (RFID) labeling products operate in UHF band of 860-960 MHz for traceability and 8.2 MHz for RF-EAS systems. Manufacturing process combines Gen 2-compliant product and EAS circuit compatible with existing systems.

New Aberdeen Report Validates Key Trends in Operational Excellence

PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA
Globalization, Automation of Inventory Management Processes and Trading
Partner Integration Identified as Top Initiatives REDWOOD CITY, Calif., ...


Globalization, Automation of Inventory Management Processes and Trading
Partner Integration Identified as Top Initiatives

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Increasingly, global supply
chains and new customer-specific fulfillment mandates are driving companies
to embrace transformational initiatives for operational excellence,
according to a new Aberdeen Group benchmark study released this week
titled, "The Supply Chain Innovator's Technology Footprint 2007." Aberdeen
surveyed more than 200 enterprises for the study, which was partially
sponsored by E2open, the leading provider of supply chain management
software-as-a-service (SaaS) for visibility and control over global supply
networks. Aberdeen's key conclusions include:
-- Innovators are 1.5 times more likely than all others to indicate that
globalization is their top driver for supply chain improvements.
-- Inventory management is the top priority for companies, with nearly
two-thirds of respondents indicating that they are reevaluating their
inventory management processes and technologies.
-- Supply chain visibility is the number two priority for companies in
2007 (very closely behind inventory management).
-- Supply chain visibility is a top area of intention to adopt on-demand
applications.
-- Top areas where companies are embarking on short-term ROI projects in
2007 are inventory optimization (42 percent) and supply chain
visibility (38 percent).
-- Supplier enablement for trading partner integration is a top priority
for companies, with 67 percent identifying it as a technology priority.
This, in turn, is driving adoption of new supply chain processes and
technology. According to Aberdeen, five times as many companies plan to
spend more on new supply chain technology in 2007 than plan to spend less
compared to previous years. Aberdeen identified the types of supply chain
infrastructure areas that companies believe are most important for their
supply chain management technology roadmap:
-- Supply chain management exception and alerting platforms: 52 percent.
-- Master data management: 47 percent.
-- Business process management: 46 percent.
The study also identified several best-in-class companies that have
realized significant benefits from innovative supply chain processes and
technologies. One such company, E2open customer Seagate Technology, was
identified as a leading adopter of flexible supply chain applications.
"Aberdeen's research validates conclusions we've drawn from our
customer base that industry leaders are achieving operational excellence by
executing key supply chain transformation initiatives, such as
globalization, lean demand-driven, low cost country-based sourcing,
outsourced manufacturing, process automation and trading partner
integration," said Lorenzo Martinelli, senior vice president, E2open. "Our
proven speed of deployment provides our customers significant advantage
through accelerated return on investment."
"The Supply Chain Innovator's Technology Footprint 2007" is available
for download at
http://www.e2open.com/landing/aberdeen_research_seagate.php.
Additional information on supply chain trends and customer deployments
is available at http://resources.e2open.com.
About E2open, Inc.
E2open is the leading provider of supply chain management
software-as-a- service for visibility and control over global supply
networks. Industry leaders that power their supply chain with E2open
include The Boeing Company, Celestica, Hitachi, IBM, LG Electronics, LSI
Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Motorola, Seagate
Technology, Spansion, Vodafone and Wistron. E2open's software-as-a-service
model offers faster payback, larger ROI and reduced risk while requiring
less IT and business resources. Over 15,000 companies worldwide currently
use E2open. Headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., E2open is a privately
held company.

Re: RE: Re: Spare Parts Inventory Management

By Ravi Challa
Omi Kell, Can you elaborate on what the point is that you are trying to ma.


Can you elaborate on what the point is that you are trying to make?

Thank god!! you didnt say that since there are too many types of spare
parts...lol


On 4/8/07, Omi Kell via erp-projectmanagement wrote:
>
>
>
> Though I'm agree the main goal of IT and engineering is to avoid downtime,
> it's good to know when and what went wrong. But indeed, forensic evaluation
> should not create lagging in the supply chain.
>
> Spare parts are usually dealt with outside any other system than Excel,
> principally because there are as many style of managing spare parts as there
> are engineering department in the world.

Indian Retailer Uses RFID on Garments

RFID Journal - Melville,NY,USA
Sakhi is also using an Orizin handheld RFID reader for item location and
inventory management in the store. Data is transferred, via a Wi-Fi
connection, ...

By Claire Swedberg

April 4, 2007—Sakhi Enterprises, a women's clothing boutique in Bangalore, India, has begun tagging all of its garments for both inventory and security purposes. The retailer's system, installed in February by Orizin Technologies, includes item-level RFID tags, which are interrogated at the point of sale and then removed.

According to Prashant Agrawal, managing director of Orizin Technologies, the system reduces transaction times and speeds the stock-taking process, allowing the daily counting of thousands of items. It also improves security by sending an alert whenever a garment with a tag passes through a reader at the exit—an indication that a theft might be in progress.


Prashant Agrawal
Orizin was established in 2005 by several alumni of the National Institute of Technology, Trichy. It has since installed, or is installing, RFID systems at libraries and retail stores in India, Agrawal says.

Sakhi came to Orizin in November 2005, seeking an automated solution for billing, inventory and merchandise security. "This system should be the latest," Agrawal says, "and should not have to be upgraded for another couple of years." Without RFID, he notes, "billing and stock verification using bar codes was a cumbersome and time-consuming process."

The RFID system Orizin set up includes a station consisting of a desktop RFID reader for tagging items and updating the prices. As items are received at the store, workers outfit them with 867 MHz RFID tags based on EPCglobal's second-generation Electronic Product Code standard. Relevant information, including pricing, materials, size and other information, is updated in a database and linked to the unique EPCs.

At the point of sale, the system also includes a "billing scanner," which sales clerks use in the purchasing process. "Items can be brought near to it," Agrawal explains, "and their information can be captured immediately, creating an invoice that can be automatically printed. Billing of hundreds of items can be generated in a minute."

As the items are billed, the tags are removed and can be reused. If any tag-bearing garment passes an RFID reader stationed at the door, the gate antennas will trigger an audible alarm, alerting staff. Sakhi is also using an Orizin handheld RFID reader for item location and inventory management in the store.

Data is transferred, via a Wi-Fi connection, from the desktop and handheld readers to a server. At the end of the day, the Orizin Web-based software package allows Sakhi to generate a stock list of mismatched or mislocated items, while also providing point-of-sale, security and database management. The data is then uploaded to a Web page hosted by Orizin, where Sakhi management can access daily, weekly and monthly sales figures, as well as data on fast-moving items, inventory details, cash collections and other statistics.

Agrawal says customer loyalty cards containing RFID tags will become available later this year. "The UHF cards will provide faster identification and quicker billing," he says. "In this way, regular customers need not take the pain of identifying themselves." In the future, Sakhi intends to tag clothing items sent out of the store for alterations. "We are planning to extend the usage of tags," he notes, "to work-in-process."

Stock verification, which Agrawal says was Sakhi's greatest concern, has now become automatic with the RFID system. "Everything is working well," he says, adding, "We have some minor issues with some materials, such as silk. RFID tags do not work well with silk items, which are heavily embossed with metallic zari [trim]. We are trying to solve this issue by trying different types of tags."

As Sakhi opens other stores in India, the company would like to deploy RFID in them, as well. "We partnered with Orizin to help better our understanding of the stock movement and, in the bargain, integrate security so as to ensure better control over the retail business," says Neeta Rajendran, Sakhi’s CEO. "The daily reports generated, together with improved and easy stock taking, render a complete solution. Going forward, we expect greater efficiency in stocking maintenance and intelligent management of the same."

RE: RE: Re: Spare Parts Inventory Management

By Omi Kell
Though I'm agree the main goal of IT and engineering is to avoid downtime,

Though I'm agree the main goal of IT and engineering is to avoid downtime, it's good to know when and what went wrong. But indeed, forensic evaluation should not create lagging in the supply chain.

Spare parts are usually dealt with outside any other system than Excel, principally because there are as many style of managing spare parts as there are engineering department in the world.

mini pecan & ameratti tartlets

By Gattina(Gattina)
I'ma squirrels, in the sense of inventory management! Yesterday I passed the pantry (with a

thread of intention things won't show up you know...), I spotted some unshelled nuts,

chestnut cream (be in next post), gourmet cookies... time ...

Around this time (early spring) of the year, in my yard I'll start to see hundreds of small holes on the ground. My husband said they're from squirrel digging, most probably looking for the food they hid during the winter. But the funny thing is, the squirrels can't remember where the food hidden, so they'd dig here and there. I'm a squirrel - manage inventory in the same manner. Yesterday I passed the pantry (with any trace of intention things won't show up you know...), I spotted some unshelled nuts, chestnut cream (be in the next post), gourmet cookies... time for clearance.

I'd continue to use a recipe from Flo Braker's. I've only read two of her cook books (published in the early 90) so far, quite technical, but not difficult. She's been teaching for so many years, she knows what make us stupid; she'd take us away from there to the next level. Leading us to next level is not a thing I find in some celebrity chefs nowaday, in my opinions.

Recipe: (yield 10 - 12 mini tartlets)

Filling recipe: I took this recipe as reference, and scaled down. Since I aimed for paste-like consistency, so I gounded the pecans, reduced a bit of sugar and replaced with a handful of amaretti, fine crumble. Plus some halved pecan as garnish.

Tartlet pastry dough's recipe: *adapted from Sweet Miniatures by Flo Braker*

* 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
* a pinch of salt
* 1/8 cup + 1 tsp sugar
* 1 stick (4 ounces) butter, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
* 1 small egg
* 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

* In a large mixing bowl, whisk to combine flour, salt and sugar. Drop in butter slices, use a pastry blend to cut them into flour mixture until they have the consistency of very coarse cornmeal.
* Whisk the egg and vanilla, add into the flour mixture, slightly knead as needed until the dough is formed.
* This step I'm very different from Flo's. She'd just pinch out some dough and press into tins. But I wrapped the dough, send it to fridge to rest for an hour. Then roll it to a 1/8-inch-thick flat sheet (in between rollings, sending back to chill and rest is required). Cut out the round circles and place them into pre-greased and pre-floured mini tart tray. *
* Pre-heat oven to 350F.
* Spoon the filling into tart dough, top with a halved pecan. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until light golden. When the tray is cool enough to touch, unmold, let the tartlets cool completely on rack.

Flo's note: either method you use to shape the dough, please complete one task before beginning another, e.g., first to complete pinching out all the individual dough (my way would be cutting all circles out), second, rolling all the doughs as a ball (N/A to mine), then finally to proceed shaping the dough to ensure it distributes evenly. Handling one movement at a time is easier and faster. You discover you own rhythm from the repetition.

project management planning

Source: www.inventorymanagement.com S.P.Jain Center of Management, Dubai .
Singapore S P Jain Dubai has moved its new Campus to Academic City. ...

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posted by at Sunday, July 15, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Project management planning - Birthday Party Planning. Ideas, Theme Parties, Birthday Party
Birthday Party Planning. Ideas, Theme Parties, Birthday Party Supplies
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Family Planning - Planning For the Future - Babyzone.com
Starting a family? Having more kids? Find out how to make the big decisions and project management planning plan for some of life's major events.
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DPD Planning -- Planning
Seattle City Planning engages citizens in an ongoing dialogue about Seattle's future and project management planning plays a central role in guiding the long-term development of the built and project management planning natural environment.
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posted by at Saturday, July 14, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Corporate Safe Specialists Sponsors Cyber-conference with Armed Forbes
Corporate Safe Specialists Sponsors Cyber-conference with Armed
Forbes - Moore, CPP, is Board Certified in Security Management (CPP). He is an armed robbery expert and project management planning consultant to high-risk occupational groups, as well as print and project management planning broadcast media sources. His writing and project management planning consulting career focus around businesses with a
Source: www.forbes.com
BlueBay says assets under management $13.1 bln
Reuters UK - LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - BlueBay Asset Management Ltd (BBAY.L: Quote , Profile , Research ) said on Friday it had continued to make strong progress and project management planning its assets under management now stood at $13.1 billion. "These results continue to demonstrate
Source: uk.reuters.com
Weight Watchers Announces Second Quarter 2007 Earnings Conference Call
MSN MoneyCentral - Weight Watchers International, Inc. is the world's leading provider of weight management services, operating globally through a network of Company- owned and project management planning franchise operations. Weight Watchers holds over 50,000 weekly meetings where members
Source: news.moneycentral.msn.com
Eaton Vance Closed-End Bank Loan Funds Declare Monthly Dividends
Forbes - On July 13, 2007, Eaton Vance Management, the Boston-based investment adviser, announced the monthly distributions declared on the common shares of two of its closed-end bank loan funds (the "Funds"). The record date for the distributions is July 24
Source: www.forbes.com

posted by at Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Project management planning - Artists for a New South Africa's 'Help African
Artists for a New South Africa's 'Help African Children Orphaned by
Forbes - LOS ANGELES, July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- "Help African Children Orphaned by AIDS," an Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) initiative, was selected by American Express Members Project as one of the Top 50 charitable ideas from more than 7,000
Source: www.forbes.com
Vietnam youth discuss $1bln vocational training project
Thanhnien - The National Committee for Vietnamese Youth met Thursday to discuss a tremendous US$1bln project to provide training to 50 percent of Vietnam s youth workers. Pending government approval, the project aims to build new international standard
Source: www.thanhniennews.com
Project could land millions in low-cost financing
Boston Herald - H ub developer Arthur Winn and project management planning his investors, as they look to get the $700 million Columbus Center project into construction, are applying for tens of millions in low-cost government financing. Winn s development team is seeking $32 million in tax
Source: business.bostonherald.com
Aramco and project management planning Dow Chemical award KBR Inc. with contract for Saudi
International Herald Tribune - Bob Donaho, Dow Chemical's project director for the Ras Tanura Integrated Project in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich eastern province, said KBR had been selected for its management expertise and project management planning competitiveness. "This mega-project will leverage our refining
Source: www.iht.com
Five-month I-78 project begins Monday
Morris County Daily Record - BEDMINSTER -- A project will begin Monday to lengthen the Interstate 78 westbound acceleration lane from I-287 south, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. The work will lengthen the existing acceleration lane by 3,600 feet
Source: www.dailyrecord.com
Scout's project helps soldiers
Antelope Valley Press - The sun is blazing - it's a dry heat with no rain in sight and project management planning any breeze coming through is filled with sand. People walk slowly and project management planning hunt for shade wherever they can find it. No, it's not the Antelope Valley - it's Iraq, and project management planning United States soldiers in
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posted by at Thursday, July 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Sunshine Project: WelcomeResearch, facts and activism about biological
Sunshine Project: Welcome
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The Web Standards Project
Promoting standards compliance on the Web.
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Boys and project management planning Girls Club: Project Discover
An educational program of Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, Project Discover, offers a summer academic program for motivated elementary Boys & Girls Club Members (3rd-6th grade)
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Free Science Fair Project Ideas for Grades K-12
Hundreds of detailed science fair project ideas for all grade levels in a wide range of topics from Science Fair Project Ideas Find a science project idea. Science Buddies has developed the Topic
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posted by at Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
World Bank grants Mozambique US$100 million (Project management planning) loan for
World Bank grants Mozambique US$100 million loan for road ... - Macauhub
World Bank grants Mozambique US$100 million loan for road ...Macauhub, China - 3 hours agoAn agreement was signed for this purpose in Maputo between the representative of the World Bank, Michael Baxter, and project management planning Mozambique s Planning and project management planning Development ...
Source: news.google.com
IG: Cost data for Justice IT systems not reliable - FCW.com
IG: Cost data for Justice IT systems not reliableFCW.com, VA - 17 hours ago The Office of the Chief Information Officer provides sound project management oversight on the myriad activities associated with the major technology ...
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New Survey Reveals Insights into Driving Performance and project management planning ... - Business Wire (press release)
New Survey Reveals Insights into Driving Performance and project management planning ...Business Wire (press release), CA - 25 minutes agoThe webinar will also feature a live demonstration of Tenrox Project Workforce Management, a solution that helps professional services organization assume ...
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Hans-Hermann Bosch GmbH switches to planning system based on ... - Verivox (Pressemitteilung)
Hans-Hermann Bosch GmbH switches to planning system based on ...Verivox (Pressemitteilung), Germany - Jul 9, 2007Tanja Bosch, Managing Director, Hans-Hermann Bosch GmbH, is very positive about the change management project. Together with the Munich-based supply chain ...
Source: news.google.com

posted by at Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
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InfoQ: Presentation: Agile Project Management Planning and project management planning
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posted by at Monday, July 9, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Eva Longoria (Project management planning) & Parker Marry.femalefirst.co.uk - Couples who
Eva Longoria & Parker Marry.
femalefirst.co.uk - Couples who marry in France must take their vows at a city hall - even if they are planning to have a church wedding as well. The ceremony was officiated by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. The newly-married pair are planning a second wedding on Saturday
Source: www.femalefirst.co.uk
Road Trip, planning is the key to fun family travel
Carroll County Times - Tracy Bauhof of Uniontown and project management planning her husband have traveled as far as Maine and project management planning Nova Scotia with their two children, Billy, 10, and project management planning Madeleine, 7. And every summer they hop into the car for the annual trek to Bethany Beach, Del. or Ocean City. Thinking
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Schwarzer condemns Boro planning
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Source: news.bbc.co.uk
N.A. planning official arrested
Aiken Standard - The chairman of the North Augusta Planning Commission has been arrested on allegations he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy more than 30 years ago. Edward Fowler Meloan, 74, of 5030 Fieldcrest Drive in North Augusta, was arrested Thursday about 6
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Oil majors are increasingly investing in monitoring stations onshore
Houston Chronicle - We're building a spider web all over the world," said Eric Van Oort, planning and project management planning business improvement manager at Shell's real-time center in Houston. "From this center, we monitor global floating drilling operations." Engineers and project management planning technicians watch
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Bateman Engineering says Global Minerals not planning further Bateman
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Cable Firms Planning to Charge More for Set-Top Boxes
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Berdych planning Nadal ambush
BBC News - In-form Czech Tomas Berdych awaits in the quarter-finals on Friday, which will be Nadal's fifth consecutive day of action. And 21-year-old Berdych, through to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, is in the mood for an upset. "My
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2 merged banks planning to build on their local roots
Boston Globe - The Institution for Savings in Newburyport and project management planning Ipswich Co-operative Bank merged as of Sunday, creating a new bank with $800 million in assets. The combined bank is the third largest based in Essex County, after Salem Five and project management planning Danversbank, each of
Source: www.boston.com

posted by at Saturday, July 7, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
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posted by at Thursday, July 5, 2007
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
DOE Environmental Management (EM) Home PageThe Faculty Research
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Management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Learn More About Warehouse Inventory Management

You want to learn more about warehouse inventory management but don’t
know You’ve been working in warehouse inventory management for awhile, but you are still using all the tactics employed by the previous manager and aren’t sure that these techniques are the most effective solution for your particular industry or application. You want to learn more about warehouse inventory management but don’t know where to begin. There are plenty of sources to consult, if you just know where to look.

Training Courses

If you are truly concerned that your knowledge of warehouse inventory management is insufficient, you can attend training courses at technical colleges or even through continuing education at a university that will help you step through the processes of inventory management that make your job easier and your department more efficient. These are in depth courses that look into the core of inventory management and will run through the processes from beginning to end.

Seminars

If you feel that you are comfortable with the processes of warehouse inventory management but simply need to find more effective techniques to sail a smoother course along the way, you may want to attend inventory management seminars. At these one or two day training courses, the instructor assumes you are familiar with how inventory management is accomplished and simply provides you with additional information regarding the use of tools and techniques that will make you a better manager and increase revenues for your department.

Resources

You can also consult materials on the web and in books and other industrial publications that provide detailed information on simplifying your warehouse inventory management process. Various websites and publications can provide information on the latest innovations in inventory management software, and books have compiled years of experience and tips from a variety of sources that could give you a better idea of how to deal with your own process.

Management Services

If you think you’ve determined the best processes to implement into your warehouse inventory management system but have a mess on your hands or aren’t sure where to begin, you can hire an inventory management company to come in and reorganize your inventory, take a fresh count, and implement the processes you want to efficiently control your inventory. They will even help you set up a software system and train you on its functionality, providing the necessary tools and knowledge for you to maintain control.

Whichever process you decide on, you will ultimately succeed by gaining additional knowledge on the warehouse inventory management process. Knowledge is power, so the more you learn the more successful you’ll be.

Inventory Management | Inventory Management Software | Inventory ...

i-InventoryManagement.com provides detailed information on Inventory
Management, Inventory Management Software, Inventory Management Systems,
...

Inventory management refers to the process of managing the stocks of finished products, semi-finished products and raw materials by a firm. Inventory management, if done properly, can bring down costs and increase the revenue of a firm.
How much one should invest in inventory management? The answer to this question depends on the volume and value of inventory as a percentage of the total assets of a firm. The importance of inventory management varies according to industries. For example, an automobile dealer has very high inventories, sometimes as high as 50 per cent of the total assets, whereas in the hotel industry it may be as low as 2 to 5 per cent.

The process of inventory management is a continuous one and there are various kinds of solutions available. It is advisable to employ specialized staff for inventory management.

The inventory management process begins as soon as one has started production and ordered raw materials, semi-finished products or any other thing from a supplier. If you are a retailer, then this process begins as soon you have placed your first order with the wholesaler.

Once orders have been placed, there is generally a short period of time available to a firm to put an inventory management plan in place before the supplies are delivered. Inventory management helps a firm to decide in advance where these supplies should be stored. If a firm is getting supplies of small-sized goods, it may not be much of a problem to store them, but in the case of large goods, one has to be careful so that the warehousing space is optimally utilized.

From invoices to purchase orders, there is lot of paperwork and documentation involved in inventory management. Several software programs are available in market, which help in inventory management.

Logan Consulting Services

... Center for Inventory Management: http://www.inventorymanagement.com;
Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing International: http://www.cam-i.org
...


Logan Consulting assists clients in cost justifying, evaluating, selecting, and implementing Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). By applying the extensive knowledge and experience of our dedicated staff, the end-result of this process will be a functioning, value-adding MES that provides management with real-time, accurate data to improve the decision making process. The tangible results of this decision making process are:

* Improved customer service in terms or delivery and order status
* Decreased manufacturing cycle time
* Reduced manufacturing costs

Additionally, a properly selected and implemented MES will facilitate increased visibility and ownership on the shop floor while providing planning and scheduling with data crucial to the development of achievable production schedules.

As with any information system implementation, project "success" is ultimately determined by achieving these values and realizing a positive ROI. By retaining Logan Consulting and our proven manufacturing process, MES, and project management experience, you greatly improve your chances for "success" at a reasonable cost.

Features

Logan Consulting services include the following proven features:

* Strategic IS Assessment services to ensure MES fits your companies IT strategy
* Cost Benefit Analysis methodology to ensure a profitable business case is made for the investment in MES software
* Proven MES evaluation and selection templates including RFI's, RFP's, and Functional Evaluations to ensure the package that best meets your needs and delivers against the profitable business case is chosen
* Implementation services focused on delivering value and addressing prioritized goals and opportunities
* A web-enabled GlobalToolkit used to manage project issues, actions, process, and procedures
* A searchable, web-enabled knowledge-base containing solutions from over 50 implementation projects

Impact

The combination of Logan Consulting's services and the resulting successful MES implementation benefits our clients' bottom lines through improved decision making in the back office and more cost-effective use of manufacturing resources and assets on the shop floor.

Logan Consulting Services

... Center for Inventory Management: http://www.inventorymanagement.com;
Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing International: http://www.cam-i.org

Logan Consulting assists clients in cost justifying, evaluating, selecting, and implementing Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES). By applying the extensive knowledge and experience of our dedicated staff, the end-result of this process will be a functioning, value-adding MES that provides management with real-time, accurate data to improve the decision making process. The tangible results of this decision making process are:

* Improved customer service in terms or delivery and order status
* Decreased manufacturing cycle time
* Reduced manufacturing costs

Additionally, a properly selected and implemented MES will facilitate increased visibility and ownership on the shop floor while providing planning and scheduling with data crucial to the development of achievable production schedules.

As with any information system implementation, project "success" is ultimately determined by achieving these values and realizing a positive ROI. By retaining Logan Consulting and our proven manufacturing process, MES, and project management experience, you greatly improve your chances for "success" at a reasonable cost.

Features

Logan Consulting services include the following proven features:

* Strategic IS Assessment services to ensure MES fits your companies IT strategy
* Cost Benefit Analysis methodology to ensure a profitable business case is made for the investment in MES software
* Proven MES evaluation and selection templates including RFI's, RFP's, and Functional Evaluations to ensure the package that best meets your needs and delivers against the profitable business case is chosen
* Implementation services focused on delivering value and addressing prioritized goals and opportunities
* A web-enabled GlobalToolkit used to manage project issues, actions, process, and procedures
* A searchable, web-enabled knowledge-base containing solutions from over 50 implementation projects

Impact

The combination of Logan Consulting's services and the resulting successful MES implementation benefits our clients' bottom lines through improved decision making in the back office and more cost-effective use of manufacturing resources and assets on the shop floor.

Professional Services - Management Consulting Services - Surf ...

Center for Inventory Management - http://www.inventorymanagement.com;
Coleman Management Consultants Inc - http://www.hcoleman.com ...


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Inventory Management: Home

What is "Inventory Management" Inventory management is the active control
program which allows the management of sales, purchases and payments. ...

Inventory management is the active control program which allows the management of sales, purchases and payments.

Inventory management software helps create invoices, purchase orders, receiving lists, payment receipts and can print bar coded labels. An inventory management software system configured to your warehouse, retail or product line will help to create revenue for your company. The Inventory Management will control operating costs and provide better understanding. We are your source for inventory management information, inventory management software and tools.

A complete Inventory Management Control system contains the following components:

*

Inventory Management Definition
*

Inventory Management Terms
*

Inventory Management Purposes
*

Definition and Objectives for Inventory Management
*

Organizational Hierarchy of Inventory Management
*

Inventory Management Planning
*

Inventory Management Controls for Inventory
*

Determining Inventory Management Stock Levels

Management Directory

www.inventorymanagement.com 44 - Action Learning With The Partners For
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Ektron
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LookSmart
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The Stability of State Economies

By Testa
Explanations include better monetary policy, structural changes (such as improved inventory management, the decline of unionization, the redistribution of jobs from manufacturing to services, banking deregulation), and plain good luck, ...

In recent years, Fed Chairman Bernanke and other economists have been analyzing the causes of the increased stability in the U.S. economy, a phenomenon known as "The Great Moderation." Most of their analyses have focused on the national economy, noting that the fluctuations, or volatility, in GDP growth, employment growth and inflation have declined noticeably over the past 25 years or so. But a Philadelphia Fed economist, Jerry Carlino, recently wrote a paper that looks at the issue at the state level and finds that every state has shared in the decline in employment volatility.

Increased stability has numerous benefits for both households and businesses. When employment is growing at more stable rates, people can be more certain of their job prospects, which makes it easier to decide whether to buy a new car, for example. Similarly, businesses have an easier time deciding whether to invest in new machinery when they can be more certain about the state of the economy. In turn, better decision-making by people and businesses can minimize the potential waste in the economy created by bankruptcies and other problems that can arise when people make decisions that turn out poorly.

Comparing the average volatility (measured in Carlino’s paper as the standard deviation of quarterly changes in employment) before and after 1984, Carlino’s results show that the states of the Seventh District all had declines that ranked in the top half of all U.S. states. Michigan ranked 2nd with a 63.6% drop in volatility, Indiana 4th with 57.1%, Wisconsin 8th with 52.5%, Iowa 16th with 45.3%, and Illinois 20th with 42.7%.

The following graph illustrates how the volatility in total employment has changed over time in each of the District states, converging toward the national average.



Click to enlarge.

One reason for the relatively bigger declines in employment volatility in the Midwest is our concentration in manufacturing and, specifically, our concentration in durable goods manufacturing. Carlino reports that volatility in U.S. factory employment was cut in half after 1984, whereas the declines in employment volatility in services were much smaller. And by my estimates, the volatility reduction in durable goods manufacturing employment was much sharper than that in nondurable goods.

As a result, Seventh District states ranked in the top half of all states in terms of the magnitude of the decline in manufacturing employment volatility. Michigan ranked 1st with a 66.3% drop, Indiana 3rd with 63.1%, Wisconsin 7th with 56.9%, Illinois 12th with 55.7%, and Iowa 22nd with 48.8%.

I’ve also looked at other state-level data series to see if they too reveal evidence of the Great Moderation. The quarterly changes in unemployment rates show similar reductions in volatility to those seen in employment (though the state-level unemployment data only go back to 1976). Real per capita income also shows a reduction in volatility, but the relative reductions are smaller.



Click to enlarge.


Click to enlarge.


Interestingly, whereas the District’s concentration in durable goods manufacturing seemed to lead to larger reductions in volatility compared with other states, that is not the case with changes in unemployment rates and personal income. As shown in the following table, the Midwest states’ reductions in unemployment and income volatility were rather middling.


Click to enlarge.

Carlino notes that the economists who have been tracking the Great Moderation have proposed numerous reasons for the decline in volatility nationwide. Explanations include better monetary policy, structural changes (such as improved inventory management, the decline of unionization, the redistribution of jobs from manufacturing to services, banking deregulation), and plain good luck, in that the economy has not faced any significant crises like the oil embargo of the 1970s.

Regardless of the causes, it is clear that changes in employment and other variables are much more stable here in the Midwest than they were 25 years or so ago. Yet while lower volatility has its benefits, it does not uniformly deliver positive outcomes. Typically, volatility rises during a recession (as shown in the graphs above) then settles back down when the economy recovers and employment expands again.

However, that has not been the case in Michigan. Its volatility in all three variables increased during the 2001 recession and retreated since then, but the state economy has not recovered. Michigan's employment has been stabilizing around an average decline in jobs (-0.2 percent per quarter over the past five years). Its unemployment is high; in April the unemployment rate in Michigan was 7.1%, the highest in the nation. And per capita incomes in Michigan are stabilizing around slow growth of 0.1% per quarter, which is below the national average and among the slowest in the nation.

If you buy the assumption that the observed volatility affects the confidence of business and household decision-making, this means that Michiganders could be getting more certain that the local economy is heading in the wrong direction.

Hiring: Flash Designer

Knowledge of online ad server systems and inventory management - 2-5 years' experience in an online media, marketing, or technology organization. Yahoo! Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. For more information or to search all of our ...

Company: Yahoo! Location: Santa Monica, United States

The Internet is a big, busy place, and we at Yahoo! are proud to stand out in the crowd. As the world's number one Internet brand, servicing over a half billion people, we're determined to maintain our commitment to delivering news, entertainment, information and fun... each and every day.

In order to maintain our position as one of the world's most trafficked Internet destinations, we're always on the lookout for people with big ideas and big talent to help us provide our visitors with the innovative products and services they've come to expect from Yahoo!. We're looking for people like you.

How Big Can You Think?

Job Description:

The Yahoo! Consumer/Customer Innovation Team, located in Santa Monica and Sunnyvale, is an innovation lab dedicated to generating new demand for Yahoo! products and services by finding new ways to fulfill consumers' and customers' deepest needs. We're a small, nimble, highly collaborative team with skills in many disciplines and partners in many places - both inside and outside the company. Our charter is to imagine, prototype, and deliver new kinds of experiences and tools that delight customers and consumers, and change the game for Yahoo!.

As Visual Designer-Developer, you will be dedicated to visualizing and prototyping these tools and experiences. Multifaceted projects will require you to tap a broad range of skills, encompassing web page design, web video, in-video advertising, editorial packaging, rich media promotional units, web widgets, and fully featured interactive content modules. You will work side-by-side with marketers, product managers, engineers, content editors, business strategists, data specialists, and external contractors. You must thrive on teamwork and collaboration, and enjoy serving as an advocate for innovation, experimentation, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Responsibilities:

In this unique role, you will:

- Design and prototype new online tools, promotions, and editorial packages
- Integrate front-end design and functionality with back-end web technologies such as xml feeds, content databases, and server-side scripted applications
- Work intensively with web video and emerging web video advertising technologies
- Visualize marketing and programming concepts to support early-stage discussions with potential brand and content partners
- Manage relationships with multiple vendors and contractors
- Stay abreast of emerging developments in the online media & marketing industries
- Build and maintain productive working relationships with colleagues in many disciplines from across the company
- Travel frequently between Santa Monica and Sunnyvale to collaborate with colleagues in both locations

Requirements:

- Strong conceptual and visual design skills; extensive web design experience
- Expert-level knowledge of Flash, JavaScript, CSS, DHTML, XML
- Proficiency with web video editing and related applications
- Strong project management skills; able to multitask and prioritize in a fluid, fast-changing environment
- High level of comfort working in cycles of rapid iteration, prototyping, and testing, often within short overall delivery timeframes
- Exceptional interpersonal skills; comfortable working with colleagues from any discipline or level of the organization
- Innovative, inquisitive, entrepreneurial spirit
- Passion for online media & marketing
- Willingness to travel as needed between Santa Monica and Sunnyvale offices
- Strong knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, PowerPoint
- Strong portfolio (please provide URLs).

Desired qualifications:

- Animation and/or motion design experience
- Knowledge of AJAX application development, PHP or other server-side scripting
- Experience working with a CMS and/or large online content databases
- Knowledge of online ad server systems and inventory management
- 2-5 years' experience in an online media, marketing, or technology organization

Yahoo! Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. For more information or to search all of our openings, please visit http://careers.yahoo.com

To apply for the Flach Designer role, please visit the following link:
http://www02.rmx.scd.yahoo.com/pljb/yahoo/yahoo_jobs/applicant/jobClick.jsp?count=1&id=9646

Accurate Inventory Maintenance for Manufacturing Efficiency

By admin
ERP will also provide real-time visibility into inventoried parts, allowing more accurate inventory management decisions. In building efficiencies, an ERP software system will help in the overall maintenance of inventories by enabling ...

Of the many ways to maintain efficiencies in modern manufacturing, none is perhaps more underutilized than the keeping of accurate inventories. Perhaps, this is due to some ancient notion that inventory simply takes care of itself: Orders get taken, parts get ordered, parts get used in production, product leaves shop—and the cycle starts over anew. Perhaps accurate inventory maintenance is considered unnecessary, that there is little margin loss as a result of obsolescence or overstocking.

However, both considerations operate under the same single primary fallacy—that inventory is only an insignificant means to a production end where other factors such as labor and machinery are considered far more important manufacturing elements.Today, though, it is not enough to say that you have a great grasp on the scheduling and maintenance of men and machine on the shop floor. For, without proper inventory maintenance, no amount of efficiency in scheduling and direct-labor costing will prevent production delays due to something such as a lack of parts.

It is for this reason that enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems have been developed. An intuitive and robust ERP software brings together a wealth of real-time shop floor data that includes the typical tools that keep an accurate accounting of inventory. Inventory control in ERP is designed to manage all inventory-related transactions. For example, using a graphical user interface on the shop floor, you can identify and track information for each standard part within the item master.

ERP will also provide real-time visibility into inventoried parts, allowing more accurate inventory management decisions. In building efficiencies, an ERP software system will help in the overall maintenance of inventories by enabling managers to make better inventory decisions—this, as a result of the performing of everyday tasks that before ERP took hours or even days to produce. However, now with the automated functions of ERP, and the access to real-time data, such tasks such as cycle counting take only minutes to generate a detailed material availability report.

The result of a fully integrated ERP software system is the enhancement of communication between all shop functions. This includes communication between shop floor personnel, sales order clerks, and inventory managers. That is to say, an intuitive and integrated ERP software will automatically tend to inventory maintenance through these on-line tools, with on-hand inventory levels being held at minimal volumes that take advantage of just-in-time (JIT) production mandates. In short, the keeping of accurate inventories helps keep obsolescence down, while at the same time producing automated purchasing when needed.

With so much riding on the maintenance of accurate inventories, it is a wonder that more attention is not given to its importance by manufacturers. Indeed, as waste is eliminated through every aspect of the job shop or make to order manufacturer, little is gained if inventories are not properly accounted for with great regularity. ERP software now allows inventory managers the means to, for once, incorporate the production levels taking place in other vital areas of the plant. As the plant speaks with one mind on the production line, inventory accounting then becomes that last piece in the puzzle where gains in efficiencies are made through the total integration of shop floor communication.

Sockeye Supply Chain Introduces Allegro Suite

Sockeye Supply Chain has introduced its Allegro Suite with modules for inbound and outbound supply chain management, inventory management, demand management and supply chain event management. The new Allegro Suite provides enterprises ...

logistics-suite.jpg
Sockeye Supply Chain has introduced its Allegro Suite with modules for inbound and outbound supply chain management, inventory management, demand management and supply chain event management.

The new Allegro Suite provides enterprises with a range of supply chain management capabilities, including features to enable collaboration and inventory visibility.

The Allegro Suite is built on a service oriented architecture (SOA) platform and includes these modules:

Allegro Inbound - Sockeye's inbound supply chain planning module is focused on providing visibility and decision support to manage the replenishment of parts inventory from suppliers to manufacturers. It includes a dynamic replenishment feature that allows for the co-management of inventory levels by the supplier and manufacturer to dynamically address any inventory level discrepancies in real-time. Additionally, the module supports multiple replenishment methods based on the supplier/buyer relationship (e.g., strategic vs. non-strategic) and whether the part is critical/constrained or non-strategic.

Allegro Outbound - Sockeye's outbound supply chain planning module is focused on the planning and monitoring of finished goods inventory movement through the outbound supply chain. For operations planning, the outbound module allows creation of constraint-based production and shipment plans to synchronize supply and demand. For execution, the module provides the visibility and decision support to monitor and resolve problems caused by day-to-day disruptions to production, shipment and inventory plans, Sockeye said.

Allegro Inventory Management - Sockeye's inventory management module enables enterprises to generate inventory targets for any location in the inbound or outbound supply chain. The module supports multiple methods of generating inventory targets to support items in different stages of their lifecycle and different inventory management strategies.

Allegro Demand Management - Sockeye's demand management solution enables enterprises to generate forecasts for finished goods. The forecasts are used to drive operational planning of the outbound supply chain. The module also supports consensus forecasting to promote alignment between sales and operations.

Allegro SCEM - Sockeye said its supply chain event management (SCEM) module is a very flexible tool for addressing a wide range of time critical synchronization problems using real-time supply chain events, alert notification and problem ticketing.


Permalink: Sockeye Supply Chain Introduces Allegro Suite
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Weekly Newsbytes, Issue 21

AUDIO PODCASTS:

» Cryptography Breakthroughs
New applications. New devices. Convergence. An explosive network effect. And all of it requiring more security. Get the lowdown on the latest in cryptography technology...

» Stop Thinking About Time with Real-Time Java
As a developer, wouldn't you love for someone to abstract all the nasty stuff underneath the APIs to allow you to think about the domain and application workload? The Java Real-Time System 2.0, recently announced at JavaOne, does just that...


PROMOTIONS:

» Try the all new Sun Blade 6000 Modular Server FREE for 60 Days

» Go Green with Speed with a Sun Fire Coolthreads Server for 60 Days

» Test Drive a Sun Fire x64 Server FREE for 60 Days

» Solaris & Java Training: Book Four, Pay for Three


CUSTOMER NEWS:

» Deloitte & Touche LLP and Sun Unveil New Identity and Access Management Offering
The two companies have announced a new Enterprise Role Lifecycle Management (ERLM) offering that enables organisations to simplify compliance management, reporting and user administration of identity and access management (IAM) deployments.

» Customer Snapshot: eBay Inc
You can find it on eBay - even if you didn't know it existed... To power its massively-scaled resource tiers including both commercial and custom databases, eBay relies on a spectrum of Sun x64 and Coolthreads servers, storage and software solutions. In addition, Sun Managed Services provides around-the-clock responsiveness for all datacentre issues related to the database and search tiers, while Sun Educational Services delivers customised training courses for IT teams worldwide.


PRODUCT NEWS:

» Sun Launches Unique Data Management Appliance for Communication Service Providers
If you're looking for a powerful, secure and flexible end-to-end solution to help you address the EU Data Retention Directive, the new Solaris-based Sun Secure Data Retrieval Server (SDRS) may be what you need. As the industry's first end-to-end "plug-and-comply" appliance solution powered by CopperEye's revolutionary "Live Archive" technology, SDRS addresses not only the secure retention and life cycle of communications data, but also the business processes by which this data is rapidly retrieved and securely disclosed.

» Sun Introduces New Offering To Simplify IT Inventory Management
Earlier this week, Sun introduced the Sun Connection Inventory Channel -- a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows sys admins and IT operators to quickly and easily discover, organise and report on their organisation's IT assets. By delivering one-click discovery across systems running the Solaris and Linux, Sun Connection Inventory Channel enables customers to gain valuable insight into their IT operations by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

» Sun Tunes Solaris Express Developer Edition for Enhanced Multicore Development
Sun has announced new functionality for Solaris Express Developer Edition, including new compilers and development tools to help application developers create better applications faster. The OpenSolaris-based distribution offers a new set of products which are optimised for the newest multicore architectures.
By The Editor...(The Editor...)
Sun Introduces New Offering To Simplify IT Inventory Management Earlier this week, Sun introduced the Sun Connection Inventory Channel -- a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows sys admins and IT operators to quickly and ...

TECH CORNER:

» Ask Dr Root
Our local tech whiz, Dr. Root, answers your questions and locates all the cool resources for you on sun.com. This week, learn about Sun's Logical Domains (LDoms) technology and see how by careful architecture, a logical domains environment can help you achieve greater resource usage, better scaling and increased security and isolation...

IBS installs its Intelligent Inventory Management System - SHADOW

TechWhack - New Delhi,Delhi,India
This Intelligent Inventory Management System provides small and medium
enterprises an efficient and secure way to manage their inventory. ...

IBS installs its Intelligent Inventory Management System – SHADOW - for The Concern India Foundation

Powerful and secure software enables SMEs to efficiently manage inventory

Mumbai, 14 June, 2007: Intelligent Business Systems (IBS), the Artificial Intelligence (AI) based Business Competitiveness Solutions firm, today announced the successful installation of “SHADOW”- the Intelligent Inventory Management System for The Concern India Foundation. This Intelligent Inventory Management System provides small and medium enterprises an efficient and secure way to manage their inventory. It is especially targeted at distributors, dealers, wholesalers, retailers, warehouse owners, traders and small scale manufacturers. SHADOW would also work well in shopping malls, large department stores, or even small shops keen to professionalise inventory handling.

SHADOW from Intelligent Business Systems (IBS) enables a high level of decision automation, which ensures that inventory control is optimised for a positive impact on the bottom line. This Inventory Management System, offers everything you need to manage your inventory efficiently and cost-effectively with assistance in the advance forecasting of sales, thus enabling effective inventory decisions on the basis of the probable lead time in obtaining items, and careful monitoring of dispatches in order to meet delivery deadlines—parameters that would be impossible to track manually with any reasonable degree of success.

SHADOW has been designed using modern, state-of-the-art approaches to inventory management, including just-in-time stocking principles backed by sophisticated analytics. Detailed descriptions of all items in inventory can be input, with multiple levels of categorisation. This software seamlessly manages the entire inventory cycle, from ordering and receipt of stock, through quality checks and storage, to queries on individual items, to packaging and dispatch, etc. A wide range of essential documents and reports can be generated whenever required, including purchase orders, invoices, product details, supplier details, stock summary and many more. Ancillary reports such as outward gate passes, packaging slips, courier slips and so on can also be produced on demand.

A unique feature of SHADOW is that date and time stamps are automatically affixed to every transaction, allowing for special analysis that can further streamline inventory control as well as serve as input for other systems, in order to determine load factors, cash flow constraints, personnel requirements, and so on. Special features such as customised inventory types, assembly line options, PDF format reports, end-to-end product tracking, and barcode reader interaction make SHADOW the most sophisticated inventory management system in its category. All the routine requirements of standard inventory management have been incorporated into SHADOW, and in addition it has several intelligent features for optimisation of inventory control.

“Using SHADOW one can make decisions for tweaking the supply chain as it provides all the statistical analysis one needs to optimise inventory management” said Dr Kaustubh Chokshi, CEO of Intelligent Business Systems. “SHADOW offers true business intelligence functionality, enabling users to create a real-time, onscreen “dashboard” display of the most important inventory-related parameters they wish to track or be alerted about.”

He added, “There are robust security features and usage logging in SHADOW to ensure that the safety and integrity of the data is maintained at all times. The automated backup ensures that recovery of data is simple and painless in the event of unexpected breakdowns or malfunctions.”

SHADOW is designed for small and medium enterprises with a turnover of up to Rs 100 crore and can be configured for multiple locations. SHADOW is completely scalable and can be upgraded for higher usage levels if required. Ease of use and complete flexibility have been among the key considerations in the design of SHADOW.

About Intelligent Business Systems (www.intelligentsystems.biz)

Intelligent Business Systems Pvt. Ltd. (IBS) is a futuristic and ultramodern company, providing innovative AI Enterprise Solutions and analytic applications for business, incorporating cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Incorporated in the United Kingdom and recently expanded into India, the core competence of IBS lies in Artificial Intelligence, with a sharp focus in applying the latest AI models to intelligent business solutions customized to specific client needs.

Sun touts Linux/Solaris inventory management

VNUNet.com - UK
Sun Microsystems today unveiled an inventory management offering that it
claims is the first to deliver one-click discovery across systems running
Solaris ...

Sun Microsystems today unveiled an inventory management offering that it claims is the first to deliver one-click discovery across systems running Solaris and Linux.

Sun Connection Inventory Channel is free for Sun customers and is designed to allow system administrators and IT operators to discover, organise and report on IT assets.

Customers can manage their IT assets by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

"Sun is continuing to expand its offerings to help customers more efficiently manage their data centres," said Steve Wilson, vice president of connected systems at Sun.

"The Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a simple, powerful way for customers to track, sort, search and group their IT assets and support contracts.

"Ultimately, by automating the process, customers are able to easily understand their assets and make better informed IT decisions for the future."

Many IT administrators have complex management mechanisms in place to benchmark the health and performance of their IT operations.

But often they do not have a single view of the software, systems and storage they have, or where these assets are running.

While some products offer partial automation, keeping track of inventory, managing new additions and tracking removals is difficult, error prone and often requires manual processing.

Sun touts Linux/Solaris inventory management

iT News - Australia
By Clement James, 13 June 2007 17:44 AEST Security GLOBAL - Sun
Microsystems today unveiled an inventory management offering that it claims
is the first to ...

GLOBAL - Sun Microsystems today unveiled an inventory management offering that it claims is the first to deliver one-click discovery across systems running Solaris and Linux.

Sun Connection Inventory Channel is free for Sun customers and is designed to allow system administrators and IT operators to discover, organise and report on IT assets.

Customers can manage their IT assets by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

"Sun is continuing to expand its offerings to help customers more efficiently manage their data centres," said Steve Wilson, vice president of connected systems at Sun.
advertisement



"The Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a simple, powerful way for customers to track, sort, search and group their IT assets and support contracts.

"Ultimately, by automating the process, customers are able to easily understand their assets and make better informed IT decisions for the future."

Many IT administrators have complex management mechanisms in place to benchmark the health and performance of their IT operations.

But often they do not have a single view of the software, systems and storage they have, or where these assets are running.

While some products offer partial automation, keeping track of inventory, managing new additions and tracking removals is difficult, error prone and often requires manual processing.

Sun Introduces New Offering To Simplify IT Inventory Management

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced the immediate availability of the Sun Connection Inventory Channel, a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows system administrators and I ...

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) today announced the immediate availability of the Sun Connection Inventory Channel, a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows system administrators and IT operators to quickly and easily discover, organize and report on their IT assets. The first inventory management solution to deliver one-click discovery across systems running the Solaris Operating System (OS) and Linux, Sun Connection Inventory Channel enables customers to actively manage their IT assets and gain valuable insight into their IT operations by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

"Sun is continuing to expand its offerings to help customers more efficiently manage their data centers," said Steve Wilson, vice president of Connected Systems, Sun Microsystems. "The Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a simple, powerful way for customers to track, sort, search and group their IT assets and support contracts. Ultimately, by automating the process, customers are able to easily understand their assets and make better informed IT decisions for the future."

Many IT administrators have complex management mechanisms in place to benchmark the health and performance of their IT operations, but often do not have a single view of what software, systems and storage they have and where these assets are running. While some solutions offer partial automation, keeping track of inventory, managing new additions and tracking removals is difficult, error prone and often requires manual processing.

Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a unified view of hardware and software assets via a dynamic Web-based user interface. Customers can quickly search through thousands of assets based on a combination of search criteria including host name, product type, product version, support contract ID number and custom, user-defined asset tags.

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel complements the existing Sun Connection Update and Provisioning Channels by providing a lightweight and cost-effective asset management solution on a heterogeneous platform. The Sun Connection Update Channel provides central patch management capabilities on multiple operating platforms. The Provisioning Channel allows customers to perform provisioning tasks such as copy and paste of existing system deployments to new systems running the Solaris OS, Red Hat or SUSE Linux. For more information about Sun Connection, please visit: http://www.sun.com/sunconnection

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel is available free to all customers, whether an enterprise has purchased a high-end UltraSPARC-based server or a start-up has downloaded the Solaris OS for free. Access to the new channel is available at: http://sunconnection.sun.com/inventory

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world’s most important markets. Sun’s philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com

Our Honeymoon with Walmart and China

By RussWilcox(RussWilcox)
The predisposition of Walmart to resell so many items from China, compared with their low profit margins and their incredibly efficient inventory-management system are what makes Walmart so successful, and its customers flocking back. ...

Even though many Americans experience a pang of angst when shopping at Walmart, knowing that many of the items we buy there, like televisions, toys and clothing, are made in China, and we would rather be supporting American companies with our purchases, still the lure of unbelievably low prices cannot be overcome. I know; I just bought a 32” HDTV set there for $498.

The predisposition of Walmart to resell so many items from China, together with their low profit margins and their incredibly efficient inventory-management system are what makes Walmart so successful, and its customers flocking back. A problem is beginning to emerge, however, as we learn that some of the consumables from China contain poisonous materials, and that China’s inspection systems and concerns are laughable.

These problems first showed up in pet food, and the inquiries triggered by the pet food tragedies have turned up case after case of deaths and illnesses of human beings in other countries due to the consumption of Chinese products.

In our e-mail group we are fortunate to have John E. Carey, a retired naval officer who also writes extensively, and who has looked into this problem:

China Killed Your Dog; Now You and Your Kids are at Risk Too
Fixing a corrupt system with up to 1 billion players

By John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
June 14, 2007

On April 1 of this year I wrote a commentary essay under the headline “China Killed Your Dog.” I said at the time that the mainstream media seemed to be brushing this story under the carpet.

The red meat of “China Killed Your Dog” is this: Chinese food manufacturers use all kinds of inexpensive products as filler and other agents in things like pet food, soy sauce, toothpaste and chewing gum.

The pet food was largely poisoned by a product called melamine, which is used in fertilizer and plastics, mixed with wheat glutin. Using this formula, Chinese manufacturers reduced production costs while still charging cutomers top dollar: as if beef had been used in the pet food.

Melamine is a prohibited substance in American pet food according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, melamine is a widely accepted fertilizer in China. And farmers mix it into livestock feed, pet food and other products because it is plentiful, inexpensive and usually undetected.

When the New York Times reporters in China followed up on this story, they asked some farmers why China couldn’t just stomp out those few using melamine. Farmers told them everyone used melamine this way since the 1950s. The use of melamine is not restricted to a few isolate production houses: it is everywhere in Chinese agriculture.

Since April, there have been several additional revelations about how China produces food and just about everything else. American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) have been spot checking to see where Chinese manufacturers cut corners and endanger consumers.

What followed was a series of discoveries of wrong-doing on the part of Chinese manufacturers.

Cold medicine made in China killed 51 people in Panama. The product was found to contain glycerin.

Chinese toothpaste was found to contain diethylene glycol. This is a close relative to the anti-icing spray used on aircraft in winter time and it is know to be poisonous.

And yesterday the CPSC recalled Thomas Train pieces manufactured with lead paint.

The world has known that lead paint is toxic for decades.

Chinese officials made a great show of saying they would provide “100% inspection of all exports.” Of course this is a ridiculous and unworkable plan.

FDA and CPSC officials tried to explain to the Chinese of “building quality into the product from the start.”

This built-in quality idea, of course, came from Japanese auto makers. When Japan began to make higher quality cars than Detroit, Ford, GM and other manufacturers went to Japan to learn why. The Detroit auto men claimed to have the best post production quality inspection and control system on earth. The Japanese said they had very limited post production inspection. The Japanese built the quality in from the start.

This concept horrifies the Chinese. With a population of 1.3 billion and at least 700 million people (China has 200 million migrant workers alone) involved in product production, manufacturing and agriculture; how can China rapidly change the manufacturing culture?

They cannot. This is why the “Culture of Corruption” is of such concern.

China can't just paper over this problem the way it usually does during any crisis. No charm offenive will work. China has to start to turn the ship of state toward honest and integrity or its economy will suffer. This thaght must be a nightmare for Chinese leadership. John. E. Carey

Dungeons & Dragons Board Game - Another HeroQuest?

By jbuergel
Most of the truly difficult decisions in the game will be equipment related, and inventory management is significant. I like it, but some might feel confined by the fairly low carrying capacities. Traps also bear mentioning. ...

When I heard that there was a new dungeon crawler that had been put out in Europe but not here in the States, I made sure to put it on my list of things to pick up when I was there a couple years back. I managed to track down a copy in Oxford along with the first expansion, and later picked up the second expansion from Paizo. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, really, other than it was likely to be fairly simple as a Parker Brothers game. But I'll buy essentially any dungeon crawling game, and it's a decent entry, although it's certainly not groundbreaking.

The Presentation

The D&D Adventure Board Game (D&D through the rest of these rules) comes in a largish box featuring a custom molded plastic tray featuring fake stone texture. Swanky! It's a pretty nice production, including 40 miniatures of OK quality - not as nice as those with Descent or the Games Workshop games, about on par with HeroQuest - 5 double-sided 11x11 game boards, several decks of cards (the usual item and monster cards along with some initiative cards), an assortment of card stock tokens featuring some stand-up terrain (pillars and trees), doors that lay flat and various status markers and 10 special dice. The special dice are quite nice, with painted grooves and clear icons. The game also includes the usual rule book and adventure book, the latter feature 11 adventures across three player levels. It's a nice production, and for the money I paid for it, quite a good value. In the States, where you have to pay to import it (if you can find it at all), the cost starts climbing up pretty high. There aren't really any areas of the production I can point to as being poor, the only thing I'd point out is that the miniatures are not extremely detailed. This doesn't really bother me much, but skilled miniature painters might get frustrated.

The Basics

As with its closest relative, HeroQuest, the players always play the same four heroes, so if you play with fewer than four hero players, somebody will have to double up. Someone must also play the GM, here called the Dungeon Master in grand D&D tradition. The game tries its best to stick to D&D terminology, which is nice, I suppose, even if the game has nothing to do with D20 mechanics. The four characters are familiar to anyone who has read the examples in the RPG books: Regdar the human fighter, Lidda the halfling rogue, Jozan the human cleric and Mialee the elven wizard. Each character is represented by a large player card, which has all their stats and a little piece of background printed on it. Around the edge of the card, it also lists your limits on equipment, which is handy, and they also differ amongst the characters, which is interesting. Each character has movement allowance, armor class, carrying capacity and hit points. The spell casters also have spell points.

The players are placed onto the game board, which is dictated by the particular adventure, and someone is nominated to open the door. Whenever a door is opened, the GM deals out the initiative cards, one to each hero and one to themselves. The GM also lays out the revealed room. The players and GM now take their turns in order of the initiative cards, which will change each time a door is opened. By having the GM go possibly in the middle of the heroes, it lends a little bit of uncertainty to how things will go, since the initiative cards are not revealed until it is your turn to take an action (of course, the surprise only lasts for one round). A player turn permits the player to take two actions with their hero, in any order: movement, opening a door, combat, opening a chest, changing an item or taking a special action (casting spells, disarming traps, turning undead, etc). Allowing the players to take any two actions gives them a fair bit of flexibility. Combat is simple, with the player just rolling the dice listed on their character card, totalling up the swords and subtracting the target's armor. The human fighter gets a bonus to his combat, but that's about it.

Spell casting is pretty simple as well. The characters start with certain spells, and they can acquire new spells during their adventure. However, they can only have a limited number equipped and available for use at any time. Each spell cast costs a certain number of spell points, and the spell points only come back when using particular weapons (and rolling particular results). It can be a slow process, regaining spell points, so you do find yourself being careful about when it's right to cast them. You also find yourself really considering whether to equip a more powerful (but more expensive) spell. It's a simple system, but it works well, and the spell points do keep the powerful spells in check.

Monsters, during the GM turn, get one move and one attack. They cannot take a double attack, so they're more limited than the players. Their attacks work the same basic way, and they can make decent headway against the heroes, even the weaker monsters. The game does a nice job of making sure the heroes never feel invulnerable. The other well done part of the basics is that carrying capacities are very limited. When you find new gear, you have to decide if anybody wants it, and frequently it's not an obvious choice. That weapon might have a good power attack, but it's risky, or you could go with this one which will be more consistent but less powerful on average. That spell is more powerful, but it's expensive, so maybe you're better off sticking with the cheap spell. And so on. Most of the truly difficult decisions in the game will be equipment related, and inventory management is significant. I like it, but some might feel confined by the fairly low carrying capacities.

Traps also bear mentioning. Traps can pop up all over the place, and the rogue can find and disarm them. When combat is going on, players might blunder into traps, but once combat is over, there's no time pressure to get them moving. A careful party will therefore be very cautious and investigate for traps carefully. They can get a result that stops them from searching further, forcing another character to have to swap in. It's all kind of tedious, really. I would sometimes just tell the players where the traps were after combat is over, rather than watch them shuffle characters around and search really carefully. Of course, sometimes I'd let them go through the process, because every now and again they'd screw it up and fall in a pit, which is always fun.

The Campaign

Unlike HeroQuest, characters do improve in this game. There are three player levels available, which give the characters more hit points, spell points and access to better loot and spells. You can also start out a character at levels two or three if you need a replacement for a dead character or want to start the campaign in the middle. You also carry over your treasures from adventure to adventure. It's a very simple system, but it is nice that you'll see different stuff as things move along, and it does give some continuity to things. I like this campaign system better than the one in HeroQuest, where you only carry over treasure.

The Good

It's a decent production, and the rules are simple and straightforward. The initiative card mechanic is interesting, the spell system gives good results with a surprising amount of balance, and the encumbrance rules are very effective for forcing some difficult decisions. The players are usually in actual danger even from the weak monsters, and it's nice that they threw in a campaign system, even in a simple way. The geomorphic board provides a decent number of layouts for the dungeon. The action system has reasonable flexibility, and the special actions for each character give good differentiation.

The Bad

The combat system is very basic, and is probably the weakest part of the system. Beyond the decision of what to carry and what spells to cast, the decision on how to fight monsters is pretty obvious. Dealing with traps is tedious, and the campaign runs out of steam fairly quickly and doesn't have a lot of replay value. It's hard to find here in the States, although that's more of a local problem.

A Word about Expansions

There have been two boxed expansions published for this game, one a winter adventures and one an outdoors one. Each comes with a new character (the barbarian and druid, respectively), some new board sections, monster, cards and a new campaign. Both are pretty well done, and good expansions to get if you like the base game, and they'll extend your enjoyment of the game.

Conclusion

In terms of complexity, this is very much like HeroQuest. The mechanics are similarly simple, and they work well at creating a good hack-and-slash type of environment. There are some nice touches in the system, and overall I'd say there are probably a few more interesting decisions going on here than there are in HeroQuest. It's also probably more challenging for the players, meaning it's probably a better choice for slightly older gamers than HeroQuest (although it's still going to appeal more to younger folks than to older folks). Like that game, though, you have to approach D&D on its own terms. It's not a sophisticated game with a lot of agonizing decisions. It's not really a competitive game, like Descent, where the GM is really out to get you. If you're looking for a simple, cooperative dungeon crawler, and desire atmosphere and hacking more than a really advanced game system, this is a good choice. I'd say that purely on the contents of the basic boxes, I like D&D slightly more as a game than HeroQuest, nostalgia for the latter (and awesome furniture!) notwithstanding. But, that leaves out the very strong HeroQuest community online. If you had to pick only one, HeroQuest is probably a better choice, given the wealth of supporting material you can find online. If you're in the mood for something similar but different, it's a nice change of pace, and if for some reason you run across D&D and not HeroQuest, you won't regret D&D as an alternative. A good, solid, simple dungeon crawler.

Section Manager II/III - Inventory Management

CA-Orange County, SECTION MANAGER II/III - Inventory Management Contracts Administration & Materials Management (CAMM) OCTA The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the county's primary transportation agenc.

OCTA

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the county’s primary transportation agency. OCTA creates funds and delivers efficient transportation for Orange County. We keep Orange County moving with extensive bus and Para transit service, Metrolink commuter rail service, the 91 Express Lanes Toll Road, motorist services and freeway, street and road improvement projects. For all of the exceptional services that we provide, OCTA has received the 2005 Outstanding Transportation System Achievement Award from the American Public Transportation Association.





The Position

Manage the Material management function and inventory control processes including but not limited to the planning, organization, warehousing, replenishing, and surplusing cycles for inventory of part and material, as well as warranty programs for vehicles, parts and equipment in compliance with the Agency’s procedures and safety standards.

This position will also supervise the activities at our three operating facilities.





The Ideal Candidate

Knowledge of principles and materials management, inventory control, accounting, warehouse, with progressive management experience with emphasis to negotiate contracts and communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.





Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in public/business administration, Logistics or related field with approximately five to nine years of progressively responsible experience in a inventory management, warehouse and four years supervision preferably in a union environment. APICS Certification is preferred.







Compensation and Benefits

The Authority has a comprehensive management salary and benefits plan designed to recognize and reward outstanding performance. The specific features of the program include:



* Salary:

Section Manager II $64,688 - $99,112 per year depending on qualifications.

Section Manager III $72,737 - $111,009 per year depending on qualifications.



* Retirement:

Employees do not pay into the Social Security system, except for 1.45 of gross

Income, which is paid into the Medicare portion of Social Security. Instead, contributions are made to the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) each pay period. OCTA makes a contribution on your behalf and a contribution on the Authority’s behalf. Employees are eligible to retire at age fifty and after completing ten yeas of service.



* Deferred Compensation Plan:

The 457 (b) Deferred compensation Plan provides you with the opportunity to invest a portion of your salary on a pre-tax basis. OCTA will make a matching contribution of 1% of base pay after 5 years of service; 2% of base pay for employees with 10 or more years of service; and 3% of base pay for employees with 20 or more years of service.



* Vacation:

Two (2) weeks paid vacation during the first two years. Three (3) weeks paid vacation after two years. Four (4) weeks paid vacation after nine years.



* Holidays:

Eleven (11) paid holidays per year, which includes four (4) personal paid holidays.



* Sick leave:

Nine (9) days accrued per year increasing to twelve (12) days after three (3) years of service.



* Medical and Dental Insurance:

Medical—Choice of three plans (Kaiser HMO, CIGNA HMO and CIGNA OAP)

Dental—Choice of two plans (SmileSaver HMO and MetLife PPO Plan)

Vision—Choice of two plans (Vision Service Plan for CIGNA members and Kaiser for Kaiser Members)

Authority pays 80% or more of employee/dependent premium for medical/dental/vision coverage.





* Life Insurance:

Equivalent to two times the employee’s annual salary.



* Educational Reimbursement:

Up to $2,000 per year including reimbursement for textbook costs.



* Other Benefits:

- Deferred Compensation Plan

- Flexible Spending Accounts

- Alternative Workweek Schedules

- Computer Reimbursement

- Ergonomic/Wellness Programs

- Employee Assistance Program

More libraries using RFID, says expert: http://www...

By Teresa Hartman(Teresa Hartman)
Looking at the NXP Semiconductors website, I found these articles on the same subject: no date - Complete inventory management for libraries

Complete inventory management for libraries

In today's fast moving world, existing systems for checking items in and out of libraries increasingly seem slow, labour intensive, inflexible and prone to inaccuracy. In contrast, RFID based systems improve convenience and flexibility for both the users and the library. Quicker and easier to operate, these systems enable improved inventory control; minimize losses via internal misplacement and theft; reduce manual work for library staff; and deliver better read rates and accuracy than traditional manual handling.

Offering a simple upgrade path for existing set-ups, I·CODE-based library schemes provide secure systems, allowing full traceability and an effective means of gathering data for total information management. They can also be easily installed and offer a wider range of functions. The inherent flexibility of I·CODE technology also allows several participating libraries to connect to a single external host system, enabling more sophisticated return and allocation schemes. At the same time, traditional readers' cards with magnetic stripe or bar-code can be replaced by I·CODE cards enabling fast and convenient identification of people borrowing books.

These systems work by fitting a smart label containing an I·CODE chip, each with its own unique serial number, to every item which can be borrowed or rented from the library. This can be a book, videotape, CD-ROM or DVD. Thus each item can be individually identified, while also storing basic data about the item such as the title, author and code.
Automated check in/out

Entry/exit gates installed with I·CODE readers can identify multiple books carried through the gate by a customer, thanks to I·CODE's anticollision feature. And for fully automated check in, users can simply return rented items to the system by dropping goods into a box, past a flap with a reader device. This automatically registers returned items and also updates the library's inventory status, providing fully automated inventory control. Borrowing books can also be automated in the same way, with registered users choosing items at an interactive screen at the checkout, which are then automatically delivered.
Fast item location

Another function made possible with RFID systems is fast and easy location of books. This can be achieved either by placing antennas on shelves to define their contents, or with a handheld proximity reader, and enables quick inventorying and the location of misplaced items - which can be a serious problem with an average of 200-300 thousand books per library.
Flexible return options

RFID systems allow 'mailboxes' to be located at convenient public places. These have access to a library's database so can register returned items automatically, update the library inventory and log the customer account. If several libraries are connected to the same system, this enables sophisticated inter-library item allocation schemes to be implemented.

All in all, I·CODE RFID systems enable major improvements across all library processes, increasing overall efficiency, raising customer convenience, comfort and flexibility, improving inventorying accuracy and reducing losses, as well as reducing mishandling by library personnel and providing better theft protection.

SmartTurn and Boomi Make Software Integrations Affordable for All ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
... need integration can subscribe to one complete solution which includes
connectivity to any application or data they require for inventory
management. ...

OAKLAND, Calif. & BERWYN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SmartTurn, the leading on-demand Inventory and Warehouse Management System provider, has partnered with Boomi, a leader in business integration software for small and mid-market (SMB) companies, to radically change enterprise software integration particularly for the under-served SMB market. The partnership will make it easy, affordable and quick for SMB companies to link any combination of software as a service (SaaS) and on-premise applications without the burden of installing software packages or hardware appliances.

For too long, integration has been the Achilles heel of enterprise software implementations because most require linking to legacy systems such as EDI, ERPs, or parcel and barcode packages, which can be timely and costly. SmartTurn™ Inventory and Warehouse Management System and Boomi On DemandSM partnership removes those barriers to adoption and provides a seamless option for integration that offers SMB customers better control and visibility into inventory operations.

When a customer deploys SmartTurn, the Boomi On Demand integration service enables them to link SmartTurn to other SaaS or on-premise applications within their organizations. This is accomplished without implementing a costly integration software platform or developing complex custom code, and is done easily over the Web.

Customers will have the opportunity to use several applications to solve specific business processes and have the freedom to mix and match best-of-breed solutions without being tied to one cumbersome, proprietary application. “Our partnership with Boomi reinforces our belief in the on-demand model and all the inherent values it provides,” said Jim Burleigh, General Manager, SmartTurn. “Savvy customers expect vendors to accommodate integrations and interoperability easily. And that is what the SmartTurn and Boomi partnership will offer.”

SmartTurn customers who need integration can subscribe to one complete solution which includes connectivity to any application or data they require for inventory management. The only requirement is the customer’s high-speed Internet access with no additional integration of hardware software, coding or training costs incurred.

With Boomi On Demand, companies can harness the convenience and availability of the Web to integrate applications – anytime, anywhere. Users can securely build, deploy and manage integrations directly from the Web using only a Web browser. Integrations are built visually with familiar point-and-click, drag-and-drop ease. No coding is required.

“Our partnership with SmartTurn will dramatically increase the availability of integration capabilities to all businesses,” said Bob Moul, President and CEO, Boomi. “SmartTurn and Boomi will make it very easy for customers to work with SaaS vendors and allow them to pay for only the connections and service levels they need, which is the best way to serve our market.”

About SmartTurn

SmartTurn™ Inventory and Warehouse Management System is the first true on-demand warehouse management system to provide enterprise class functionality at a fraction of the cost of traditional license and install software. SmartTurn provides real-time inventory visibility and control. The SmartTurn solution integrates ordering, receiving and shipping to streamline operations. SmartTurn is a division of Navis. For more information, visit www.smartturn.com or www.navis.com.

About Boomi

Boomi improves the efficiency and effectiveness of small and mid-sized businesses by enabling B2B, application and data integration in one easy-to-deploy, simple-to-use product. Boomi’s unique visual integration approach allows users to design and build powerful configurations to handle a broad range of integration needs with point-and-click, drag-and-drop ease. Boomi’s integration projects are up and running in weeks, not months, and do not require any programming resources. Backed by its extraordinary support services, customers quickly see the benefit of their investment in Boomi. For more information about Boomi, visit www.boomi.com.

Park City Group Integrates Fresh Market Manager and ActionManager ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
... promotion and pricing optimization, perpetual inventory management,
computer aided ordering, work flow and labor scheduling, paperless
documentation and ...

PARK CITY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Park City Group, Inc. (OTCBB: PCYG), a leading provider of inventory and labor optimization solutions, today announced that a leading international retailer has begun integrating its Fresh Market Manager and ActionManager products to optimize assortment plans, labor and task schedules, manage shrink and stock-outs, and improve quality and freshness for consumers. While numerous convenience stores have integrated Park City Group’s primary products to improve their operations, this is the first time that a supermarket retailer has done so.

The integration of these two suites allows retailers to plan production and have the correct labor plan to insure product freshness thereby maximizing sales and profits from their perishable departments. This system provides a coordinated planning of resources to deliver consumers the right product, at the right price, at the right time. The combined effort marks the completion of the first truly end-to-end Fresh Item Management system in existence delivering capabilities for category management, production planning, forecasting, promotion and pricing optimization, perpetual inventory management, computer aided ordering, work flow and labor scheduling, paperless documentation and more.

Fresh Market Manager is a fully integrated management solution for bakery, deli, food service, meat, seafood, frozen, floral and produce departments. The product helps grocers to achieve improved economic performance by managing shrink (or waste) and stock-outs. FMM also involves suppliers through Supply Chain Profit Link to deliver sales data to both sides facilitating fact-based and profit-focused category review meetings.

Together with its ActionManager solutions, Park City Group delivers one of the most robust integrated business solutions available in the industry. The systems address operations management tasks including: item level category management, inventory and production planning, work flow, scheduling, forecasting, supply and ingredient ordering, producing sales reports/projections, administering skill tests, interviewing assistance, and assessing employee knowledge.

Speaking of the agreement, Randall K. Fields, Park City Group’s Chairman and Chief Executive, said, “Inventory and labor management are the two key controllables for optimizing profit in large, sophisticated supermarket operations. This particular customer has already seen phenomenal results from our Fresh Market Manager product. The integration of both of our primary product suites will yield results far beyond what we have already witnessed when either FMM or ActionManager are installed individually.”

About Park City Group

Park City Group, Inc. (OTCBB: PCYG) develops and markets patented computer software that helps its customers to increase their sales while reducing their inventory and labor costs -- the two largest, controllable expenses in the retail industry. The technology has its genesis in the operations of Mrs. Fields Cookies, co-founded by Randy Fields, chief executive officer of Park City Group. Industry-leading customers such as The Home Depot, Victoria’s Secret, The Limited, Anheuser Busch Entertainment and Tesco Lotus benefit from Park City Group software applications. To find out more about Park City Group, visit www.parkcitygroup.com.

Statements in this press release that relate to Park City Group’s future plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like are forward-looking statements. Future events, risks and uncertainties, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Those factors could include changes in economic conditions that may change demand for the Company’s products and services and other factors discussed in the “forward-looking information” section and the “risk factor” section of the management's discussion and analysis included in the Company’s report on Form 10-KSB/A for the year ended June 30, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release is comprised of interrelated information that must be interpreted in the context of all of the information provided and care should be exercised not to consider portions of this release out of context. Park City Group uses paid services of investor relations organizations to promote the Company to the investment community. Investments in any company should be considered speculative and prior to acquisition, should be thoroughly researched. Park City Group does not intend to update these forward-looking statements prior to announcement of quarterly or annual results.

Online Bookseller Gets Up To Par With 3PAR

InternetNews.com - USA
3PAR's virtualized storage platform supports Alibris' inventory management
system, retail Web site, search engine and e-commerce order processing
system, ...

When a business depends on its ability to manage inventory, being limited by I/O is a bad place to be. So about a year ago, online bookseller Alibris set out to replace its storage infrastructure with one that could meet the high performance needs of the business while providing scalability and ease of management.

Today, the worldwide online exchange for sellers of more than 60 million used, new and out-of-print book, music and movie titles keeps business humming with 3PAR's InServ S800 Storage Server.

"We now have what we need to run our business," said Michael Schaffer, CTO of Emeryville, Calif.-based Alibris. "We have the ability to upgrade and we don't spend nearly as much time as we used to contemplating storage management."

3PAR's virtualized storage platform supports Alibris' inventory management system, retail Web site, search engine and e-commerce order processing system, all of which are based on multiple clustered Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Hitting a Storage Dead End

Founded in 1998, Alibris, with 65 employees, is a B2B and B2C company. On the business side, the company partners with thousands of independent sellers from 45 countries. Alibris partners include popular book sellers such as Barnes & Nobles, Borders and Amazon.com, to name a few. Consumers can also shop on Alibris.com Web sites.

The company's business model enables its business partners to re-price, add, remove and update inventory records around the clock. The timely updates keep automated partners at a competitive advantage. "At the time we sent out an RFP for a new storage system, 1 to 2 million changes were being made daily to our inventory system," said Schaffer.

Because the inventory system replicated to a half dozen database servers, the massive number of daily changes was bogging down system performance. "We were I/O bound on most of our major applications," Schaffer said.

The in-house designed SAN the company had in place at the time wasn't able to meet Alibris' capacity or performance requirements.

"About four years ago, we had the idea to build our own mini-SAN," said Schaffer. "However, the controllers didn't have the power to handle multiple hosts," largely in part because of the demands placed on the system. So in essence, what the company created was a direct-attached storage (DAS) architecture that created islands of lost storage and performance.

"Our storage environment behaved like one controller to one server, each with about 1 to 2 terabytes of storage. It was a dead-end situation," said Schaffer.

What the company needed to support current usage and future growth was a storage system with high performance, high availability, ease of management and strong support.

The Search Is On

About a year ago, Alibris sent out an RFP looking for a vendor solution that would meet its criteria and received responses from EMC, Network Appliance, IBM and 3PAR.

Company decision makers talked with all four vendors and saw demos from EMC, NetApp and 3PAR. "IBM was late to the game and was very similar to EMC," said Schaffer. However, only one vendor, 3PAR, allowed the prospective customer to mess with their storage, as Schaffer puts it.

"3PAR let us pull out cables, pull on the power supply, etc., because that's real world," he said.

The Alibris tech team liked what it saw and took the next step to have the storage solution installed in its environment for further testing. "We wanted to run tests to see if the numbers that 3PAR gave us held up," said Schaffer.

IT ran stress tests using its SQL databases, and while the system was hot, pulled out shelves of disks and nodes. "We discovered that 3PAR's claims about its product were true," he said.

There were several key features of the 3PAR InServ Storage Server product that Schaffer and his IT staff were particular impressed with: automated provisioning, management and load balancing of data center resources. "When my staff understood that we buy storage but they don't choose physical disks, they were definitely interested. All the management work that they were used to doing just went away."

At the end of the day, vendor selection came down to 3PAR and EMC, according to Schaffer. But while EMC had the performance, it didn't provide the ease of management that the 3PAR product offered.

Just in Time

Last July, Alibris signed the purchase order and wrote out the check to 3PAR. With August, the company's busy back-to-school month, just around the corner, the InServ S800 Storage Server was rushed into production. A 3PAR channel partner helped Alibris with the storage server installation. It took less than a day.

The company purchased the InServ S800 Storage Server, two controller nodes and 5 terabytes of disk, most of which was Fibre Channel.

Today, all of company's applications, except financials, have been migrated to the 3PAR storage. "We have plans to upgrade our general ledger, and when we do that we'll do the migration at the same time," said Schaffer.

Earlier this year, the company purchased an additional two nodes and 50 terabytes of raw storage and more near-line storage, giving it the ability to do tiered storage. The InServ S800 can handle up to eight nodes and up to 2,560 disk drives, according to the vendor.

Today, Alibris not only has the storage architecture that meets its business needs, but one that is easy on its IT staff of four. "Prior to getting the 3PAR solution, storage management could eat up as much as 75 percent of someone's time for a few weeks at a time. Now, only 15 percent of our system administrator's time is spent managing storage," said Schaffer.

The company also reports that it's seen more than a 300 percent increase in I/O workload and continues to meet service level requirements, even though the updates that Alibris business partners make to the inventory system on a daily basis have grown to 5 million changes per day.

Retail Management: New West Technologies Counted Among Top

Retail Solutions Online (press release) - Erie,PA,USA
Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System and New West Technologies
Mobile Manager offers retailers a complete inventory management system that
integrates ...

Recently, New West Technologies announced it has been selected as a finalist for Microsoft Corp.’s Partner of the Year Award in Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System. Winners for the 2007 Microsoft Partner Program Awards, which recognize top Microsoft Partners delivering market-leading, Microsoft-based solutions, will be announced July 11 in Denver, Colorado at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

“New West is honored to be named as a finalist for Dynamics Point of Sale Solutions Partner of the Year. We are excited to be recognized for our achievements in developing Microsoft based retail solutions and hope to win for the second year in a row. Being one of Microsoft’s go-to partners is very rewarding and helps our team accomplish great things.” says New West Technologies President, Dan King.

Awards will be presented in a number of categories, with winners chosen from a pool of more than 1,800 entrants worldwide. The Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System Partner of the Year award recognizes a Partner who demonstrates excellence in delivering value to our mutual customers. This Partner is a champion in delivering solutions to delight their customers and drive their business productivity. They consistently exceed customer expectations and have earned great loyalty from their customers. This Partner demonstrates leadership within the Microsoft Point of Sale Partner community in terms of adding new customers, driving revenue growth and contributing to the overall success of the Partner community.

“We have a diverse and talented partner ecosystem that each year raises the bar in the design and deployment of customer solutions built on Microsoft technologies,” said Allison L. Watson, corporate vice president, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group. “We are pleased to recognize New West Technologies as one of our partners leading the field in this category.”

New West is an industry leader integrating retail POS software solutions and Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS). New West’s solution, Mobile Manager, adds the mobility component to Microsoft Dynamics RMS and POS, offering retailers a powerful tool to streamline business processes and efficiency, increase business intelligence and improve customer service all via a mobile hand held device.

Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System and New West Technologies Mobile Manager offers retailers a complete inventory management system that integrates with RMS, POS and New West’s Mobile Cashier.

New West Technologies Mobile Manager allows employees to use downtime to count inventory. When a customer comes in, the employee clicks “save” and picks up inventory counts at another time. No data is stored in the hardware device. A number of devices can be used in multiple locations – all communicating in real time. Devices are routed wirelessly to the company’s main server where the data is stored. If a device is lost, or damaged, no data is lost. With real time inventory management, retailers can have accurate inventory data, identify issues, and stock levels.

The Microsoft Partner Program Awards recognize Microsoft Partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions over the past year.

About New West Technologies
New West Technologies is an innovative leader integrating retail POS software solutions and Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS). New West Technologies customizes business solutions for its clients. Based in Portland, Oregon, New West Technologies is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with competencies in Mobility Solutions, ISV Software Solutions, Microsoft Business Solutions, and Networking Infrastructure Solutions, System Builder and information worker. For more information visit www.newestech.com

eBay thinks outside with eBox

All of the functions on eBay, such as search and inventory management, will be accessible as services via application program interfaces (APIs). View: Full Story News source: News.com R ead full story...

eBay is rebuilding its technical infrastructure in a project that could lead to the e-commerce giant hosting applications from outsiders An initiative internally referred to as eBox calls for the company to rebuild the technical guts of its eBay com site as a series of modular services rather than a single unified application The idea is that internal engineers--and potentially outside developers--can use these services as building blocks to construct new applications said Eric Billingsley senior director of eBay Research Labs which is behind the initiative br br Billingsley is scheduled to outline the project which he refers to as an open platform on Tuesday afternoon at the eBay developers conference here In an interview with CNET News com on Monday he described the technology and the company s goals in undertaking the services-oriented architecture eBox aims to make it quicker to build applications by providing pre-built services that can be combined to create new applications without extensive coding All of the functions on eBay such as search and inventory management will be accessible as services via application program interfaces (APIs) br br img src= http www neowin net im ages icons viewicon gif border= 0 class= linked-image View a href= http news com com eBa y thinks outside with eBox 210 0-1032_3-6190508 html part=rss tag=2547-1_3-0-20 subj=news target= _blank Full Story a br img src= http www neowin net im ages icons souricon gif border= 0 class= linked-image News source a href= http news com com target= _blank News com a br br a href= http www neowin net i ndex php act=view id=40915 R ead full story a

June News Letter

By ae(ae)
Powerful inventory management Easy & affordable solutions Online sales, Ecommerce reporting Free unlimited support Seats sold update web site immediately Agent distribution We are the small tour operator specialists! ...

CONTENT
- Travel Agent distribution program
- Adventure Engine Webinar- 7 question survey ~ Tell us what you need and enter to win a free subscription to AE
- Industry Stat of the Month
- Partner Special ~ 10% off Adventures in Travel Expo Trade Show booth

Adventure Engine Travel Agent program:
Adventure Engine is establishing up to 50,000 new travel agent connections
in the next 3 months.

We will be beginning product knowledge sessions with our new agencies early as July 2007 including an opportunity to present your trips one on one to agents.

Adventure Engine will be promoting Tour Operators using the Adventure Engine reservation system to Travel Agents so that it is easy to search compare and book your trips with assurance of real time availability

_______________________________________________________________
The Deal for June - save $500 limited offer June 2007
We want to ensure this program has representation from diverse touroperators and are offering a 500 dollar discount as an incentive to getyour trips online.So for a 1250 dollar one time fee you will receive exposure to agents PLUS gain online sales capability, unlimited placements of your trips onpartner web sites (your partners and the Adventure Engine network), office administration systems, merchant accounts including Visa, MC and Amex, reporting and much, much more.
Click hereto review our featuresThis offer ends June 30 so call today!
_________________________________________________________________
Find Out more - free online information session (webinar)
To find out more about this program and Adventure Engine join us in a free Webinar
June 14 , 1:30 p.m. PDT click here to register To view other webinar topics go to http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=daqk4acab.0.suxt84bab.qks4ccbab.1144&ts=S0252&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adventureengine.com%2Fwebinar.php.
You just need a computer and phone to take part.
Or email us for a demo at your convenience to discuss Adventure Engines benefits in relation to your business.
______________________________________________________________
Take a 7 question Survey and you may win a free subscription to AE
We want to know what features you want next or what are the main reasons you aren't using Adventure Engine yet.
Tell us what you need and we will build it for you! Click here to Complete the survey and you will be entered in a draw for a free system
_____________________________________________________________

New Functionality at Adventure Engine - Advanced Inventory Module
Inventory Module is now ready for use.
If you need to track "inventory" like rooms, vehicles, rafts/snowcats and other items you use to run your trips Adventure Engine now offers an advanced inventory module.
This program allows you to assign pieces of your inventory to different trips, as seats of the inventory are booked availability is affected on all trips using that inventory item. You can also transfer clients from one inventory item to another and trip availability adjusts automatically.Includes availability calendar, reporting and online sales for the inventory items. Email us for a demo
_________________________________________________________________
Tip for June
Adventureengine recently presented on the keynote panel at the Online Tourism Revealed National Conference and here is a good statistical bite for our Canadian Operators.

This supports our message - if your trips are not online they may as well not exist.

According to a recent survey for Yahoo! Canada, over 90 per cent of Canadian travel consumers use online resources to learn, explore and book travel. In fact, the survey found that Canadian travellers are more likely to use search engines when planning trips than consulting family or friends.
Click for the reference
_________________________________________________________
Brought to You by Adventureengine.com a world leader in......

RESERVATION SYSTEMS
Powerful inventory management
Easy & affordable solutions
Online sales, Ecommerce reporting
Free unlimited support
Seats sold update web site immediately
Agent distribution
We are the small tour operator specialists! Click here to review

TRAVEL CONNECT 2.0
Large Operators: Using XML technology, we provide distribution solutions for that allows you to KEEP your system and adds features including...
online shopping carts
agent login areas and interfaces
online distribution
web services
and more click here to review...

Bring all your agents and booking partners into one distribution network all managed for you by Adventure Engine. Call us today for a demo! Visit the Adventure Engine website
_____________________________________________________________

Partner Special - Adventures in Travel Expo Trade Show Special

Reach 65,000 Qualified Travel Buyers at the Nation's Premier Travel Events
The 2008 Adventures in Travel Expo (ATE) and Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show delivers an audience of 65,000+ qualified active travelers seeking unique travel experiences and worldwide destinations.
Fact: 70% of our Attendees Found Their Next Vacation at the show and 49% will Book that Travel within 6 Months!
Where will your next qualified leads come from?
Get Your Share of Future High-Value Bookings by Reserving Your Booth Today!
Join these Companies Who Have Already Experienced the Adventure
"We received many quality leads and have already been bombarded with emails from potential clients!" --Bonnie McErlane, Abercrombie & Kent, Inc.
"Sales are up in the past three years since I began exhibiting at the ATE show. This year's show has been outstanding." --Raymond Sepulvica, ACAMPA, Puerto Rico

Adventure Engine Tour Operators Save 10%* off the Standard Booth Rate!
*Discounts do not apply to already contracted exhibitors in 2008 shows.

RSAG Publishes MultiChannel Fulfillment Report

By Ernie Schell(Ernie Schell)
Emerging Best Practices: Inventory Management Cross-Channel Order Fulfillment Is Still Immature Retailers Tackle the Hardest Things First SECTION IV: Organizational Barriers Technology and Cultural Issues Hamstring Multi-Channel ...


This 25-page report is definitely worthwhile (though a bit discouraging on the challenged state of the art) for anyone interested in both the technologies and operations of multi-channel commerce.

To get a copy, visit the RSAG Website; the link is at the top of the right-hand column, "Industry Research."

Table of Contents
Executive Summary
SECTION I: Overview
Why the Study Was Conducted
Survey Respondent Characteristics
SECTION II: The Business Challenge
Retailers Struggle With Customer Service and Channel Synergies
Retail Winners Track Changing Consumer Behavior
Experienced Multi-Channel Retailers Value Channel Synergy
The Cross-Channel Window Gets Smaller Every Day
SECTION III: Opportunities
"Multi-Channel" Means a Lot of Different Things
Little Movement between Channels, Even As Maturity Grows
Retailers Focus On Efficiency and Customer Service Opportunities
Customer Service Options Remain Sparse
Emerging Best Practices: Fulfillment Methods
Emerging Best Practices: Inventory Management
Cross-Channel Order Fulfillment Is Still Immature
Retailers Tackle the Hardest Things First
SECTION IV: Organizational Barriers
Technology and Cultural Issues Hamstring Multi-Channel Fufillment
Overcoming Organizational Inhibitors: Contradictions Abound
Figure Out the Org Structure First
SECTION V: Technology Enablers
Top Technology Enablers: Inventory and Order Management
Kiosks Not Considered "Multi-channel"
Experienced Multi-Channel Retailers Use More Technology
Technology Adoption: The Advantage and the Curse
SECTION VI: "Bootstrap" Recommendations
Multi-Channel Fulfillment Follows a Learning Curve
Establishing A New Channel
Maturing the Secondary Channel
Driving Synergy across Channels
A Note on Mobility
Appendix: Methodology
Methodology
Defining Retail Winners
Report Sponsors

Maximizer, Aspire and Sage, SafeHarbor, INova, Lagan and Macfarlane

By ggalitzine
Combining accounting, ERP, CRM, eCommerce and inventory management into one online application is a traditional feature of NetSuite products. NetSuite competes against mid-market systems such as Microsoft Great Plains, SAP Business One ...

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is The New York Dolls’ surprisingly good “reunion” album, One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This:

Maximizer Software, a vendor of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, has announced that West Coast Environmental Law, a not-for-profit law organization, is using Maximizer CRM in a not-for-profit setting.

The organization, which analyzes environmental law, is using Maximizer to manage day-to-day client relations as well as relationships with donors.

Based in Vancouver, West Coast Environmental Law a legal advocacy firm providing their expertise free of charge to those involved in legal matters that affect the environment. As a not-for-profit organization, West Coast Environmental Law needs to serve its group of legal advice clients as well as manage relationships with its financial backers whose donations fund the organization’s programs.

“With very modest resources to devote to information technology,” firm officials said, the organization “required an easy-to-use client and donor relationship management system that could be quickly customized to support its specific requirements.”

“Not-for-profit organizations have many of the same challenges as their corporate peers without the financial and human resources to meet those challenges,” noted Peter Callaghan, Chief Sales Officer, Maximizer Software.
…

Aspire Technologies, a vendor of sales quoting software products for the global small and midmarkets, has announced its partnership with Sage Software’s Small Business Division as a recognized third party add-on for Peachtree Accounting editions.

The partnership represents the first quoting product to be recognized and listed as a Peachtree 3rd Party Add-on Solution.

Integrated with Peachtree since 1999, QuoteWerks integrates with Peachtree Accounting’s Complete Accounting, Complete Accounting Plus Time & Billing, Peachtree Accounting, Premium Accounting, and Quantum products.

The QuoteWerks Peachtree link is designed to send orders into the user’s Peachtree accounting software. “Only orders are exported to Peachtree, so the user’s accounting software does not become cluttered with dead quotes and prospects,” explains John C. Lewe, IV, President of Aspire Technologies and architect of the QuoteWerks link to Peachtree. “A business can use the QuoteWerks Peachtree link to eliminate double entry and the associated errors.”
…

SafeHarbor Technology Corporation won a Stevie Award for Best Overall Company and was recognized during the 2007 American Business Awards recently. This award brings the total to 16, of industry honors and recognition that the CRM vendor has received.

Hailed as “the business world’s own Oscars” (New York Post, April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are described by SafeHarbor officials as “the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business.”

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word “crowned,” the awards were presented during ceremonies at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. The ceremonies were hosted by Larry Wilmore of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, videocast live on the Internet, and broadcast nationwide on radio.

SafeHarbor officials describe their business as “moving customer service to the Web,” saying the company’s SmartSupport product is designed to “help clients develop a culture of customer self-service through technology and business practices.”
…

INova Pharmaceuticals (Australia) has signed with CRM vendor NetSuite distributor NetReturn to supply and implement NetSuite in five of their regional branch offices.

The offices are located in Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Combining accounting, ERP, CRM, eCommerce and inventory management into one online application is a traditional feature of NetSuite products.

NetSuite competes against mid-market systems such as Microsoft Great Plains, SAP Business One and Sage AccPac, emphasizing its “complete front-office to back-office integration” and “lower total cost of ownership,” according to company officials.

INova will use NetSuite to manage expenditure and accounting across the regions. INova will go live with NetSuite at the start of the financial year, 1st July, 2007 after disabling the present 3M infrastructure on the 30th June, 2007.

INova was formerly known as 3M Pharmaceuticals. The re-branding took place in April of this year, after Australian private equity firms Archer Capital and Ironbridge Capital acquired 3M’s pharmaceuticals business in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions in November 2006.

iNova Pharmaceuticals develops and markets a range of over-the-counter and prescription medicines to Australasia, Asia-Pacific, South Africa and other international markets directly and also through other pharmaceutical companies and agents.
…

Sevenoaks District Council is improving services to its 109,000 citizens with a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product from Lagan integrated with a contact center supplied by Macfarlane Telesystems.

The combined system is intended to “streamline efficiency and improve customer interaction as well as support Sevenoaks’ strategic plan to expand the range of services it currently provides,” according to municipality officials, who say the system has already raised the number of citizen enquiries resolved on first point of contact from 55 percent to 69.9 percent.

The installation makes use of integration between Lagan’s CRM software and Macfarlane Telesystems’ CallPlus contact center software. The two products have been integrated for Sevenoaks District Council at the Agent Desktop via an integrated screenphone that ensures Customer Service Representatives can view information residing on disparate systems in an integrated way.

This enables CSRs to deal faster and more easily with enquiries, and also handle multiple enquiries on a single call — thereby improving efficiency and delivering a more professional service.

The Lagan/Macfarlane product is already live for services at Sevenoaks District Council including street scene, community development and environmental services.

Brian Hatt, Customer Services Manager at Sevenoaks District Council, said the CRM and contact center product “has already delivered tangible benefits and is helping us achieve our vision of meeting Government targets of 80 percent call resolution.”

Industry's first RFID Smart Cabinet for Folded Garments unveiled

By Gautam
It has a patented 3D antenna design and guarantees hundred percent read rate for reliable inventory management. Using it one can scale hundred to five hundred items for matching facility growth. It'sa secure system which requires ...

Here comes the industry’s first RFID Smart Cabinet for Folded Garments from Tagsys. Dubbed as SC400, it is an innovative smart cabinet for medical facilities and laundries. The company is labeling it as the industry’s first RFID enabled dispenser aimed at folded garments. Laundries and medical facilities will be able to trace their items throughout the supply chain.

It has a patented 3D antenna design and guarantees hundred percent read rate for reliable inventory management. Using it one can scale hundred to five hundred items for matching facility growth. It’s a secure system which requires identification of users using batches unlocking only appropriate compartments.

Sockeye Takes on Inbound, Outbound Supply Chain Management with ...

Supply & Demand Chain Executive - Gilbert,AZ,USA
... 2007 -- Sockeye Supply Chain has rolled out its Allegro Suite with
modules for inbound and outbound supply chain management, inventory
management, ...

Cupertino, CA — June 13, 2007 — Sockeye Supply Chain has rolled out its Allegro Suite with modules for inbound and outbound supply chain management, inventory management, demand management and supply chain event management.

The new Allegro Suite provides enterprises with a range of supply chain management capabilities, including features to enable collaboration and inventory visibility, according to Sockeye Supply Chain, formerly known as Sockeye Solutions.

"To compete in today's global markets, businesses are outsourcing operations in an effort to reduce costs, increase supply and reach new markets," said Brian Nickerson, CEO of Sockeye Supply Chain. "To realize the potential benefits of this strategy, enterprises need to improve information flow and accelerate decision making across the extended supply chain. The new Allegro Suite helps companies fulfill the next step in creating an efficient global supply chain by providing solutions that enable end-to-end visibility and collaboration with trading partners."

SOA Approach

The Allegro Suite is built and deployed on the Collaborative Application Framework (CAF), a service oriented architecture (SOA) platform designed to deliver applications that address customer's unique business needs. Sockeye said its approach allows companies to implement and deploy new applications rapidly and reconfigure the applications as business requirements evolve. "The Allegro Suite allows Sockeye's customers to quickly adapt to change and solve problems fast at a lower cost," the company said in announcing the new solution.

A supply chain event management solution, known as Allegro SCEM, is included within the suite. This feature allows enterprises to set a number of time-critical synchronization processes using real-time supply chain events, alert notification and problem ticketing. "SCEM enables businesses to immediately act on a supply or demand problem to better manage inventory levels," Sockeye said.

The Allegro Suite works in a multi-enterprise, multi-system and multi-language environment with a flexible architecture, making it a suitable solution for the most complex supply chain needs, according to Sockeye. The suite's modules can be combined and configured to support a range of customized requirements and solve real-world problems with supply chain collaboration, the solution provider said.

Inbound, Outbound and Beyond

The modules include:

Allegro Inbound — Sockeye's inbound supply chain planning module is focused on providing visibility and decision support to manage the replenishment of parts inventory from suppliers to manufacturers. It includes a dynamic replenishment feature that allows for the co-management of inventory levels by the supplier and manufacturer to dynamically address any inventory level discrepancies in real-time. Additionally, the module supports multiple replenishment methods based on the supplier/buyer relationship (e.g., strategic vs. non-strategic) and whether the part is critical/constrained or non-strategic.

Allegro Outbound — Sockeye's outbound supply chain planning module is focused on the planning and monitoring of finished goods inventory movement through the outbound supply chain. For operations planning, the outbound module allows creation of constraint-based production and shipment plans to synchronize supply and demand. For execution, the module provides the visibility and decision support to monitor and resolve problems caused by day-to-day disruptions to production, shipment and inventory plans, Sockeye said.

Allegro Inventory Management — Sockeye's inventory management module enables enterprises to generate inventory targets for any location in the inbound or outbound supply chain. The module supports multiple methods of generating inventory targets to support items in different stages of their lifecycle and different inventory management strategies.

Allegro Demand Management — Sockeye's demand management solution enables enterprises to generate forecasts for finished goods. The forecasts are used to drive operational planning of the outbound supply chain. The module also supports consensus forecasting to promote alignment between sales and operations.

Allegro SCEM — Sockeye said its supply chain event management (SCEM) module is a very flexible tool for addressing a wide range of time critical synchronization problems using real-time supply chain events, alert notification and problem ticketing.

links for 2007-06-12

By linkposter
Sun Introduces New Offering To Simplify IT Inventory Management. (tags: sunw connection assetmgmt consulted saas redmonkclients). The CMDB Federation lumbers on. The IT Skeptic brings us up to date on the CMDB federation project. ...

*
SAP to offer hosted Business One in India
(tags: sap smb india redmonkclients a1s)
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IBM sings Jazz tune for app development
IBM Rational Team Concert.
(tags: jazz rsdc2007 ibm redmonkclients agile ide eclipse alm alm2.0)
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Global Development and Delivery in Practice: Experiences of the IBM Rational India Lab
RedMonk from IBM Bangalore on global development practices.
(tags: globo india bangalore prjmgmt peopleware programming ibm)
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Adobe Apollo becomes AIR
“Apollo” now called “Adobe Integrated Runtime,” or “AIR.”
(tags: adobe apollo air ria redmonkclients brand)
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VMWare offers Windows-on-Mac tool at half price
(tags: vmware osx apple fusion virtualization)
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First Data Completes Acquisition of FundsXpress
(tags: m&a fundsxpress austin firstdata onlinebanking)
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“Where do I download OpenSolaris”?
Project Indiana is good petri dish for closed source projects going open source to watch. Someone want to record a podcast about it?
(tags: opensolaris indiana opensource solaris community)
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Interview with Antlr 3.0 author Terence Parr
Looks like DSLs could be popping up again…
(tags: antlr parser dsl jboss java via:dehora)
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Basic Keyframing in Final Cut Express
(tags: finalcut video keyframes osx apple)
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Apple’s iPhone open to software developers
(tags: iphone wwdc apple safari leopard)
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Steve Jobs’ WWDC keynote
(tags: phone apple wwdc osx keynotes setvejobs leopard)
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Iona adds components to Artix SOA suite
(tags: artix iona redmonklclients esb middleware java)
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Sun Introduces New Offering To Simplify IT Inventory Management
(tags: sunw connection assetmgmt consulted saas redmonkclients)
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The CMDB Federation lumbers on
The IT Skeptic brings us up to date on the CMDB federation project.
(tags: cmdb federation itmanagement standards)
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ITIL Version 3
The IT skeptic’s evolving page on what he’s found out about ITILv3. Too bad this stuff is still pay-ware. Weird standard there…
(tags: itilv3 itil itmanagement)
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Announcing the Hyperic VMware Appliance
Great! Now I just need to clear off more disk space on the MacBookPro…
(tags: hyperic virtualization vmware sysmgmt little4)
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Ted On Flex: Flex 3 - Wednesday: Components and SDK Enhancements
Check out the Deep Link part which more closely binds the anchor of a URL to Flex. Hopefully that will make Flex feel more webby. We’ll see.
(tags: flex adobe urls web flash)
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Zenoss 2.0 Is Here
New version of Zenoss out: new UI, Linux-native WMI (SEXY! HOT!), and much more.
(tags: little4 redmonkclients sysmgmt itmanagement zenoss opensource wmi)
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That Convoluted Marketing Romance: On Divine Delusion, or Revisiting the Pythia
The original Oracle.
(tags: oracle greek myth books)
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BT Acquires TiddlyWiki, Name Change Imminent
…to start BT Open Source stuff.
(tags: bt opensource tidlywiki m&a wikis)
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The Ignorance of Crowds
‘Now that we’ve arrived at the 10th anniversary of the first appearance of “The Cathedral and the Bazaar,” it seems like an opportune moment to take a closer look at both the benefits and the limitations of peer production as a means of business inn
(tags: carr opensource crowdsourcing)

The Seven Secrets to Drop-Ship Success

By Erik
It may be worth the effort to have a consultant create a small application to import the supplier's stock quantity information into your own inventory management application. Examine your return policy. Make sure that your return policy ...

We don’t always recommend drop-shipping to our community. In fact, we recently provided compelling reasons why selling drop-ship products from a single supplier on EBay was a poor retailing strategy. However, don’t throw the drop-ship baby out with the low margin bath water. A well managed drop-ship strategy can do wonders for your business by increasing your product selection without increasing your inventory investment. You can develop a great drop-ship program by following our tips for drop-ship success.

Remember the RetailBlazer formula for success? Here’s a refresher:

Success = Community + Expertise + Relationships + Branding

It should not come as a surprise to learn that relationships are the most important aspect of a good drop-ship program. The first step in selling drop-shipped products is finding a supplier. There is no shortage of companies that claim to be drop-shippers. Unfortunately, most of these companies are glorified retailers. You won’t get good pricing, you won’t get good service, you won’t get good products. Finding suppliers is hard, right? Not anymore! ProductBlazer puts over 27,000 wholesale suppliers and manufacturers at your fingertips. Here’s a list of twenty drop-ship suppliers to get you started.

1. Understand how drop-shipping is different.

This may seem obvious. The main difference is that you, as retailer, don’t have the product you are selling in inventory–the supplier does. But from your customer’s perspective there should be no, or very little, difference. If your customer contacts you with a question about the product you will need to be able to answer the question without having the physical product on hand. “I’ll call my supplier” isn’t a good answer for customer inquiries!
2. Accept that drop-ship does not equal unlimited supply.

This is one of the biggest “gotchas!” for retailers selling drop-ship products. Just because you are not managing inventory does not mean that no one has to manage inventory. The supplier you are buying from is selling the same products to other retailers. Talk to your account manager and understand the supplier’s backorder policy. Make sure that if your primary supplier is out of stock you will have the ability to shop the order to other suppliers, rather than passing the backorder back to your customer.
3. Start with a single product line.

Walk before you run. Select a single line of products, or even a single SKU, and begin your drop-ship career by selling only those products. It is practically guaranteed that you will encounter hiccups that you had not anticipated–better to start slow, learn the ropes, and then expand your drop-shipping. In a year you may never have to manage inventory again!
4. Establish strong relationships with suppliers.

This is a running theme for the team at ProductBlazer. As a retailer you are only as good as your supplier relationships. It is worth spending the time to get on the phone and introduce yourself to your suppliers. Let the account manager know what you want to sell, your expected volume, and what you are doing to build your business. B2B relationships are a two-way street. All suppliers will check your credit before they start accepting your orders–accept that, and be ready for it.
5. Understand how the supplier communicates price and quantity information.

The best way to avoid backorders is to only sell products that you can actually supply to the customer. It sounds simple, but digesting stock quantity information from your suppliers can be a chore if you don’t have the right information systems in place. All high-volume suppliers will provide you with an electronic file that provides a snapshot of their inventory positions. Some will provide information daily, others hourly, and only rarely in real-time. It may be worth the effort to have a consultant create a small application to import the supplier’s stock quantity information into your own inventory management application.
6. Examine your return policy.

Make sure that your return policy is compatible with the supplier’s return policy. You may find that some suppliers will not accept returns for products they sell through drop-shipping. You need to fully understand the supplier’s reseller agreement before you start sending them orders.
7. Check for pricing changes every day.

Unless you were able to negotiate a custom reseller agreement you need to check for pricing changes every day. The supplier will probably communicate these changes to you along with stock quantity information for all of the products the supplier sells–not just the products that you sell. If there are positive or negative price adjustments you need to know as soon as possible, as you may need to adjust your own retail price for the product.

Drop-shipping isn’t rocket science, but it takes effort to get right. The most important thing is to establish strong supplier relationships. Get started today by using ProductBlazer to find new wholesale suppliers!

Inventory Management Made Easy Posted By : Kingston J. Amadan

Depending on the organizational structure of a business, inventory management can be a complicated endeavor. Many businesses require updated inventory figures to be available to not only sales and ordering personnel, but accounting, ...

Depending on the organizational structure of a business, inventory management can be a complicated endeavor. Many businesses require updated inventory figures to be available to not only sales and ordering personnel, but accounting, management and logistics departments as well. When inventory can’t be reconciled companywide, it makes keeping accurate accounts of sales figures, stock levels and availability extremely difficult.

Thankfully, there are several software applications on the market that make keeping track of inventory easy, though not all inventory management solutions are created equally. More recent offerings are designed to allow real time automated adjustment of stock levels to reach multiple departments, providing up to the minute information everywhere it’s needed.

Implications of Self-, Outsourced- and OEM-Hosting

By Fred Chong
For instance, if the application is an inventory management SaaS application, business intelligence about best selling products of the month and supply forecasting data can be derived by doing trend analysis on the stored data. ...

The last couple of month I've been talking to many software vendors in China and Singapore and the topic of SaaS hosting is a recurring pain point highlighted by those I met.

More often than not, my attempt to reassure them that my architecture team in Redmond is now feverishly working on SaaS hosting architecture guidance does not seem to appease their anxieties and concerns. (My previous post here described the high level architecture capabilities of a SaaS hosting platform.) I can understand their phlegmatic reactions - hosting is not a core competency for most software vendors and it is no wonder that they are looking for alternatives other than the laborious option of building their own operational capability.

Generally speaking, SaaS providers may consider the following hosting solutions (which can also be thought of as a continuum of options. If you've been following my posts you should now conclude that I really like the continuum way of representing architecture decisions) :

* Software vendor self host and manage their own operational environment
* Software vendor partially or entirely outsource hosting to 3rd party hosters
* Software vendor OEM and license software to 3rd party hosting partners

The right end spectrum of the continuum represents a software vendor's decision to self-host and manage its entire operational infrastructure. The other opposite end of the same continuum represents the decision to OEM and license the SaaS solution to business partners who not only take ownership of the operational responsibilities, but also own the customer relationships with the application tenants. The points between the two ends of the continuum represent decisions to outsource one or more components of the hosting infrastructure to third party hosters. For instance, a software vendor could decide to self host and operate everything except for the billing system which it outsource to a billing solution provider.

For the rest of this post, I want to share some thoughts on the technical and business implications brought about by the above hosting decisions.When software vendors self-host, they (willingly or unwillingly) become the trusted custodian of their customers' data. The customer data include actual business data as well as workflows and business rules that are configured to run the customers' business processes. The software vendor is (legally and contractually) responsible for the "well being" of the hosted customer data.

Frequently, the self-hosting software vendor is actually sitting on a gold mine of information - lots of valuable business knowledge can be mined from analyzing the stored data. For instance, if the application is an inventory management SaaS application, business intelligence about best selling products of the month and supply forecasting data can be derived by doing trend analysis on the stored data. Therefore, having access to customer's data allow the software vendor to offer valua-add services and information back to the tenants, potentially for additional fee.

Technically, it may also be possible for the software vendor to perform cross section analysis of all the tenants' data in order to generalize business practices used by the clients. For instance, a CRM software vendor may be able to analyse and derive from all the configured workflows, patterns of sales processes with the shortest sales closing period. Such knowledge may then be used in business practices classes offered by the software vendor. Of course, such usage of customer data remains a controversial topic as many tenants will be nervous about their trade secrets being published as best practices.

Publication and resale of identifiable private data obviously violates legal regulations and privacy laws. However, it is debateable if derivation of business knowledge by SaaS software vendor should be permitted, especially if the mining process is non-trivial and involves analyzing large samples of data. Perhaps we will see more intellectual property protection discussions around this topic when SaaS adopters see their business practices being "popularized" through their service providers. For those who are skeptical about such practices, let me remind you that the financial industry has been capitalizing on customer data and behavior for a long time. (Next time you take a class on stock market trading from an ex-broker, guess where he learned all his best dog tricks.)

The second hosting model frees the software vendor from having to build and operate all or part of the SaaS hosting infrastructure themselves. In most third party hosting agreements, the software vendor would still maintain access rights to their tenants' data, so there should be little contractual restriction limiting the software vendor from pursueing the business ideas mentioned above. Practically speaking, since the hosting is outsourced to third party, there may be technical barriers that needs to be taken care of before the software vendor can have timely access to their customers' data. For instance, the hosting provider may limit when hosted data can be bulk replicated to a data warehouse. This is because the hoster needs to consider the network bandwidth impact on other hosted software vendors when massive amount of (replication) data is being transmitted over the networks.

The third hosting model actually involves a major shift in the software vendor's business model. In this model, the software vendor provides the solution to their hosting partners who host and resell the solution through licensing and OEM agreement with the software vendor. Profit made is often split in varying proportions between the software vendor and the hosting partner. A key implication here concerns the software vendor's access (more accurately, potential lack of access) to the tenant data. In many OEM arrangements, the custody of the customer data belongs to the partner hosters. Obviously this shift of responsibility comes with benefits and downside for the software vendor. While the software vendor is no longer responsible for the operational availability, integrity and security of the tenants' business data, the vendor is also giving up potential opportunities to monetize on those data assets.

In addition to value added services that could otherwise be provided, the software vendor may also be foregoing a channel of knowledge about the application usage and users' behavior, both of which can be accurately obtained through the operational environment. Furthermore, successful Websites often trial test new features by deploying and making pre-released features available publicly on the Internet. Without an operational environment, the software vendor will have to find partner hosters who will stage and trial run its alpha and beta release features.

Although this post may read like I'm trying to convince you that you should be self-hosting, be assured that this is not my intent. There is really no absolute right or wrong hosting model. What's important is that you as a software vendor understands the price and reward that comes with your hosting decisions.

It seems like a lot of good things in this world are bitter-sweet, and now that you are aware of the implications, you'll have to accept that the after taste of your SaaS hosting decision is no exception.

LXer: Sun Introduces New Offering to Simplify IT Inventory Management

Forum: Syndicated Linux News Posted By: LXer Post Time: 06-11-2007 at 10:16 PM.

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced the immediate availability of the Sun Connection Inventory Channel, a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows system administrators and IT operators to quickly and easily discover, organize and report on their IT assets. The first inventory management solution to deliver one-click discovery across systems running the Solaris Operating System (OS) and Linux, Sun Connection Inventory Channel enables customers to actively manage their IT assets and gain valuable insight into their IT operations by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

"Sun is continuing to expand its offerings to help customers more efficiently manage their data centers," said Steve Wilson, vice president of Connected Systems, Sun Microsystems. "The Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a simple, powerful way for customers to track, sort, search and group their IT assets and support contracts. Ultimately, by automating the process, customers are able to easily understand their assets and make better informed IT decisions for the future."

Many IT administrators have complex management mechanisms in place to benchmark the health and performance of their IT operations, but often do not have a single view of what software, systems and storage they have and where these assets are running. While some solutions offer partial automation, keeping track of inventory, managing new additions and tracking removals is difficult, error prone and often requires manual processing.

Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a unified view of hardware and software assets via a dynamic Web-based user interface. Customers can quickly search through thousands of assets based on a combination of search criteria including host name, product type, product version, support contract ID number and custom, user-defined asset tags.

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel complements the existing Sun Connection Update and Provisioning Channels by providing a lightweight and cost-effective asset management solution on a heterogeneous platform. The Sun Connection Update Channel provides central patch management capabilities on multiple operating platforms. The Provisioning Channel allows customers to perform provisioning tasks such as copy and paste of existing system deployments to new systems running the Solaris OS, Red Hat or SUSE Linux. For more information about Sun Connection, please visit: http://www.sun.com/sunconnection

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel is available free to all customers, whether an enterprise has purchased a high-end UltraSPARC(R)-based server or a start-up has downloaded the Solaris OS for free. Access to the new channel is available at: http://sunconnection.sun.com/inventory

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://www.sun.com.

Dealer.com Launches Fully Automated Website Solutions for ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
... through the ControlCenter(tm) Inventory Management Tool, which allows
simple editing control to upload new vehicles, change photos and vehicle
options. ...

BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dealer.com, a leading provider of online marketing solutions for the automotive industry, today announced that it has developed a website solution that will help independent auto dealers drive more sales traffic through the use of a powerful inventory marketing website that is fully integrated with national shopping sites and search engines such a Google, making them more competitive in the marketplace. The new product, CyberCarLot™ is an affordable and easy-to-use inventory marketing website solution for independent dealers that can automatically publish the dealer’s inventory to any or all of up to 60 nationally leading vehicle shopping websites.

CyberCarLot™ allows dealers to market their entire inventory for only $50 per month allowing these dealers to reach thousands of potential customers online. Research shows that 80 percent of car shoppers look online prior to ever stepping foot on a dealer’s lot. Independent dealers can now compete online with CyberCarLot’s™ easy inventory upload of actual vehicle photos allowing the buyer to compare cars and options. Independent dealers can include an online payment calculator and the ability for the potential buyer to request more information or even make an offer online.

With CyberCarLot™, Dealer.com has ensured that independent dealers will have the ability to easily manage their website through the ControlCenter™ Inventory Management Tool, which allows simple editing control to upload new vehicles, change photos and vehicle options. Additionally, all requests can be managed through ControlCenter™, a system that ensures the dealer can manage all inbound leads. The statistics package is also available and allows dealers to recognize customers, streamline their leads and invest marketing dollars into the advertising areas with the most return on investment. Dealers can also upgrade the CyberCarLot™ with several available features including CarFinder™, a tool that will follow up and send photos and details on new arrivals to customers that are on the dealer’s waiting list on the website. Additionally dealers have the option to get unlimited support from Dealer.com’s leading support team.

“This is a product that independent dealers have been asking for and we have taken it a step further by making it the most powerful and most affordable website solution on the market for these dealers,” said Mark Bonfigli, president and CEO of Dealer.com. “CyberCarLot™ allows these dealers to reach their customers online, and generate new customers that they would have never had access to before.”

Dealers using CyberCarLot™ will also have the benefit of their vehicles being posted to Basic Listings on Autotrader.com as well as inventory integration through Google where more consumers are going every day. Dealer.com also provides unlimited training and support at no cost for most website solutions offered. CyberCarLot™ is available now to all independent auto dealers at http://preowned.dealer.com.

About Dealer.com:

Founded in Burlington, VT in 1997, Dealer.com is a leading provider of online marketing solutions for the automotive industry. The company offers the only fully-integrated web-based closed-loop marketing platform that measures the effectiveness of every marketing program while tracking responses, and respondents, from exposure to closure. The platform includes NADA award-winning automotive dealer websites, user-friendly lead management tools, the most proven local search engine advertising solutions available, and unparalleled metrics and web analytics. Dealer.com is the only company to truly revolutionize the online marketing and sales effectiveness for auto dealers with an unmatched level of speed, precision and ease-of-use. For more information, please visit www.dealer.com or call 888-894-8989.

Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Company Weighs In and Selects ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
Improve product forecasting, production planning and inventory management
to reduce lead times, streamline inventory, and increase production
velocity. ...

After Years as “Top Five” Vendor, Intuitive ERP Deemed “Best Value for Price” Based on Functionality Breadth and After-Sale Support

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consona ERP, a leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for small and midsize discrete manufacturers, today announced that Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Company—a Webb City, Mo.-based manufacturer of both large-capacity scales for the trucking, mining, and railroad industry, and smaller sized scales for the healthcare and food service industries—selected Intuitive ERP as its enterprise-wide business system after a thorough vendor analysis that spanned several years.

Although most manufacturers do not dedicate the same length of time to evaluate ERP solutions, Larry Hicks, vice president of operations for Cardinal Scale, stated that the company’s selection process was purposefully drawn out. “We had been using an MRP solution that was implemented in the ‘80s,” he said. “Over the years, we have created so many disparate systems to manage the business, residing in servers and workstations throughout the company. We took our time because we knew the decision would be critical to the future of our business, and we wanted to wait until the vendor, budget and timing lined up.”

Although the selection process might have been measured, Cardinal Scale’s implementation of Intuitive ERP will be accelerated. In addition to 125 concurrent user licenses, Cardinal Scale purchased Consona ERP’s full-service implementation methodology, where an expanded Consona implementation team performs the entire project management portion of the implementation process to guarantee success. “We wanted to ensure a smooth transition from our existing system to the Intuitive system by taking advantage of Consona’s experienced consultants and developers,” said Hicks. “As a result, we’ll have our people focused on the important task of data conversion and fully learning the system’s .NET architecture and functionality.”

According to Hicks, Intuitive ERP remained in Cardinal Scale’s “top five” over the years because it was clearly a comprehensive, completely integrated ERP system. However, Hicks said it was the people of Consona ERP that ultimately made the difference. “As we investigated further, we found their squad—from the sales and support staff to the management and consulting teams—to be first-class in every way. Strong service and support after the sale, combined with Intuitive ERP’s complete line of modules, provided the best value for the price.”

Hick said that he and the Cardinal Scale and Consona teams will accomplish a number of objectives as part of the implementation:

* Obtain a complete view of customer needs, from contact with regional sales managers to inside sales staff to service to technical support.
* Improve product forecasting, production planning and inventory management to reduce lead times, streamline inventory, and increase production velocity.
* Better equip supervisors and schedulers by automating shop floor data collection and moving from a batch system to real-time data availability.
* Consolidate all disparate systems, data and files within the 100 percent Microsoft .NET Intuitive product and take advantage of its seamless integration with Microsoft products like Word and Excel.
* Prepare the business for its continued international expansion by rolling out Intuitive ERP’s multi-currency and multi-warehouse functionality.

According to Hicks, Cardinal Scale will implement the core functionality in Intuitive ERP Version 8.1, along with several key add-on features, including the customer relationship management module and a Web-based customer portal; an EDI integration that will automate data and file exchange between Cardinal Scale and its suppliers and customers; financial and forecasting analysis tools, as well as a reporting wizard and an enterprise-wide dashboard feature; Intuitive’s new Shop Floor Manager module; and statistical process control, HR, and payroll modules.

“We consider this purchase the start of a long partnership,” added Hicks. “We are looking forward to gaining additional insight and suggestions from the Consona team during our implementation process.”

About Consona Corporation and Intuitive ERP

Consona Corporation (Consona, formerly known as M2M Holdings, Inc.) is a worldwide leader in providing customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services to the enterprise. The Consona ERP business unit includes two leading products that enable over 2,500 customers to continuously improve their business processes. Intuitive ERP is a comprehensive software application built using 100 percent Microsoft .NET technology that helps manufacturers with mixed-mode production processes integrate every aspect of their business around a single, enterprise-wide system. Intuitive ERP offers functionality that meets the unique market specifications of more than 30 manufacturing industries, including industrial and commercial machinery, rubber and plastics, electronics, transportation equipment, measuring and controlling devices, furniture and fixtures, fabricated metals, and durable goods.

Nokia asks Texas court to stop Qualcomm's unauthorized use of ...

By Maximus(Maximus)
... safety, security and timely delivery of our products and solutions; 12) inventory management risks resulting from shifts in market demand; 13) our ability to source quality components and sub-assemblies without interruption and at ...

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced it has filed patent counter assertions against Qualcomm in the Eastern District of Texas Court. The filing relates to Qualcomm's unauthorized use of 6 Nokia implementation patents in its MediaFLO and BREW businesses. Qualcomm has in previous litigation sought injunctions against Nokia and therefore in this case Nokia is seeking both damages and injunctive relief.

"Nokia has a strong history of innovation in IP broadcast television and mobile download environments predating Qualcomm's activities," said Tero Ojanperä, chief technology officer, Nokia. "This is another example where Qualcomm has effectively copied Nokia's innovations. We believe that, for MediaFLO to evolve and for BREW to remain viable, Qualcomm needs access to these and many other patented Nokia inventions."

Nokia patents are at the core of MediaFLO and BREW technologies, for example in ensuring the broadcast quality of service within MediaFLO and in enabling the download of applications with BREW. Nokia has also recently declared another set of patents to the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) as essential for the FLO air interface used in MediaFLO.

Nokia has built one of the strongest and broadest IPR portfolios in the wireless industry over the last 15 years through extensive investments in research and development. Nokia will continue to vigorously defend itself against the infringement and unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

Nokia's patent counter assertions are part of its response to the Qualcomm lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas, on 2 April, 2007. In that lawsuit Qualcomm's three patents-in-suit allegedly involve certain types of mobile software download and execution environments. Nokia is confident that the Qualcomm patents are invalid, for example, based on the alleged inventions having been patented or published by other companies, including Nokia, before Qualcomm. In addition, Nokia believes its products do not infringe any of the patents.

Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.


It should be noted that certain statements herein which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding: A) the timing of product and solution deliveries; B) our ability to develop, implement and commercialize new products, solutions and technologies; C) expectations regarding market growth, developments and structural changes; D) expectations regarding our mobile device volume growth, market share, prices and margins; E) expectations and targets for our results of operations; F) the outcome of pending and threatened litigation; and G) statements preceded by "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "target," "estimate," "designed," "plans," "will" or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Because they involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the results that we currently expect. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) competitiveness of our product portfolio; 2) our ability to identify key market trends and to respond timely and successfully to the needs of our customers; 3) the extent of the growth of the mobile communications industry, as well as the growth and profitability of the new market segments within that industry which we target; 4) the availability of new products and services by network operators and other market participants; 5) our ability to successfully manage costs; 6) the intensity of competition in the mobile communications industry and our ability to maintain or improve our market position and respond successfully to changes in the competitive landscape; 7) the impact of changes in technology and our ability to develop or otherwise acquire complex technologies as required by the market, with full rights needed to use; 8) timely and successful commercialization of complex technologies as new advanced products and solutions; 9) our ability to protect the complex technologies, which we or others develop or that we license, from claims that we have infringed third parties' intellectual property rights, as well as our unrestricted use on commercially acceptable terms of certain technologies in our products and solution offerings; 10) our ability to protect numerous Nokia patented, standardized, or proprietary technologies from third party infringement or actions to invalidate the intellectual property rights of these technologies; 11) our ability to manage efficiently our manufacturing and logistics, as well as to ensure the quality, safety, security and timely delivery of our products and solutions; 12) inventory management risks resulting from shifts in market demand; 13) our ability to source quality components and sub-assemblies without interruption and at acceptable prices; 14) Nokia's and Siemens' ability to successfully integrate the operations, personnel and supporting activities of their respective businesses as a result of the merger of Nokia's networks business and Siemens' carrier-related operations for fixed and mobile networks forming Nokia Siemens Networks; 15) whether, as a result of investigations into alleged violations of law by some current or former employees of Siemens, government authorities or others take actions against Siemens and/or its employees that may involve and affect the carrier-related assets and employees transferred by Siemens to Nokia Siemens Networks, or there may be undetected additional violations that may have occurred prior to the transfer, or ongoing violations that may occur after the transfer, of such assets and employees that could result in additional actions by government authorities; 16) the expense, time, attention and resources of Nokia Siemens Networks and our management to detect, investigate and resolve any situations related to alleged violations of law involving the assets and employees of Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks; 17) any impairment of Nokia Siemens Networks customer relationships resulting from the ongoing government investigations involving the Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks; 18) developments under large, multi-year contracts or in relation to major customers; 19) general economic conditions globally and, in particular, economic or political turmoil in emerging market countries where we do business; 20) our success in collaboration arrangements relating to development of technologies or new products and solutions; 21) the success, financial condition and performance of our collaboration partners, suppliers and customers; 22) any disruption to information technology systems and networks that our operations rely on; 23) exchange rate fluctuations, including, in particular, fluctuations between the euro, which is our reporting currency, and the US dollar, the Chinese yuan, the UK pound sterling and the Japanese yen, as well as certain other currencies; 24) the management of our customer financing exposure; 25) allegations of possible health risks from electromagnetic fields generated by base stations and mobile devices and lawsuits related to them, regardless of merit; 26) unfavorable outcome of litigations; 27) our ability to recruit, retain and develop appropriately skilled employees; and 28) the impact of changes in government policies, laws or regulations; as well as the risk factors specified on pages 12-24 of the company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006 under "Item 3.D Risk Factors." Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proving to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Nokia does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Nokia asks Texas court to stop Qualcomm's unauthorized use of ...

By Maximus(Maximus)
... safety, security and timely delivery of our products and solutions; 12) inventory management risks resulting from shifts in market demand; 13) our ability to source quality components and sub-assemblies without interruption and at ...

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today announced it has filed patent counter assertions against Qualcomm in the Eastern District of Texas Court. The filing relates to Qualcomm's unauthorized use of 6 Nokia implementation patents in its MediaFLO and BREW businesses. Qualcomm has in previous litigation sought injunctions against Nokia and therefore in this case Nokia is seeking both damages and injunctive relief.

"Nokia has a strong history of innovation in IP broadcast television and mobile download environments predating Qualcomm's activities," said Tero Ojanperä, chief technology officer, Nokia. "This is another example where Qualcomm has effectively copied Nokia's innovations. We believe that, for MediaFLO to evolve and for BREW to remain viable, Qualcomm needs access to these and many other patented Nokia inventions."

Nokia patents are at the core of MediaFLO and BREW technologies, for example in ensuring the broadcast quality of service within MediaFLO and in enabling the download of applications with BREW. Nokia has also recently declared another set of patents to the Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) as essential for the FLO air interface used in MediaFLO.

Nokia has built one of the strongest and broadest IPR portfolios in the wireless industry over the last 15 years through extensive investments in research and development. Nokia will continue to vigorously defend itself against the infringement and unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

Nokia's patent counter assertions are part of its response to the Qualcomm lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas, on 2 April, 2007. In that lawsuit Qualcomm's three patents-in-suit allegedly involve certain types of mobile software download and execution environments. Nokia is confident that the Qualcomm patents are invalid, for example, based on the alleged inventions having been patented or published by other companies, including Nokia, before Qualcomm. In addition, Nokia believes its products do not infringe any of the patents.

Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.


It should be noted that certain statements herein which are not historical facts, including, without limitation, those regarding: A) the timing of product and solution deliveries; B) our ability to develop, implement and commercialize new products, solutions and technologies; C) expectations regarding market growth, developments and structural changes; D) expectations regarding our mobile device volume growth, market share, prices and margins; E) expectations and targets for our results of operations; F) the outcome of pending and threatened litigation; and G) statements preceded by "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "target," "estimate," "designed," "plans," "will" or similar expressions are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Because they involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the results that we currently expect. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) competitiveness of our product portfolio; 2) our ability to identify key market trends and to respond timely and successfully to the needs of our customers; 3) the extent of the growth of the mobile communications industry, as well as the growth and profitability of the new market segments within that industry which we target; 4) the availability of new products and services by network operators and other market participants; 5) our ability to successfully manage costs; 6) the intensity of competition in the mobile communications industry and our ability to maintain or improve our market position and respond successfully to changes in the competitive landscape; 7) the impact of changes in technology and our ability to develop or otherwise acquire complex technologies as required by the market, with full rights needed to use; 8) timely and successful commercialization of complex technologies as new advanced products and solutions; 9) our ability to protect the complex technologies, which we or others develop or that we license, from claims that we have infringed third parties' intellectual property rights, as well as our unrestricted use on commercially acceptable terms of certain technologies in our products and solution offerings; 10) our ability to protect numerous Nokia patented, standardized, or proprietary technologies from third party infringement or actions to invalidate the intellectual property rights of these technologies; 11) our ability to manage efficiently our manufacturing and logistics, as well as to ensure the quality, safety, security and timely delivery of our products and solutions; 12) inventory management risks resulting from shifts in market demand; 13) our ability to source quality components and sub-assemblies without interruption and at acceptable prices; 14) Nokia's and Siemens' ability to successfully integrate the operations, personnel and supporting activities of their respective businesses as a result of the merger of Nokia's networks business and Siemens' carrier-related operations for fixed and mobile networks forming Nokia Siemens Networks; 15) whether, as a result of investigations into alleged violations of law by some current or former employees of Siemens, government authorities or others take actions against Siemens and/or its employees that may involve and affect the carrier-related assets and employees transferred by Siemens to Nokia Siemens Networks, or there may be undetected additional violations that may have occurred prior to the transfer, or ongoing violations that may occur after the transfer, of such assets and employees that could result in additional actions by government authorities; 16) the expense, time, attention and resources of Nokia Siemens Networks and our management to detect, investigate and resolve any situations related to alleged violations of law involving the assets and employees of Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks; 17) any impairment of Nokia Siemens Networks customer relationships resulting from the ongoing government investigations involving the Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks; 18) developments under large, multi-year contracts or in relation to major customers; 19) general economic conditions globally and, in particular, economic or political turmoil in emerging market countries where we do business; 20) our success in collaboration arrangements relating to development of technologies or new products and solutions; 21) the success, financial condition and performance of our collaboration partners, suppliers and customers; 22) any disruption to information technology systems and networks that our operations rely on; 23) exchange rate fluctuations, including, in particular, fluctuations between the euro, which is our reporting currency, and the US dollar, the Chinese yuan, the UK pound sterling and the Japanese yen, as well as certain other currencies; 24) the management of our customer financing exposure; 25) allegations of possible health risks from electromagnetic fields generated by base stations and mobile devices and lawsuits related to them, regardless of merit; 26) unfavorable outcome of litigations; 27) our ability to recruit, retain and develop appropriately skilled employees; and 28) the impact of changes in government policies, laws or regulations; as well as the risk factors specified on pages 12-24 of the company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006 under "Item 3.D Risk Factors." Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proving to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Nokia does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Sun Looks to Expand Service Offerings

A new inventory management feature offers IT managers a better means of tracking a data center's assets.

Sun Microsystems expects its latest service feature to be the answer for IT managers lost in their own data center.
ADVERTISEMENT

Dubbed Inventory Channel, the latest offering of Sun Connection Services, the Santa Clara, Calif., company's line of networked service offerings, is designed to inventory a data center's assets—physical and virtual—from a single console.

The inventory management tool, a free piece of SOA (service-oriented architecture) that Sun's customers can download through a secure Web portal, will work with a range of hypervisors, including VMware's products and virtualization technology built around the open-source Xen hypervisor. It is compatible with Sun's own Solaris operating system, Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise and Red Hat's Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Besides inventory management, the new feature also allows Sun to update customers on various patches, software upgrades and other hardware recommendations, said Steve Wilson, a vice president of Sun's Connection services. Customers can also use the management tool to order new hardware, software or check on service contracts with Sun.

In the past two years, Sun has looked to expand its data center services offerings to its customers. However, unlike such massive services arms as IBM's Global Services unit and Hewlett-Packard's HP Services group, Sun is looking to focus on its core experience with data centers and infrastructure.

linkSun is offering Intel and AMD blade servers. Click here to read more about it.

The inventory manager is designed to work in what Wilson called the "heterogeneous" data center, which contains a mixture of Sun's own UltraSPARC-based systems as well as x86 servers the company builds using a combination of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices processors.

eWEEK special report: New Directions in Systems Management

The management tool also has the ability to catalog non-Sun data center assets. For example, it will take note of a Dell server that is running a Linux operating system and catalog that system along with all the others. Although the current tool does not support Microsoft Windows, Wilson said Sun will include support for Windows in a later release.

linkClick here to read more Sun and NetBeans.

Wilson said Sun customers have been asking the company for better, easier ways to keep track of both physical and virtual assets in data centers that continue to grow at a persistent pace.

"Customers are asking us for better ways to track assets," Wilson said. "In a lot of ways, bar codes and clipboards don't cut it, especially when it's easier to move assets from place to place in a data center."

The Inventory Channel management tool is available to download starting June 11.

linkCheck out eWEEK.com's Infrastructure Center for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses.

Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT)

By Rick(Rick)
We've certainly had an emphasis on inventory management. Our return on invested capital has continued to go up. In fact, over the past four years, we have been growing this metric at a compounded annual rate of a little over 40%, ...

This weekend's Wall Street Transcript (subscription required) features an interview with David Pugh, the CEO of Applied Industrial Technologies, (AIT)

This company has a long history dating back to 1923 and has been public since 1953. The company is a value-added distributor of industrial products, fluid power products and engineered products that keep manufacturing systems going. From what originally was a focus on maintenance and repair parts, the company has expanded into power transmission and fluid power products.

This has been an impressive company in terms of its continuous improvement in its basic blocking and tackling. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

The goal would be a continuous increase in return on invested capital. We want to make sure that all of our assets are working properly for us. To do that, we watch many things. We've had an emphasis on gross margins. We've had an emphasis on top-line growth. We've had an emphasis on getting more efficient with receivables. We've certainly had an emphasis on inventory management. Our return on invested capital has continued to go up. In fact, over the past four years, we have been growing this metric at a compounded annual rate of a little over 40%, which would rank us pretty highly with regard to the best in class.



I am impressed with the commitment to ROIC. Again, from the Wall Street Transcript interview:

The single most important one is return on invested capital. That is one that we heard very loudly and clearly about four years ago. We have transformed this company from looking at return on sales to return on invested capital. There was a point in our history where how many assets we had to throw at something to get to the next half point of market share didn't bother us. We changed that and became much more expeditious in closing down under-performing assets that were providing us sales, but no income. We have a stated strategy that we are going to grow profitably in North America within our current product domain - that tells you what we are going to do and what we are not going to do. Getting that focus has helped us take the value of this company up.



Note the improvement that has occurred in ROIC:

1999....4.7%
2000...7.50%
2001...6.60%
2002...3.90%
2003...5.10%
2004...7.50%
2005...11.80%
2006...14.70%
2007(TTM)...15.48%

Sustainable Free Cash Flow per share has improved to $1.64 per share on a TTM basis. Applied's Board of Directors has authorized the purchase of up to 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock. This authorization replaces the previous one under which 1,401,000 shares were purchased through March 31, 2007. The new authorization represents approximately 3% of the shares currently outstanding. Prior buybacks have been effective in reducing fully diluted shares outstanding to a current 44.41 million from about 46.6 million two years ago

At current valuations, AIT has a market cap of $1.2 billion. With $85 million in cash on the balance sheet and $76 million in total debt, the company has an enterprise value also of roughly $1.2 billion.

Enterprise Value/EBITDA is about 8.5 times.

The market dynamics of consolidation push smaller competitors out of the marketplace. Though the migration of the US manufacturing base offshore is an ongoing concern, specialization and consolidation emphasize the triumph of service over product price. There remains upside in margin. The company is ramping up its government related business which tends to be persistent and anti-cyclical.

The combination of a sensible M&A strategy that respects return on invested capital looks like a winning approach to me. Combine that with a reasonable valuation, I believe spells opportunity.

Disclaimer: Neither I, my family, nor clients own a current position in AIT.

Sun Introduces New Offering to Simplify IT Inventory Management

LXer (press release) - Kerrville,TX,USA
The first inventory management solution to deliver one-click discovery
across systems running the Solaris Operating System (OS) and Linux, Sun
Connection ...


SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced the immediate availability of the Sun Connection Inventory Channel, a new, free offering for Sun customers that allows system administrators and IT operators to quickly and easily discover, organize and report on their IT assets. The first inventory management solution to deliver one-click discovery across systems running the Solaris Operating System (OS) and Linux, Sun Connection Inventory Channel enables customers to actively manage their IT assets and gain valuable insight into their IT operations by tracking critical information including product type, product version, licensing and registration status and support contract ID number.

"Sun is continuing to expand its offerings to help customers more efficiently manage their data centers," said Steve Wilson, vice president of Connected Systems, Sun Microsystems. "The Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a simple, powerful way for customers to track, sort, search and group their IT assets and support contracts. Ultimately, by automating the process, customers are able to easily understand their assets and make better informed IT decisions for the future."

Many IT administrators have complex management mechanisms in place to benchmark the health and performance of their IT operations, but often do not have a single view of what software, systems and storage they have and where these assets are running. While some solutions offer partial automation, keeping track of inventory, managing new additions and tracking removals is difficult, error prone and often requires manual processing.

Sun Connection Inventory Channel provides a unified view of hardware and software assets via a dynamic Web-based user interface. Customers can quickly search through thousands of assets based on a combination of search criteria including host name, product type, product version, support contract ID number and custom, user-defined asset tags.

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel complements the existing Sun Connection Update and Provisioning Channels by providing a lightweight and cost-effective asset management solution on a heterogeneous platform. The Sun Connection Update Channel provides central patch management capabilities on multiple operating platforms. The Provisioning Channel allows customers to perform provisioning tasks such as copy and paste of existing system deployments to new systems running the Solaris OS, Red Hat or SUSE Linux. For more information about Sun Connection, please visit: http://www.sun.com/sunconnection

The Sun Connection Inventory Channel is available free to all customers, whether an enterprise has purchased a high-end UltraSPARC(R)-based server or a start-up has downloaded the Solaris OS for free. Access to the new channel is available at: http://sunconnection.sun.com/inventory

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer"(TM) -- guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world's most important markets. Sun's philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://www.sun.com.

A Brief History of Economic Time

By Speedmaster(Speedmaster)
And the engine of technological progress is ideas -- not just the ideas from engineering laboratories, but also ideas like new methods of crop rotation, or just-in-time inventory management. You can fly from New York to Tokyo partly ...

Nice piece from Steven Landsburg in yesterday's WSJ.

A Brief History of Economic Time - WSJ.com: "Modern humans first emerged about 100,000 years ago. For the next 99,800 years or so, nothing happened. Well, not quite nothing. There were wars, political intrigue, the invention of agriculture -- but none of that stuff had much effect on the quality of people's lives. Almost everyone lived on the modern equivalent of $400 to $600 a year, just above the subsistence level. True, there were always tiny aristocracies who lived far better, but numerically they were quite insignificant.

Then -- just a couple of hundred years ago, maybe 10 generations -- people started getting richer. And richer and richer still. Per capita income, at least in the West, began to grow at the unprecedented rate of about three quarters of a percent per year. A couple of decades later, the same thing was happening around the world.
...
Rising income is only part of the story. One hundred years ago the average American workweek was over 60 hours; today it's under 35. One hundred years ago 6% of manufacturing workers took vacations; today it's over 90%. One hundred years ago the average housekeeper spent 12 hours a day on laundry, cooking, cleaning and sewing; today it's about three hours.

As far as the quality of the goods we buy, try picking up an electronics catalogue from, oh, say, 2001 and ask yourself whether there's anything there you'd want to buy. That was the year my friend Ben spent $600 for a 1.3-megapixel digital camera that weighed a pound and a half. What about services, such as health care? Would you rather purchase today's health care at today's prices or the health care of, say, 1970 at 1970 prices? I don't know any informed person who would choose 1970, which means that despite all the hype about costs, health care now is a better bargain than it's ever been before.
...
The moral is that increases in measured income -- even the phenomenal increases of the past two centuries -- grossly understate the real improvements in our economic condition. The average middle-class American might have a smaller measured income than the European monarchs of the Middle Ages, but I suspect that Tudor King Henry VIII would have traded half his kingdom for modern plumbing, a lifetime supply of antibiotics and access to the Internet.

The source of this wealth -- the engine of prosperity -- is technological progress. And the engine of technological progress is ideas -- not just the ideas from engineering laboratories, but also ideas like new methods of crop rotation, or just-in-time inventory management. You can fly from New York to Tokyo partly because someone figured out how to build an airplane and partly because someone figured out how to insure it."

Civil Aviation Affairs deploys Infor enterprise asset management

AME Info (press release) - United Arab Emirates
The comprehensive solution offers capabilities which cover every aspect of
the asset management life-cycle - maintenance, equipment, inventory
management ...

Infor today announced that Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) Bahrain, which is responsible for the provision of safe and efficient management of all services permitting aviation access to and from Bahrain, is deploying Infor EAM Enterprise Edition (formerly Infor EAM Datastream7i).Infor's industry-leading enterprise asset management solution will be deployed in the Air Navigation and Engineering & Maintenance Department and will provide better management and proactive servicing of more than 10,000 assets.
Infor was chosen following a comprehensive selection process to replace distributed maintenance environments with a central software solution. CAA evaluated Infor alongside other internationally reputed EAM vendors.

Bahrain International Airport offers the most comprehensive range of high quality facilities and services for its customers, employees and community. To enhance the role of the airport as the leading gateway to the region, CAA maintenance teams have to operate with optimum efficiency and economy regarding their performance of services. They must predict equipment downtime and conduct preventive scheduling and maintenance; which are just a few of the core maintenance activities that it conducts. With the continuous growth in aviation traffic, CAA realised the need for a centralised tool to manage all the maintenance activities.
The key criterion in determining the supplier was the business-specific functionality available within the Infor solution and realistic implementation offered by Intertec Systems (Infor's Middle-East EAM partner based in Dubai) and Zayani Computers (Bahrain based implementation partner). The comprehensive solution offers capabilities which cover every aspect of the asset management life-cycle - maintenance, equipment, inventory management and contracts covering department assets. The fact that these can all be easily implemented on standard technology served as a key driver in awarding this project to Infor.

'We chose Infor EAM as we found the 'benefit over cost' factor was highest, whilst the total cost of ownership was lower compared to other EAM solutions. Furthermore we are confident that we will be up and running in time,' commented Mr. Ali Ahmad Mohammed, Director of Air Navigation Civil Aviation Affairs in Bahrain.

CAA now looks forward to a complete overhaul of the work processes with the implementation of this system. These work processes will use an advanced technology and will enable the integration of the various sub-departments, existing in multiple locations. CAA will benefit vastly as this will reduce the maintenance costs and man hours spent on inspecting the safety of this equipment. It will also reduce the downtime and inventory costs, as there will be automatic updates on inventory requirements. The implementation of Infor EAM is also in line with CAA's vision to provide the highest safety standards to its customers.

Claude-Henri Weiller, Infor Channel Manager EMEA for Infor Enterprise Asset Management, said: 'The four key pillars that support many successful companies are its cash, inventory, people and fixed assets. Infor's solutions provide companies like CAA, with the capabilities to effectively manage these critical parts of their business, whilst freeing up valuable resources to focus on enhancing the quality of their customer service.'

Infor EAM solutions allow customers to maintain, manage, and improve the performance of their capital asset infrastructure, such as manufacturing equipment, fleet, and facilities, by combining asset management functionality and advanced reporting with advanced analytics to deliver a powerful platform for optimizing enterprise asset performance. Infor's EAM solutions go beyond traditional management of assets providing information that helps identify key trends and anomalies, forecast performance issues, and helps to make forward-looking decisions to take action.

Building Smart RFID Networks

RFID Journal - Melville,NY,USA
This paradigm shift opens up new avenues and approaches to improving
process efficiency, inventory management and business intelligence. ...

June 11, 2007—RFID technology leads us to a world of connected objects, enabling inventory to speak for its presence and drive processes, as opposed to processes driving inventory. This paradigm shift opens up new avenues and approaches to improving process efficiency, inventory management and business intelligence.

RFID networks enable businesses to build event-driven applications and react to real-time information. If business processes start working with real-time events, enterprises can become more efficient and lean.


To have a successful RFID implementation and reap true benefits, businesses must first identify business goals, build RFID networks that provide visibility into assets and inventory, and collect RFID data and convert it into actions, perhaps in real time.

An RFID network generates a continuous stream of data. Because of its sheer volume, this data needs to be handled very carefully. In the world of connected objects, the goal is to have efficient RFID networks that provide the right information to the right application at the right time (the "3 Rs") and make enterprise-management systems event-driven.

Event-Driven Enterprise-Management Applications
For most companies, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems keep track of the location and quantity of inventory, while supply chain execution (SCE) systems determine how much to produce, where to produce it and how to distribute it. Processes typically control the production and flow of inventory across the supply chain—a process-driven approach. In the world of connected objects, where RFID networks sense the presence (or absence) of inventory, business processes will become driven more by events than by processes. The receipt of a purchase order is an event, and it may trigger several business processes—such as manufacturing and logistics—upon its arrival. A shipment's receipt may lead to several Electronic Product Code (EPC) reads and trigger an electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) application, as well as updates to inventory counts in a warehouse management system (WMS), and the fulfillment of orders awaiting this receipt of shipment.

This fundamental paradigm shift, in which inventory drives processes, fosters efficiencies in the supply chain (or asset utilization) that could not have been achieved in a process-driven world.

Building event-driven processes is a very challenging task, one that requires a tectonic shift in thinking. It may require defining new processes and retraining personnel. Several technical or engineering challenges arise when dealing with a continuous stream of RFID data where time is an integral dimension. Conventional analytical tools have a hard time harnessing actionable intelligence from such data. The biggest cause is RFID data's very nature.

CAA revamp will cut costs

Gulf Daily News - Manama,Bahrain
Infor offers capabilities that cover every aspect of the asset management
lifecycle - maintenance, equipment, inventory management and contracts
covering ...

MANAMA: Bahrain's Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) is overhauling its work processes with the implementation of a new enterprise asset management solution.

The Infor EAM Enterprise Edition will be used in its air navigation and engineering and maintenance department, it was announced yesterday.

It is expected to provide better management and proactive servicing of more than 10,000 assets - enabling the integration of various sub-departments existing in multiple locations.

CAA expects to benefit from reduced maintenance costs and man-hours spent on inspecting the safety of equipment.

It will also reduce the downtime and inventory costs, as there will be automatic updates on inventory requirements.

The solution was chosen following a selection process to replace distributed maintenance environments with a central software solution.

Infor offers capabilities that cover every aspect of the asset management lifecycle - maintenance, equipment, inventory management and contracts covering department assets.

"The four key pillars that support many successful companies are its cash, inventory, people and fixed assets," said Infor channel manager EMEA for Infor Enterprise Asset Management, Claude-Henri Weiller.

"Infor's solutions provide companies like CAA with the capabilities to effectively manage these critical parts of their business, while freeing up valuable resources to focus on enhancing the quality of their customer service."

Zayani Computers is the Bahrain-based implementation partner.

A Short History of Riches and Wealth Creation

By Phil Miller
And the engine of technological progress is ideas -- not just the ideas from engineering laboratories, but also ideas like new methods of crop rotation, or just-in-time inventory management. You can fly from New York to Tokyo partly ...

Steven Landsburg pens this excellent column ($$$) about the history of wealth:

Modern humans first emerged about 100,000 years ago. For the next 99,800 years or so, nothing happened. Well, not quite nothing. There were wars, political intrigue, the invention of agriculture -- but none of that stuff had much effect on the quality of people's lives. Almost everyone lived on the modern equivalent of $400 to $600 a year, just above the subsistence level. True, there were always tiny aristocracies who lived far better, but numerically they were quite insignificant.

Then -- just a couple of hundred years ago, maybe 10 generations -- people started getting richer. And richer and richer still. Per capita income, at least in the West, began to grow at the unprecedented rate of about three quarters of a percent per year. A couple of decades later, the same thing was happening around the world.

Comparing a bit across time:

Rising income is only part of the story. One hundred years ago the average American workweek was over 60 hours; today it's under 35. One hundred years ago 6% of manufacturing workers took vacations; today it's over 90%. One hundred years ago the average housekeeper spent 12 hours a day on laundry, cooking, cleaning and sewing; today it's about three hours.

As far as the quality of the goods we buy, try picking up an electronics catalogue from, oh, say, 2001 and ask yourself whether there's anything there you'd want to buy. That was the year my friend Ben spent $600 for a 1.3-megapixel digital camera that weighed a pound and a half. What about services, such as health care? Would you rather purchase today's health care at today's prices or the health care of, say, 1970 at 1970 prices? I don't know any informed person who would choose 1970, which means that despite all the hype about costs, health care now is a better bargain than it's ever been before.

The moral is that increases in measured income -- even the phenomenal increases of the past two centuries -- grossly understate the real improvements in our economic condition. The average middle-class American might have a smaller measured income than the European monarchs of the Middle Ages, but I suspect that Tudor King Henry VIII would have traded half his kingdom for modern plumbing, a lifetime supply of antibiotics and access to the Internet.

In September of 2005, I wrote this post on the effort it takes to buy a high quality personal computer in 1989 and in 2004. High quality, of course, is relative to the time the computer was produced. In 1989:

It's a Tandy! It costs only $8,499! It's got 2 MB of RAM! It's got a 20 MHZ Intel 386 processor.

Today, I type this blog post on a Dell Dimension 8400 computer with a 3.4 GHZ Pentium 4 Processor and 512 MB of RAM with CD and DVD RW drives and a lot of other goodies! I think we paid around $1,500 or so for our Dell. My, how far computers have come in 16 years!

Think about it this way: in December of 1989, average hourly earnings were $9.97. In December of 2004, average hourly earnings were $15.85 (see here from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Data Base). So, in 1989, the average worker would have to work approximately 850 hours (more than 20 weeks assuming a 40 hour work week) to earn enough (pre tax) cash to buy a 386. In 2004, the average worker would have to work less than 100 hours to earn enough pre tax cash to buy a Dell Dimension like I describe above.

But back to Landsburg's column. Who planned this explosion in well-being?

The source of this wealth -- the engine of prosperity -- is technological progress. And the engine of technological progress is ideas -- not just the ideas from engineering laboratories, but also ideas like new methods of crop rotation, or just-in-time inventory management. You can fly from New York to Tokyo partly because someone figured out how to build an airplane and partly because someone figured out how to insure it. I'm writing this on a personal computer instead of an electric typewriter partly because someone said, "Hey! I wonder if we can make computer chips out of silicon!" and partly because someone said "Hey! I wonder if we can finance startups with junk bonds!"

In other words, no one person planned it. No all-knowing, all-seeing directing body made it happen. It just happened bit by bit, increment by increment. One person doing his thing. Another person doing her thing. Little bits of coordination here. Little bits of coordination there. Trials here. Errors there. Everyone trying to make things better, even smallish improvements, for him or herself. People competing. People cooperating.

Wealth created.

Every Problem is an opportunity

By pegasus
The efficiency and the competitive advantage of the Traveler's Cheques come from better inventory management. In order to sell foreign currency, the forex merchant has to hold USD. Now this is disadvantageous for him on 2 counts. ...

American Express (estb. in 1850), as the name suggests, was a small time express freight carrier. It also had a small financial arm which carried the Money Order and competed with the US Posts.

Sometime between 1888 and 1890, J.C. Fargo took a trip to Europe and returned frustrated and infuriated. Despite the fact that he was president of American Express and that he carried with him traditional letters of credit, he found it difficult to obtain cash anywhere except in major cities. Mr. Fargo went to Marcellus Flemming Berry and asked him to create a better solution than the traditional letter of credit. Mr. Berry created the American Express Travelers Cheque which was launched in 1891 in denominations of $10, $20, $50, and $100. (source)

After this there was no turning back. American Express soon grow into a bank and is now one of the leading financial giants. It is a fortune 74th Company and its stock is one of the 30 stocks that is used to compute Dow Jones Industrial Average. Hence I would say, every problem is a multi million dollar business opportunity.

For those of you who are wondering what is so great about this financial instrument, here is the explanation:
The efficiency and the competitive advantage of the Traveler’s Cheques come from better inventory management. In order to sell foreign currency, the forex merchant has to hold USD. Now this is disadvantageous for him on 2 counts.
1) His working capital gets blocked in a piece of paper.
2) He is exposing himself to the currency fluctuations.
Which means that suppose he is keeping 1000 USD in his shop, he is effectively blocking 41,000/- INR and say if USD dollar is devaluing he is bleeding money on that too.

However, Traveler’s Cheques is just piece of paper. Since he pays for it only at the time of sale at the exchange rate he is offering to his customer, the risks gets greatly reduced. This also enables him to offer better exchange rate to his customers making him happier :)

For the issuing bank, traveler’s cheques is like any other Demand Draft. The payment is made upfront, but the actual purchase happens much later. So the bank can raise some working capital at little/no cost. The bank gains through brokerage (difference between buying and selling), a tiny percent of them which might never be encashed, and through the extra fees they charge when the customer reports them to be missing. So even though it is offering a service to its customer, it never has to explicitly charge for it.

For the traveler, it is a signature protected piece of document. So if it gets stolen during travel (traveler’s nightmare) he can still report it and recover the funds. Plus as earlier explained, he also get a marginally better exchange rate.

Introduction to Management Science with Student CD (9th Edition)

By BIBLIOPHILE(BIBLIOPHILE)
... transshipment, and assignment problems; network flow models; project management; nonlinear programming; probability and statistics; decision analysis; queuing analysis; simulation; forecasting; and inventory management. ...


The objective of this management science book is to help the reader solve the decision-making problems that confront managers in both the public and private sectors. It demonstrates the use of mathematical models to solve these problems, and provides numerous examples and illustrations to help the reader easily understand the material presented. Its concentration on computer solutions with Excel spreadsheets allows the reader to focus on the newest technological tools.

Topics covered in this comprehensive book are linear programming; integer programming; transportation, transshipment, and assignment problems; network flow models; project management; nonlinear programming; probability and statistics; decision analysis; queuing analysis; simulation; forecasting; and inventory management.

With its comprehensive appendices and CD-ROM module examples, this book is an excellent reference work for managers that utilize modeling techniques to solve problems and make decisions.

Zenoss Grows with Open-Source IT Management

eWeek - New York, NY
Zenoss Core, which provides inventory management of IT assets, performance
and availability monitoring, and centralized event and alarm management,


Open-source IT monitoring and management provider Zenoss on June 11 will seek to build momentum behind its alternative to the big four enterprise management offerings when it introduces the second major release of its Zenoss Core tool.

Zenoss, which has seen 170,000 downloads of its free Zenoss Core offering since January and claims to have the most popular IT management project on SourceForge, now has a full Configuration Management Database in its core monitoring tool, according to CEO Bill Karpovich, in Annapolis, Md.
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"We added the ability to mix together data that's automatically discovered and populated with data imported from external sources through Web services APIs as well as manually entered data," Karpovich said. "Then there is also the ability to establish policies. If, for example, a configuration item was discovered one time and not the next, we can now specify policies that certain configuration items are required to be associated with other configuration items," he said.

Users at Medifast applauded the beefed-up CMDB, according to John Hamilton, CIO at the Owings Mills, Md., company. "They really seemed to have built into Version 2.0 what it means to be a central database like that. It does collect all my inventory data for servers, switches, Web servers and so on," he said.

Zenoss Core, which provides inventory management of IT assets, performance and availability monitoring, and centralized event and alarm management, also features greater ease of use and administration in Version 2.0, the company said.

PointerClick here to read more about Zenoss and its open-source IT management strategy.

The open-source tool moves beyond the more cumbersome, first-generation "death by configuration file" interaction by providing a full Web-browser-based user interface, making it easier for more Windows-oriented administrators to use, Karpovich said. The UI is based on AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).

For customers scaling up their implementations to manage a larger number of devices, Zenoss has made the tool more scalable by adding new distributed data collectors. The aim is to scale to manage thousands of devices across LAN and WAN connections by distributing SNMP and Windows Management Interface event collection in strategic locations in an enterprise network. That reduces the amount of bandwidth taken up by transmitting management data and enabling that data to be sent via secured connections.

Managing the Data Center

Zenoss also added a native WMI collector that runs on Linux, which helps to simplify the management environment, Karpovich said. That WMI feature will allow Zenoss to add in its Zenoss Enterprise Edition a turnkey Linux-based management appliance.

It also ensures that any attack on Windows by viruses or other malware won't affect Zenoss' ability to continue to monitor Windows-based infrastructure, Hamilton said. "It's not the best idea in the world to have a Windows monitoring system monitoring a Windows shop. A Linux-based system wouldn't be affected in the same way by a virus or [other attack]," he said. "Now we won't even need a Windows component to do WMI management."

The new Zenoss appliance, due later in June in the next release of Zenoss Enterprise, will add the ability to perform synthetic testing for Web applications. "We will have an end-user synthetic transaction engine with a WYSIWYG tool for creating scripts for testing against Web applications," Karpovich said.

eWEEK.com Special Report: Open Source in the Enterprise

Hamilton said he was also pleased that the package would allow him to test out how users experience Medifast's eCommerce system. "There are so many back-end pieces to a Web transaction. I am still blind to the whole process. I am looking forward to that," he said.

Finally, Zenoss in both its free Zenoss Core and commercial Zenoss Enterprise versions will add new ZenPacks, which will provide a framework for encapsulating a set of rules for monitoring, collecting performance metrics, setting default thresholds or default mapping of events to prioritization. "We'll have a library of free ZenPacks that customers can use and add to. We're making it easy to build rules that can be shared with others," Karpovich said.

Zenoss Core 2.0 is due to be released on June 11. Zenoss Enterprise Edition 2.0 is due late in June.

CRM Surging in Western Europe, SM-Plus 2.07, L2 Fuse, Cutting Edge ...

By ggalitzine
Built on a Microsoft-based technology architecture, the new SM-Plus version 2.07 offers such features as support for complex service contracts, incident escalation, Service Level Agreement compliance, service parts inventory management, ...

The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, for this Bowie fan’s money, a better overall rock listening experience than the ridiculously overpraised Ziggy Stardust. I put Station To Station above the Zigster, and Diamond Dogs if I’m feeling particularly seedy. No, around these parts, pilgrim, Siggy Freudust is throwing elbows with Lodger, Stage and, heck, Let’s Dance for inclusion on the list of the Thin White Duke’s Five Least Maddeningly Inconsistent Albums:

Research firm IDC has issued a report finding that the Western European CRM applications market grew by 6.3 percent in 2006, beating last year’s forecast by almost one percentage point and reaching a value of almost $3 billion.

IDC officials say they see no reason the up tick won’t continue.

The report, titled “Western European CRM Applications, Forecast and Analysis 2007-2011,” finds that early CRM adopters, especially in the financial services and telecommunications sectors, are investing in CRM again, while the low-end segment is seeing a significant impact of software-as-a-service, according to Bo Lykkegaard, IDC’s program manager for European Enterprise Applications as reported on industry journal Web site WiseMarketer.

IDC’s forecast breaks down the CRM application market by deployment model, finding that revenue from on-demand CRM applications grew almost 40 percent during 2006 and is expected to maintain this momentum.

IDC expects on-demand CRM applications to make up almost half of the net market growth of the entire CRM market in Europe during the five-year forecast, and believes that the net effect of on-demand is market expansion as the ease-of-deployment of on-demand attracts first-time buyers of packaged CRM software.
…

Single Source Systems, Inc., a vendor of service business software, has released a new version of its SM-Plus service business software product for aftermarket product service and support organizations, independent service companies and service-intensive equipment distribution organizations worldwide.

Company officials say all functions integrate with existing ERP, CRM and supply chain systems.

Built on a Microsoft-based technology architecture, the new SM-Plus version 2.07 offers such features as support for complex service contracts, incident escalation, Service Level Agreement compliance, service parts inventory management, new equipment sales and mobile field service.

SM-Plus is an integrated information system that manages and maintains both company-owned and customer-owned assets, and provides service business process support, including call taking, scheduling and dispatch, field service, depot repair, work order management, preventive maintenance, service contracts, purchasing, inventory control, and costing for a total enterprise service management product.

“Our latest benchmark research shows that leading companies are more and more adopting integrated service-specific technology products,” said Steve Roth, SVP, Strategic Service Management practice at Aberdeen Group.
…

L2, Inc. has announced the presentation of customer case studies as part of its presentation at DM Days New York. The company will present demonstrations of its Fuse technology that helps marketers deliver multi-channel campaigns

The product, L2 Fuse, helps customers use their CRM systems and campaigns to get over 25 percent response rates at one-quarter the cost, to drive better than 300 percent ROI. Fuse, a Web-based software, includes L2 service support to help customers develop campaigns that include sending out dynamically-generated direct mail pieces to prospects, leading recipients to their own PURL.

Each PURL contains a pre-populated form to make it easier for prospects to respond. PURLs are used to provide customized information to existing customers, direct prospects, and encourage participation in a product demonstration, which collect and update customer data to build a quality database for ongoing CRM and marketing efforts.
…

Pharmaceutical business software vendor Cutting Edge Information has announced the release of the new “Patient Communications Library.” The new collection is comprised of three primary research studies, all geared toward solving common problems many pharmaceutical companies face in the areas of patient adherence, direct-to-patient communication, customer relationship management (CRM) and overall patient education.

Used together, the three reports in the collection will allow pharmaceutical companies to “build a comprehensive strategy to increase the effectiveness of interactions with patients,” according to company officials. Findings from the three-report package cover topics ranging from patient program budgets to organizational support structures for patient education, CRM, and patient adherence and disease management programs.

Download free online summaries at www.cuttingedgeinfo.com.
…

Jenzabar, a vendor of CRM and other software and services for higher education, announced that last week’s client conference was “the largest event in Jenzabar history.”

JAM 2007 hosted more than 1,300 attendees, including Jenzabar users, client executives, industry partners, Jenzabar client services and technical staff, and thought leaders within higher education. The theme of last week’s event was “Building Stronger Communities,” and numerous sessions focused on how Jenzabar’s product, constituent relationship modules (Jenzabar CRMs), and learning management system can be used.

Representatives from public, private, two-year, four-year and specialty schools came to the conference, which featured more than 325 user information sessions covering the entire range of Jenzabar’s product and service offerings.
…

Meijer, a family-owned chain of 177 superstores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, has deployed a new marketing tool that optimizes delivery of individualized promotional offers to Meijer customers.

Provided by NCR Corporation and Teradata, a division of NCR, the Enterprise Offer Management product includes NCR’s Copient Logix software and Teradata Customer Relationship Management (CRM), an analytical software portfolio.

Meijer Director of Retail Systems Elmer Robinson said the Enterprise Offer Management “greatly enhances our ability to manage the promotional offers that we extend to shoppers at the checkout and, potentially, at other touchpoints in the future. It provides a ‘closed loop’ product, from data warehousing to campaign management, to offer optimization, to content management to multichannel execution.”

Enterprise Offer Management comprises the processes and technologies that enable retailers to create, manage, execute and evaluate promotional programs. Software components include Teradata CRM, which “helps retailers understand the needs and preferences of different customer groups and automates the delivery of personalized communications through the best channel,” company officials say.
…

A coyly-unnamed global financial services firm, with “operations in more than 50 countries” has extended and expanded its existing hosted services agreement with Intervoice to use Intervoice’s expertise and capabilities in voice portal, contact center and VoIP technology over the next four years, according to Intervoice officials.

Based on the customer’s minimum commitments, Intervoice is valuing the contract at approximately $17.0 million over 4 years, subject to certain cancellation provisions.

Intervoice has been providing hosted services to enterprises in North America since 1999.

Mobile Alliance: Datalogic Mobile Announces New Strategic

Wireless Workforce Online (press release) - Erie,PA,USA
Datalogic Mobile, the foremost manufacturer of rugged mobile computers
joins forces with SeeControl, the provider of On Demand inventory
management ...

Datalogic Mobile, the foremost manufacturer of rugged mobile computers joins forces with SeeControl, the provider of On Demand inventory management applications that provide total asset visibility across multiple locations.

Under the terms of the agreement, SeeControl will market, sell, and support Datalogic Mobile Falcon 4400 Series Windows CE.Net Mobile Computers. Datalogic Mobile's industrial mobile computers will be used for inventory management and to track assets, running SeeControl's mobile applications connected in real-time to an On Demand inventory management software service. In conjunction with Datalogic Mobile's Falcon , SeeControl will use also hand held readers - Quickscan - from the other Datalogic company, Datalogic Scanning. By combining Datalogic's hardware and SeeControl's rapid, turnkey service, SeeControl will be able to deliver state-of-the-art equipment and service to their customers who require efficient and easy to use computers in warehouses, factories, data centers and field service environments.

"We're delighted to form a Strategic Alliance with Datalogic. Our clients have been extremely satisfied with the leading features and reliability of Falcon and Quickscan products, which work seamlessly with SeeControl's On Demand asset and inventory software service" said Al Cohen, CEO of SeeControl. "With the launch of our own reseller program, SeeControl is pleased to offer Datalogic channel partners an innovative way to rapidly increase their service and product revenue. Additionally, Datalogic partners pursuing new Aerospace and Defense contracts will benefit from SeeControl's integration of Unique Identification (UID) tracking technology, which supports new Department of Defense 2D scanning requirements".

"Inventory management is one of the fast growing market segments where Datalogic Mobile's ruggedized computers can deliver top value to the user, including reliability, first class ergonomics, ease of use and connectivity" commented Marino Tanas, President of Datalogic Mobile Americas. "Partnering with SeeControl means delivering a first class solution that can dramatically increase the customer's return on investment. This strategic alliance will further accelerate our growth in the US market."

About Datalogic Mobile
Datalogic Mobile, part of the Datalogic Group, is a global player in the Rugged Mobile Computers market, offering a full range of products, dedicated to the main target application fields: warehousing solutions, field-force automation and retail in-store. It is the result of the integration of Datalogic and PSC mobile computer business. Datalogic Mobile, based in Lippo di Calderara di Reno (Bologna, Italy), has its Americas office in Eugene (OR). With its strong presence in EMEA, the Americas and Asia/Pacific and the powerful network of partners all over the world, Datalogic Mobile has shown an impressive track record of growth that position itself as the fastest growing player in the mobile market, the real challenger to the top rankers. For more information, please visit www.mobile.datalogic.com or call toll-free: +1-800-310-8300, or International: +1-541-743-4800. For media contacts: pr@mobile.datalogic.com

About SeeControl Inc.
San Mateo, California-based SeeControl Inc. is helping companies of all sizes track and manage inventory and assets-On Demand and across multiple storage locations. It is the global leader in providing real-time data collection coupled with an integrated web-based management reporting, visibility and control software service. SeeControl serves Aerospace, Defense, Healthcare and Manufacturing industries and has delivered dramatic improvements in profitability, compliance and productivity to customers in over twenty-five countries. For more information, please visit www.seecontrol.com or call +1-650-312-1100. For reseller information, please visit www.seecontrol.com/resellers.

Customized Sage SalesLogix System With Sage MAS 90 ERP Integration ...

Web Services Journal - Montvale,NJ,USA
Sage MAS 90 accommodates distribution and light manufacturing needs with
full-featured inventory management, shipment processing, bill of materials
and work ...

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/08/07 -- Sage Software announced today that Qqest Software Systems, a direct marketer of time and attendance products, payroll services, and asset management and maintenance software, has achieved a substantial return on investment from its customized Sage SalesLogix CRM and Sage MAS 90 ERP implementation. Qqest experienced a 28 percent revenue increase upon initially deploying Sage SalesLogix and integrating it with Sage MAS 90 ERP. The company continues to measure month-to-month revenue increases in the tens-of-thousands of dollars. Qqest cites improved employee productivity and higher customer retention rates as additional benefits of its Sage Software solution.

"Our sales went up $70,000 from the previous month after we implemented Sage SalesLogix," said Burke Plummer, president of Qqest. "Since then we have seen sales increase around $30,000 to $40,000 per month, based on a year-to-year comparison."

Customized CRM Overcomes User Resistance

Prior to Sage SalesLogix, Qqest was using three different databases that could not share data. All sales leads were tracked manually by individual employees, slowing the sales process and making accurate oversight of the sales team difficult. The lack of a centralized database made it difficult for support representatives to respond to customer requests, if the associated sales representatives were unavailable.

Qqest evaluated five CRM systems in 2003 and selected Sage SalesLogix for its customization capabilities, ease of use, and ability to integrate with the company's existing Sage MAS 90 ERP system. Unison, a Sage CRM Solutions business partner, was chosen to integrate the Sage Software CRM and ERP systems.

Employees initially expressed concern when Qqest informed them that a CRM system would be implemented. Many sales representatives were attached to their own individual opportunity tracking processes. For example, one of the organization's top-performing sales representatives organized all of his sales data on index cards, stored in a shoebox. Unison studied the sales team's shared processes and individual best practices, and customized a Sage SalesLogix user interface based on a virtual shoebox in order to aid user adoption.

"The flexible nature of Sage SalesLogix allows us to portray data in any desired format and appearance," explained Steve Estes, president of Unison. "For Qqest, we were able to deliver a shoebox filing system layout that put their sales representatives at ease, allowing them to dive into opportunity management and quickly use many of the system's automation capabilities. From customizing the user interface to integrating with Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage SalesLogix's flexible architecture was critical to making this implementation a success."

Qqest employees using the integrated system have benefited from the sharing of accurate information, and data entry time savings. When a prospect becomes a customer, an order is created in Sage SalesLogix and the account and order information is immediately available in Sage MAS 90 ERP.

Sage SalesLogix was initially implemented for 25 Qqest employees, and currently is used by 130 employees. Looking forward, Qqest has begun a project to upgrade its Sage MAS 90 ERP software to Sage MAS 500 ERP to accommodate its expanding business requirements. The company anticipates further business process enhancements and cost savings by using a credit card processing tool developed by Unison for Sage MAS 500 ERP and Sage SalesLogix.

"Sage Software has provided our team the right tools to streamline the sales processes that have historically aided our most successful representatives, and enabled employees to have a complete view of customer accounts including all associated product inventory, transaction and support records," added Plummer. "The resulting efficiencies have transformed the way we acquire our customers, and keep them happy."

Sage SalesLogix

With more than 300,000 users at over 8,500 companies, Sage SalesLogix is the leading CRM solution for small to medium-sized businesses and divisions of larger enterprises, and is part of the Sage Software family of integrated business management solutions.

Sage SalesLogix enables businesses to acquire, retain and develop profitable customer relationships by increasing sales and marketing performance and maximizing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Sage SalesLogix enables the same user experience, rich customization capabilities, high levels of end-user adoption and low total cost of ownership across Web, Windows and Mobile device deployment options.

Sage SalesLogix is part of Sage CRM Solutions, the only family of CRM products designed specifically for the needs of small and medium-sized businesses that also includes ACT! by Sage, SageCRM and SageCRM.com. For more details, visit www.sagecrmsolutions.com or call (800) 643-6400.

Sage MAS 90 ERP

With more than 26 modules and thousands of industry-specific applications, Sage MAS 90 ERP provides unsurpassed value and functionality for automating business processes. The solution handles core accounting, financial reporting, distribution, manufacturing and e-commerce plus provides powerful business intelligence tools. Sage MAS 90 accommodates distribution and light manufacturing needs with full-featured inventory management, shipment processing, bill of materials and work order modules. The application also provides award-winning CRM, HR and fixed asset functionality through tight integration with Sage CRM solutions, Sage Abra HRMS and Sage FAS Fixed Assets. For more information visit www.sagemas.com or call (800) 854-3415.

About Qqest Software Systems

Qqest Software Systems provides real solutions to today's complex employee management issues. Qqest offers a broad spectrum of products for better employee management -- no matter what type of business you run. We provide solutions for time and attendance (TimeForce), payroll (Qqest Payroll Services), and asset maintenance and management (ManagerPlus).

With over 35,000 customers, Qqest helps clients manage their small- to mid-size businesses the world over. Our software and hardware systems have proven themselves in many industries including manufacturing, construction, agriculture, healthcare, education & government, retail, services and more. Please visit our website at www.qqest.com for more information.

About Unison

Unison has been at the forefront of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and sales force automation industry since 1996. Unison encompasses the entire processes of marketing, sales, customer service and support. Our engineers are fully certified, and each has years of experience in their fields. Our clients have included a wide range of industries and businesses, such as small start-ups to larger corporations such as American Express, Intel, and Merrill Lynch. For more information, visit www.unisonsales.com or call (801) 373-4679.

About Sage Software

Sage Software supports the needs, challenges, and dreams of more than 2.8 million small- and mid-sized business customers in North America through easy-to-use, scalable and customizable software and services. Our products support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage Software is a subsidiary of The Sage Group plc, a leading international supplier of accounting and business management software solutions and related products and services for small- and mid-sized businesses. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and the Group now has 5.4 million customers and employs over 13,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagesoftware.com/moreinfo or call (866) 308-2378.

© 2007 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. All other brands are trademarks of their respective companies.

Taking Inventory

T.H.E. Journal - Tustin,CA,USA
"Good asset management practices consist of basic inventory
management," Heine says. "What's your migration plan--what needs to
be replaced or upgraded, ...

Keeping on top of your IT assets is an imperative. The newest products can ensure license compliance while helping with budgeting, software updating, and bug fixing.

Taking InventoryALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS, whether small, 700-student Livingston Manor Central School District in New York, or Florida’s Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth-largest in the country, have at least one thing in common: the challenge of keeping track of their growing number of IT assets.

IT/software asset management (abbreviated IT/AM or IT/SAM) includes information about computer hardware—serial number, configuration, location—and software—license number, patch/update status, settings. In talks with schools and vendors, a primary reason for conducting asset management emerges: license tracking for compliance reporting.

“We have seen organizations that have, in the first year of implementing asset management, found 10 to 20 percent initial savings in licensing,” says Jack Heine, research vice president at IT consultancy Gartner, and author of the December 2006 Gartner report, “How to Find Answers to IT and Software Asset Management Questions.”

It’s about more than licensing, of course. “Good asset management practices consist of basic inventory management,” Heine says. “What’s your migration plan—what needs to be replaced or upgraded, and when? This allows for some precise budgeting. There are significant savings associated with good asset management.” Some IT/SAM products even handle—or are part of suites that can handle— software update/patching, disk reimaging, and per-program access control.

Many schools use established IT/SAM products or modules from companies such as Altiris, BigFix, and Sitekeeper, or utilities provided from vendors such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Microsoft. But many others are using home-grown or modified solutions, even simply databases or spreadsheets.

Handling Your IT Load

The specs on the Lafayette School Corporation in Indiana are daunting: 8,000 students, 750 staff, 20 facilities, and, according to Kevin Little, the district’s CTO and director of facilities, some 4,000 workstations, 350 notebooks, 130 servers, 80 telecom closets, and 8,000 data ports, plus numerous printers. Handling the entire IT administrative load, including deploying and provisioning about 1,000 computers each year, is a staff of four engineers and six techs.

“We had some automation software, but it was bits and pieces,” says Little. “We decided to go with Altiris’ (www.altiris.com) Inventory Solution.” Little’s department uses the product not only for asset management, but also for deployment, patch management, remote control, and desktop snapshots. “We bought the full Altiris enterprise bundle, which includes the Service and Asset Management Suite.”Using the Altiris IT/SAM tools, Little says, “we can see every piece of software installed on every computer in the district, and can also know about the hardware—what size drive, processor type, how much RAM, fragmentation, etc.” He says reports generated by Altiris allow the district to demonstrate compliance with software licenses. “And the system provides proactive information, like when there’s some kind of problem, so we can get information to our help desk or work order system before something fails.” In addition to the Altiris suite, Little says, the district has asset tags installed on every computer, “and that tag information is also in the computer’s BIOS, including ‘where it is’ location information.”

Time savings is another advantage of IT/SAM. Tennessee’s Scott County Schools has around 1,200 PCs and 15 servers in six locations—and “an IT department that’s really an administrator, a secretary, and me as the network technician, plus a general-purpose technician full time,” says Greg Bond, network administrator. “That’s a lot of machines to keep up with. Our farthest school is about 30 minutes from our central office; it would take someone a full day per site to do a simple physical inventory. We needed a package that would let us get a good count of machines and keep track of licensing, to be sure we were legally compliant.”

Bond says he and his team went with NetSupport DNA from NetSupport. “It’s been a critical part of our record keeping.” Without an inventorying tool, Bond says, “it’s impossible to fully know what’s on a machine, unless you have them locked down so tight they wouldn’t be useful. We can also detect programs that somebody else bought and installed, and decide whether we should be purchasing them, and Net- Support DNA helps us figure out where problems are. We can tell daily how many computers have reported in, and decide which machines should be replaced or upgraded.”

Not all school districts use off-theshelf solutions. To track its IT assets, Miami-Dade County (M-DCPS)—with 345,000 students spread across 340 schools—had been using the mainframe- based Property Asset Tracking System it wrote several years ago. The application handles districtwide tracking not only of computers but also furniture and other equipment.

The minimum value for a taggable item was first set at $750, but to reduce work in the field, the limit was increased to $1,000. Since M-DCPS buys many systems for less than $1,000 or even $750, explains Deborah Karcher, the district’s CIO, these systems would not be in the mainframe system.

“We have about 90,000 desktop computers, thousands of routers, over 300 administrative servers, plus another several thousand servers in the school,” says Craig Rinehart, M-DCPS’ administrative director of business and operational services. Additionally, the district is working on a 1-to-1 laptop program. This number of systems, says Rinehart, makes tracking assets imperative.The district was already using BigFix for patch management and didn’t have the funding to buy a separate asset management system. Thomas Sims, M-DCPS’ director of network services, says, “BigFix wrote an add-on for us, allowing us to track asset information in the same database, including details like CPU, amount of RAM, and what software has been installed. We can register systems on the network, and then track them.”

Databases and Spreadsheets

“We do not use any off-the-shelf software for asset management,” says Robert Farrell, director of technology at Livingston Manor CSD. “I built a Microsoft Access database that controls our IT inventory. The database took me roughly a couple of hours to build.” Currently, Farrell says, the district is “tracking computers, laptops, monitors, servers, printers. We do not track software, license renewals, etc. I do that in a spreadsheet, but I will consider eventually adding it to the database.” Farrell also plans to add a repairs tracking section, “so we can tell which devices have been giving us the most problems.” And he wants to add toner tracking. “This is all fairly easy to set up if you have intermediate experience with Access.”

Dike-New Hartford Community School District in Iowa keeps most of its asset information on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, according to Jeremiah Lehr, technology coordinator. “We have about 800 students, so we’re small enough to get by with this sort of solution.”

When does a spreadsheet stop being enough? They’re not automated, “so you spend time keeping it up to date,” says Dave Johnson, Altiris’ market segment manager for service and asset management. “Or an audit may be a compelling event.”

“Look at an integrated solution,” says Lafayette’s Little. “It’s too difficult, especially with a small number of people, to maintain multiple administrative consoles and interfaces. And make sure that the inventory information is in a readable format, and easy to understand.... For example, you want it to say ‘Microsoft Word,’ not just file names.”

Depending on how accurate your current software purchases are, asset management software may not trim your software costs. But it will ensure you know what you have, and where, which will help with repair dispatch, upgrade/replacement decisions...and knowing that your software usage is compliant with the licenses you’ve paid for.

Gifts Australia selects Advanta's ATLAS 3PL software solution

Ferret - Australia
Prior to the upgrade to Advanta's ATLAS 3PL software suite, Gifts
Australia has been using a simple manual inventory management system. ...
Advanta Software, specialist software solutions provider to the 3PL and logistics markets, announced that Gifts Australia has selected Advanta’s ATLAS 3PL software solution to improve operational efficiency and to cater for rapid business growth.

Gifts Australia is an online gift fulfilment organisation serving the Australian national market.

Gifts Australia has created a viable point of difference and a competitive advantage in the online gift fulfilment service industry. As Kim Jenkins – the Director of Gifts Australia explains, “By owning our own warehouse facility, we can dispatch any gift advertised on our website within 24 business hours of order placement to any location within Australia. In addition we provide some value added services such as free gift wrapping and a complementary gift card to our customers”.

Since commencement of trading 6 years ago, Gifts Australia has experienced strong and rapid business growth sparking a need for a system capable of supporting the increasing reporting and warehouse management requirements of the business.

As a result Gifts Australia sought a credible and reliable supplier with a warehouse management software solution that would meet their current and future needs.

Kim and the other Gifts Australia Directors Alison Jones and Simon Gidley decided that “Advanta was the most suitable software solutions provider. Their ATLAS 3PL software suite is a complete solution for the fulfilment and 3PL market, with the ability to manage all aspects of the business ranging from warehousing to e-business. More importantly, Advanta offers to partner with Gifts Australia for the long term. This will allow us to satisfy our on-going needs more efficiently and effectively”

Prior to the upgrade to Advanta’s ATLAS 3PL software suite, Gifts Australia has been using a simple manual inventory management system.

This however was causing significant operational issues, ranging from pick and pack errors due to the increasing volume and complexity of the inventory, increasing staff training costs due to the breadth of the product range; and poor control and management of the warehouse due to lack of up to date information on how the warehouse was performing.

To combat these issues and to cater for ongoing future growth, Gifts Australia selected Advanta’s ATLAS 3PL software suite.

The suite comprises over 30 modules and provides all aspects of Supply Chain Management and Supply Chain Execution, together with Customer Relationship Management and eLogistics.

More specifically, Advanta Software is providing Gifts Australia with modules including: warehouse management, freight management, EDI, order processing, sales analysis, purchasing, report generating, and distribution requirements planning.

Following the implementation of ATLAS 3PL, Gifts Australia expect to address their current operational efficiency issues and aims to improve the level of service they provide to customers.

As Kim states “Gifts Australia expects to reduce pick and pack error rates through the accuracy of an automated warehousing system, reduce labour costs as less staff product training will be required; and develop cost effective reports due to the improved feedback from the ATLAS software suite”.

Kim continues “Our goal is to achieve a 50% business growth rate every year for the next 5 years and we are optimistic in achieving such a goal with the support of Advanta’s ATLAS 3PL software solution”.

Single Source's SM-Plus Version 2.07 Released

TMCnet - USA
... incident escalation, Service Level Agreement compliance, service parts
inventory management, new equipment sales and mobile field service. ...
http://news.tmcnet.com/news/2007/06/08/2699390.htm

Single Source Systems Inc., a vendor of service business software, has released a new version of its SM-Plus service business software product for aftermarket product service and support organizations, independent service companies and service-intensive equipment distribution organizations worldwide.
Company officials say all functions integrate with existing ERP, CRM and supply chain systems.

Built on a Microsoft (News - Alert)-based technology architecture, the new SM-Plus version 2.07 offers such features as support for complex service contracts, incident escalation, Service Level Agreement compliance, service parts inventory management, new equipment sales and mobile field serviceSM-Plus is an integrated information system that manages and maintains both company-owned and customer-owned assets, and provides service business process support, including call taking, scheduling and dispatch, field service, depot repair, work order management, preventive maintenance, service contracts, purchasing, inventory control, and costing for a total enterprise service management product.

“Our latest benchmark research shows that leading companies are more and more adopting integrated service-specific technology products,” said Steve Roth, SVP, strategic service management practice atAberdeen ( News - Alert) Group.

In March, Single Source Systems and ImageCare Maintenance Services announced that IMS selected SM-Plus as its new service management software system.

IMS will use SM-Plus to manage its national sign maintenance operations, including service call taking, preventive maintenance, warranty management and service contracts, company officials said.

“Our research indicates that field service automation solutions can drive such performance improvements up as much as 22 percent inSLA compliance and add an additional 17 percent improvement in customer retention,” said Mark Vigoroso, chief research officer at the Aberdeen Group, at the time.

INTC AMD: Are Margin Risks Recognized at Intel and AMD?

By Trent
Moving along to the trends in inventory management, compared to the year-ago levels Intel's DSI have risen 12% compared to a 13% decline for AMD. However, on a sequential basis both companies are moving closer to even with last year. ...

This post was featured at the Festival of Stocks.

Doug McIntyre at 24/7 Wall St. noted that Intel (INTC - Annual Report) And AMD (AMD) Both Claim Next Few Quarters Will Be Good:

Because the two companies represent virtually 100% of the processor market for PCs it would be hard for both companies to be right.

While Eric Savitz passed on Citigroup’s guess that Intel will consolidate share, the first question that came to my mind was whether it even matters, based on the inventory and gross margin studies I have been doing.

Starting with the actual inventory levels, measured in days sales on hand, Intel has 87.4 days while AMD has 67.8. While the company level inventory could mask trends going on in the channel (such as Hewlett Packard’s (HPQ - Annual Report) “strategic buys“) it does potentially indicate that AMD have less need to discount inventory in the near future, and potentially better margins.

Moving along to the trends in inventory management, compared to the year-ago levels Intel’s DSI have risen 12% compared to a 13% decline for AMD. However, on a sequential basis both companies are moving closer to even with last year. That is to say, the trends are toward mean reversion. Since the picture is mixed I hesitate to draw conclusions regarding margins from this comparison.
Comparing the amount each company produces to the amount it sells, I found that AMD has been producing significantly more than it is selling for the last four quarters, while Intel’s production has been in line with demand for the last three quarters. This contrasts with the actual DSI study, and checking back to the original data it looks to me like the smoothing process (I calculated DSI as the 4-quarter sum of COGS using the 5-quarter average of Inventory) masked the more recent inventory build. Therefore, on balance the data indicate that AMD has more risk to future margins than Intel.

Interestingly, AMD has already seen a far more significant margin decline (see charts).

amdmargins.jpg

intelmargins.jpg

Since I don’t have access to gross margin estimates, it is hard to tell whether the potential margin pressure is factored in to current estimates. Estimates have been falling for both companies over the last 90 days, and far more so for AMD, suggesting that at least some of the differential is expected. However, the estimates also imply improving margins for both companies in the September quarter compared with the June quarter, in part due to higher expected sales leading up to the seasonally strong part of the year.

If Citigroup is right about AMD’s product delays I would argue that it does matter, and that there is even more risk to AMD’s margins than is currently reflected in estimates.
For more information, see all articles on: Semiconductor HOLDRS (SMH), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Semiconductors, Intel (INTC), Stock Market

This article is for entertainment purposes only and reflects the author's opinion. It is not a solicitation or advice to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Always consult a qualified advisor before making investment decisions.

Applesoft BASIC

By Carl Gundel(Carl Gundel)
Before we started writing inventory management software I tried my hand at creating some graphics. The Apple II had hi-res graphics (for that day), and Applesoft had high level commands for drawing so you didn't need to POKE and PEEK as ...

So settling down to programming on the Apple II+, we had several books to help me with the process. Of course there was the standard green covered Applesoft book, and Mr. Alessi also has another book but I can't remember the title. I tried to find a shot of the book cover on Google but no luck.

Before we started writing inventory management software I tried my hand at creating some graphics. The Apple II had hi-res graphics (for that day), and Applesoft had high level commands for drawing so you didn't need to POKE and PEEK as much as in other BASICs. We had only a green phosphor monitor without color, but this was appropriate for business software development.

When editing a program in Applesoft BASIC, you could type some escape sequences to move the cursor around. If you moved the cursor up to the start of a line on the screen you could then reenter the line by moving the cursor to the right, and you could substitute some characters to change the line of code. This was crude compared to the way you did things on a VIC-20 where you just moved the cursor to the line you wanted to edit, changed just what was needed and hit Return.

Also, I had never written software before that used a floppy disk. This was another thing that I needed to become comfortable with. Our Apple II had 3 floppy drives, each was 143K. We also had a 16K card and a Z80 Softcard so the machine could run CP/M, but this was something we rarely did.

Features : Compiere ERP software is a cross platform Java J2EE solution that provides: * fully integrated ERP and CRM solutions * both front-office (POS, Web Store) and back-office functionality * inventory management * automated ...

BOSTON – June 6, 2007 – Third Screen Media, the leading provider of mobile advertising software and services, today announced that World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) has joined the growing number of companies utilizing Third Screen Media’s first-to-market MADX platform to support its mobile advertising initiatives. WWE joins Third Screen Media’s increasing client roster of publishers who have ad-enabled their mobile Web sites to facilitate the delivery of extensive, innovative content to the mobile consumer.

The success of this year’s WrestleMania® 23 was due in large part to WWE’s rapidly growing fan base – prompting WWE to hit the third screen to support its annual event. Fans of this year’s WrestleMania previewed match-ups, viewed exclusive interviews and obtained up-to-the-minute updates. Fans were also treated to post-match comments from Donald Trump on his epic hair-versus-hair battle against WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. WWE fans will continue to be able to access breaking WWE news as well as purchase ringtones and screensavers— all directly from the WWE mobile WAP site. The recent launch of WWE’s mobile Web site provides advertisers with a valuable property on which to targeting a key demographic, the sports entertainment fan.

“WWE’s fans are incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about everything WWE, and they want to know what’s happening with WWE on a daily basis,” said David Knise, WWE’s Vice President, Interactive Development. “Third Screen Media and its MADX technology allows us to take advantage of mobile advertising opportunities to deliver to our fans an even richer WWE experience on mobile handsets that allows them to get WWE content when they want it, where they want it.”

Using MADX|Publisher, the WWE will create, showcase and sell its mobile advertising inventory, while managing the entire process through the MADX|Publisher’s user-friendly interface. WWE joins entertainment, travel, sports and user-generated content customers that have chosen Third Screen Media to enable their sites for mobile advertising and bring added value to their mobile properties. The tag team of Third Screen Media’s research and planning data and analytics functionality, along with MADX’s reach onto the desktops of major media agencies and advertisers enables efficient planning, buying and delivery of mobile advertising.

“WWE has extremely loyal fans who crave information on the WWE product, on-demand,” said Tim Conley, Senior Vice President, MADX Sales and Service, Third Screen Media. “We are pleased to help WWE provide its extensive fan base with the information they desire, all the while helping our customer realize its business initiatives through mobile advertising.”

About Third Screen Media

Third Screen Media (www.thirdscreenmedia.com) is a software and services company dedicated to enabling advertising on mobile devices. Its MADX product suite links advertisers, publishers and carriers together on a common platform to increase the efficiency and time-to-market for the buying and selling of mobile advertising in WAP, video, MMS and downloadable applications. MADX goes beyond ad delivery by providing in-depth research, planning and publisher inventory management analytical tools, yielding the highest possible ROI. The company’s TSM|Network is North America’s largest single source of mobile advertising inventory, offering best-in-class content, targeted demographics and broad reach. Customers and partners, including many of the world’s largest marketers, advertising agencies and media companies rely on Third Screen Media’s products and services to deliver, manage and optimize mobile advertising campaigns. Third Screen Media is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL’s Advertising.com.

Trademarks: All World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, and logos are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. ECW is a trademark of WWE Libraries, Inc. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Third Screen Media Adds World Wrestling Entertainment(r) to its ...

By Kellie Marks
MADX goes beyond ad delivery by providing in-depth research, planning and publisher inventory management analytical tools, yielding the highest possible ROI. The company's TSM|Network is North America's largest single source of mobile ...

BOSTON – June 6, 2007 – Third Screen Media, the leading provider of mobile advertising software and services, today announced that World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) has joined the growing number of companies utilizing Third Screen Media’s first-to-market MADX platform to support its mobile advertising initiatives. WWE joins Third Screen Media’s increasing client roster of publishers who have ad-enabled their mobile Web sites to facilitate the delivery of extensive, innovative content to the mobile consumer.

The success of this year’s WrestleMania® 23 was due in large part to WWE’s rapidly growing fan base – prompting WWE to hit the third screen to support its annual event. Fans of this year’s WrestleMania previewed match-ups, viewed exclusive interviews and obtained up-to-the-minute updates. Fans were also treated to post-match comments from Donald Trump on his epic hair-versus-hair battle against WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. WWE fans will continue to be able to access breaking WWE news as well as purchase ringtones and screensavers— all directly from the WWE mobile WAP site. The recent launch of WWE’s mobile Web site provides advertisers with a valuable property on which to targeting a key demographic, the sports entertainment fan.

“WWE’s fans are incredibly supportive and enthusiastic about everything WWE, and they want to know what’s happening with WWE on a daily basis,” said David Knise, WWE’s Vice President, Interactive Development. “Third Screen Media and its MADX technology allows us to take advantage of mobile advertising opportunities to deliver to our fans an even richer WWE experience on mobile handsets that allows them to get WWE content when they want it, where they want it.”

Using MADX|Publisher, the WWE will create, showcase and sell its mobile advertising inventory, while managing the entire process through the MADX|Publisher’s user-friendly interface. WWE joins entertainment, travel, sports and user-generated content customers that have chosen Third Screen Media to enable their sites for mobile advertising and bring added value to their mobile properties. The tag team of Third Screen Media’s research and planning data and analytics functionality, along with MADX’s reach onto the desktops of major media agencies and advertisers enables efficient planning, buying and delivery of mobile advertising.

“WWE has extremely loyal fans who crave information on the WWE product, on-demand,” said Tim Conley, Senior Vice President, MADX Sales and Service, Third Screen Media. “We are pleased to help WWE provide its extensive fan base with the information they desire, all the while helping our customer realize its business initiatives through mobile advertising.”

About Third Screen Media

Third Screen Media (www.thirdscreenmedia.com) is a software and services company dedicated to enabling advertising on mobile devices. Its MADX product suite links advertisers, publishers and carriers together on a common platform to increase the efficiency and time-to-market for the buying and selling of mobile advertising in WAP, video, MMS and downloadable applications. MADX goes beyond ad delivery by providing in-depth research, planning and publisher inventory management analytical tools, yielding the highest possible ROI. The company’s TSM|Network is North America’s largest single source of mobile advertising inventory, offering best-in-class content, targeted demographics and broad reach. Customers and partners, including many of the world’s largest marketers, advertising agencies and media companies rely on Third Screen Media’s products and services to deliver, manage and optimize mobile advertising campaigns. Third Screen Media is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL’s Advertising.com.

Trademarks: All World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, and logos are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. ECW is a trademark of WWE Libraries, Inc. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

It's the Auctomatic Age

By Harjeet
To get the ball rolling we are giving the first 1000 sign ups to our inventory management systems 6 months use of auctomatic totally free. Once these are snapped up - everyone gets 60 days free. We're so confident you'll love our ...

Auctomatic News:

* We’re launching in one week at eBay Live!
* Use Auctomatic With no Strings Attached
* Become a Community Leader and get a 50% disount

We’re launching in one week at eBay Live!

The Internet is a wonderful thing but nothing beats good old face-to-face conversation. So we decided that we’re going to launch Auctomatic.com at this year’s eBay Live! We’re packing our bags and heading out to Boston next week so we can show our new approach to selling online in person. Please drop us an email at community@auctomatic.com to let us know if you’re going to be there.

We’ll be at booth number 127 and we’ll be showing off our first product - our inventory management system. Our system will be offering:

* Integrated support for an unlimited number of eBay ID’s per account
* Effortless management of global settings such as payment details
* Powerful labeling of items to make it super easy grouping and finding things

Use Auctomatic With No Strings Attached

Choosing the right software to manage your online sales is a big decision. That’s why we make it really easy to play around with auctomatic before you commit to anything. Even when you decide to sign up, we don’t charge any monthly fees - you only pay us when you sell so you’ll always know that our only interest is in helping you sell more.

To get the ball rolling we are giving the first 1,000 sign ups to our inventory management systems 6 months use of auctomatic totally free. Once these are snapped up - everyone gets 60 days free. We’re so confident you’ll love our product that if you decide to switch after 60 days, we’ll make it super easy and pain-free to take all your data with you.

Become a Community Leader and get a 50% discount

We know that some of you are going to love using our product so much that you’ll want to give something back to the Auctomatic community. And we want to make sure we reward you for your contributions so we’re inviting people to become Auctomatic Community Leaders. Just drop us an email at community@auctomatic.com and tell us a little bit about yourself.

All community leaders will get 50% off all fees and will be given the first access to our new features. As a Community Leader you will have direct input into how Auctomatic is developed and will be in the ideal position to tailor it to your needs. This will give you an added competitive edge over your competitors.

That’s all from us. We look forward to seeing lots of you at eBay Live! and helping you all boost your online sales like never before. Take care!

Baggy McBaggerbag would be fine, too

By Mike Schramm
Hot on the heels of that trinket chain suggestion from the other day, I've got another easily-implementable suggestion for inventory management: I want to name my bags. Not necessarily "Jonah" or "Sally" or "Tricia," although those are ...

Hot on the heels of that trinket chain suggestion from the other day, I've got another easily-implementable suggestion for inventory management: I want to name my bags.

Not necessarily "Jonah" or "Sally" or "Tricia," although those are all very acceptable names for bags. No, I want to be able to label the bag that I keep all of my healing gear in my "Healing Gear Bag." And I want to label the bag that I keep all my quest items in "Quest Item Bag." Clear labels that help me organize exactly how things get laid out in my inventory.

Now, there's already a little bit of that going on-- "special" bags like Enchanting or Soul bags are already labeled, not to mention that you can't put anything in them that doesn't belong there. And obviously the same thing applies to quivers (Related: where on your bag bar do your hunters put your quivers? I always put mine just to the left of my backpack, but I just realized it didn't have to go there all the time).

But I want to put custom labels on all of my bags, so that if I happen to take a vacation (either out of town or to an alt), I can come back and know exactly what's where. There are lots of bag-related addons out there, and for all I know, one of them lets me do exactly this. But I'd like to see a nice and easy implementation in the normal interface.

Java in Telecommunications - Order Management API in a Service ...

By Gero Vermaas
It does for example not cover inventory management or CRM.The OM API is autonomous because it does not depend on other APIs to be implemented. If you implement the OM API, you have a fully functional Order Management system which can ...

In the previous episodes in this series we started from a high level Java in the Telecommunications industry, zoomed in on Telemanagement Forum and the basics of OSS/J, described the basics of the Order Management API and now we’ll discuss why the Order Management API fits perfectly in an Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Why is this a relevant question? Virtually any organization does with order management in one way or another and many organizations are currently evaluating or realizing SOAs. Reason enough to check if the Order Management API fits in an SOA.

SOA is the most hyped TLA over the last years… Because SOA is so hyped and every vendor is trying to give a definition that’s a perfect match for their product, we decided to not start with an SOA definition in our JavaOne and TMW presentations. Instead we took a more practical approach and compiled a list of concepts that are important for an SOA. We then checked if the Order Management API applied these concepts. The more concepts applied, the better the fit for use of the Order Management API in a SOA. An easy and efficient approach.

Below is the list of concepts we identified and per concept how this is applied in the Order Management API.

Service reuse Services exposed by the API can be reused for different types of Orders and are not bound to any specific business process.
Modular and autonomous The OM API is modular because it supports various types of Orders and each implementation can extend the types of Order supported. New order types can be plugged in without changing the API. From the larger architecture perspective an OM API implementation can be seen as a module with a clear task: Order Management. It does for example not cover inventory management or CRM.The OM API is autonomous because it does not depend on other APIs to be implemented. If you implement the OM API, you have a fully functional Order Management system which can work autonomously.
Coarse grained It is coarse grained becuase it allows for creation and starting of Orders by one call. There is no nitty-gritty interaction needed to create orders.
Asynchronous Asynchronous interactions are supported by the events that are available on all integration profiles (EJB, XML/JMS and web services) and of course for the XML/JMS profile all interactions are asynchronous.
Stateless While interacting with an OM implementation there is no stateful session being maintained (with the exception of execution large queries in which the result can be queried in batches).
Composable The services exposed by the API can be used in larger business flows.
Described services The services exposed by the API are well described via the XSDs (XML/JMS and webservice profiles), Javadoc (EJB profile).
Ubiquitous domain language/model All entities used in the API are based on the TelemanagementForums Shared Information and Data model. This provides the ubiquitous language.
Please be aware that only generic elements of this model are used to ensure that the API is not bound to telecommunications specific systems only.
Reliable messaging Reliable messaging is supported through the JMS profile (and in future probably also for web service profile using the WS-Reliable Messaging standard).
Loosely coupled Loose coupling is provided through the XML/JMS and web services profile.
XML Document based Both the XML/JMS and web services profile use XML based message exchanges.
Interoperable The web services profile support interoperability with other implementation technologies. Interoperability is also supported by the XML/JMS profile since many JMS providers provide APIs for non-Java clients.

These are all the concepts that apply to the Order Management API. The following concepts are not addressed by the Order Management API and I’ll explain why:

Versioning There is no standard way for versioning of (for example) orders without breaking already connected clients. For example, when you’d add an attribute to an Order on the server, clients that validate the XML against the XML Schema will break.There are some ways to deal with this, but the Order Management API (or the OSS/J APIs in general) dooes not define how this situation should be handled. Luckily the Order Management API does provide support for dynamic attributes and by using these the problem becomes less urgent, but it is something that should be addressed in the future.
Policy Driven, Registry and discovery, Orchestration These concepts should not be defined by one single system in a SOA, but are the responsibility of the SOA eco-system. Order Management API implementations can perfectly participate in a policy driven SOA, or be registered and discovered, or be used by and orchestration engine, but, the API does and should not define how this is realized.
Security The Order Management API itself does not specify how security should be addressed, but because it builds on the JavaEE and web service specifications, the security features of JavaEE and web services can be used to address security needs.

Systemic change: CIC and Google

As more materials are digitized it promotes stronger thinking about collective approaches to collection management: from access, development, inventory management and preservation perspectives. This direction is visible in emerging ...

Today Google and CIC announce an agreement to digitize ten million volumes across the CIC libraries. Google has been adding new partners since the first announcement was made about the Google 5. Some folks have wondered what rationale has governed selection of partner opportunities. We do not know, but they sure are moving fast! Here are some early thoughts.

The CIC announcement is interesting for several reasons:

* It is a shared effort across a major group of libraries with significant collections. There appears to be strong CIC institutional commitment. Of course, CIC has a history of collaboratively sourced activities and this 'pooling' model makes increasing sense given the necessary policy and service challenges that need to be addressed. In this case, but also across a range of other issues that libraries face as they support changing research and learning behaviors in a reconfigured network environment. For some things, scale matters.
* The libraries have a shared approach to managing the digital copies based on shared infrastructure at the University of Michigan, and serving them up to their user communities. An example of collaborative sourcing.
* Google recently advertized for somebody to work on collection development and we seem to be seeing a stronger focus in this area. Collecting areas of importance within each library [pdf] have been identified for attention. Presumably, these decisions have been influenced by the 'collective collection' of the full Google parnership also.

This initiative in turn prompts some more general thoughts about access:

* One of the most valuable features of the Google initiative is that it digitizes book content, allowing fine-grained discovery over topics, people, places and so on. Of course this presents interesting questions about indexing, retrieval, ranking, and presentation but the advantage of having this access seems clear. It drives use and sales, and it supports enquiry. Without it, the book literature is less accessible than the web literature.
* However, as we are beginning to see on Google Book Search, we are really going beyond 'retrieval as we have known it' in significant ways. Google is mining its assembled resources - in Scholar, in web pages, in books - to create relationships between items and to identify people and places. So we are seeing related editions pulled together, items associated with reviews, items associated with items to which they refer, and so on. As the mass of material grows and as approaches are refined this service will get better. And it will get better in ways that are very difficult for other parties to emulate.
* Currently this material is made available within the Google destination site. Google is an advertizing engine and its approach depends on aggregating attention for adverts. This apporach may be difficult to deploy within a more 'data services' approach where others - especially the partners - have remixable access to content and services. However, the 'utility' value of this resource will be diminished if it is not made available in this way so that others can mobilize these resource within their own environments. How and if this gets done remains to be seen. (See the related discussion about the search API.)
* This type of access seems especially important for the partner libraries. In the early days of this activity there was some discussion of the types of services which would be built on top of the digitized books by the libraries. However, it is difficult, and maybe not very sensible, for the libraries to individually invest in some types of service development. An important factor here is that they cannot benefit from the network effects tha

Tekelec Streamlines Inventory Management with ClearOrbit's Gemini ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
Prior to Gemini, Tekelec used manual inventory management and data
collection processes that limited the company's efficiencies and
presented numerous ...

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ClearOrbit (www.clearorbit.com), the leading provider of real-time supply chain execution and reverse logistics solutions, today announced that Tekelec has deployed ClearOrbit’s Gemini® Mobile Software solution to automate data collection and streamline the company’s inventory management process. Since implementing Gemini, Tekelec, a high-performance network applications company, reports significant improvements in accuracy, timeliness, visibility and control of data throughout the company’s warehouse and fulfillment center.

Prior to Gemini, Tekelec used manual inventory management and data collection processes that limited the company’s efficiencies and presented numerous obstacles to inventory accuracy and control. Gemini’s automated data collection capabilities optimize accuracy and efficiency by enabling users to record transactions such as receiving, inventory movement and transfers, adjustments and returns with handheld radio-frequency (RF) scanners. To add to their level of inventory control, Tekelec is also making use of Gemini’s Compliance Label Manager™ (CLM™) to generate barcodes for every piece of inventory in its facility, including raw materials and manufactured goods.

“Manual processes greatly limited visibility throughout our inventory management process,” said Mark Rossi, Director of Manufacturing Operations with Tekelec. “Although we’re in phase one of the Gemini implementation, we’ve already seen a drastic reduction in inventory errors, and the CLM module has greatly contributed to this. We look forward to even greater ROI as we continue to expand our current Gemini-driven transactions.”

Rossi adds that Gemini came highly recommended by Tekelec’s IT department because it directly integrated with the company’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) data model, unlike other offerings that required adding a proprietary third-party database. This seamless integration, Rossi explains, has helped Tekelec leverage its existing setups, tolerances and profiles in its Oracle discreet manufacturing system.

“We work closely with companies such as Tekelec to identify specific supply chain needs and develop tailored solutions that deliver the efficiencies required to optimize their current and future logistical operations,” said Warren Sumner, vice president of marketing and products for ClearOrbit. “Our unique approach gives customers the tools they need to quickly implement changes that deliver real-time supply chain visibility and directly impact their bottom line.”

About Tekelec

Tekelec is a high-performance network applications company that is accelerating the transition to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) networks for service providers around the globe. With its experience at the intersection of network applications and session control, Tekelec creates highly efficient platforms for managing media and delivering network solutions. Corporate headquarters are in Morrisville, N.C., U.S.A. in the Research Triangle Park area, with research and development facilities and sales offices throughout the world.

About ClearOrbit

ClearOrbit’s real-time supply chain execution and returns management solutions improve the speed, visibility, and control of extended manufacturing and distribution supply chains. Since 1994, Austin, TX-based ClearOrbit has assisted more than 275 clients in automating and controlling process execution within their extended supply networks. ClearOrbit delivers on the promise of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as those provided by SAP and Oracle with fully integrated bar code label management & printing, mobile applications, collaboration and returns management solutions that address “last mile functionality” issues while complementing the existing infrastructure. ClearOrbit customers include market leaders such as Alcoa, Canon, Cisco, GE and Motorola. For more information, visit www.clearorbit.com.

Single Source Releases New SM-Plus(tm) v2.07 Service Business ...

Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA
... incident escalation, Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance, service
parts inventory management, new equipment sales and mobile field service.
...

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Single Source Systems, Inc., a leading developer of service business software solutions, has released a new version of its SM-Plus™ service business software solution for aftermarket product service and support organizations, independent service companies and service-intensive equipment distribution organizations worldwide. Built on a flexible Microsoft-based technology architecture, the new SM-Plus version 2.07 offers new features and enhancements to help users deliver total, responsive service while optimizing resources, customer satisfaction and profitability. New and enhanced functions include support for complex service contracts, incident escalation, Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance, service parts inventory management, new equipment sales and mobile field service.

SM-Plus is an integrated information system that manages and maintains both company-owned and customer-owned assets. SM-Plus provides highly functional service business process support, including call taking, scheduling and dispatch, field service, depot repair, work order management, preventive maintenance, service contracts, purchasing, inventory control, and costing. All functions integrate seamlessly with existing ERP, CRM and supply chain systems for a total enterprise service management solution.

“Our latest benchmark research shows that leading companies are more and more adopting integrated service-specific technology solutions like Single Source SM-Plus to strategically leverage service operations,” said Steve Roth, SVP, Strategic Service Management practice at Aberdeen Group. “In fact, when coupled with the right business processes, these initiatives are yielding double-digit improvements in SLA compliance, service profitability and customer retention.”

“Our goal with this release was to further enhance SM-Plus to help post-sales service organizations, independent service companies and service-intensive distributors better manage people, parts, processes and information to drive profitable growth,” said Tony Petrucciani, Single Source CEO.

Some of the new features and enhancements in SM-Plus 2.07 include:

* Advanced service contract configuration, pricing and discounting
* Automated, simplified incident escalation and Service Level Agreement (SLA) management
* Mobile meter reading, “clock-on/off” service labor tracking and electronic signature capture
* Enhanced service truck stock inventory management
* Flexible, easier-to-use distribution functions added to the SM-Plus Enterprise Management Suite for service-intensive sales organizations including kitting, advanced drop-shipping, special pricing agreement (SPA) support and more

About Single Source Systems, Inc.

For companies that manufacture, sell, install or service technical or industrial products, Single Source is the solution partner of choice. In addition to developing and supporting service management software for almost 400 customers worldwide, Single Source focuses on the total success of its customers – making their businesses easier to manage internally and externally by making it easier for their customers, dealers and suppliers to do business with them. Since 1985, the Company has developed, marketed and supported a powerful line of business software applications including integrated service management systems, ERP extensions, web portals, wireless mobile workforce applications, interface connectivity products and custom developed solutions. Single Source, a Microsoft Gold Certified Independent Software Vendor (ISV), is a two-time winner of the prestigious Inc. 500 fastest growing, privately-held companies in America. For more information visit the Single Source website at http://www.singlesrc.com.

State of Tennessee Signs up for Mobile Emergency Inventory ...

Supply & Demand Chain Executive - Gilbert,AZ,USA
By Editorial Staff. Downers Grove, IL -- June 6, 2007 -- The state of
Tennessee has joined the states of Ohio and Georgia, as well as San
Bernardino County, ...

Warehouse solution from IWS manages field-based operations in crises to support disaster preparedness strategies
By Editorial Staff

Downers Grove, IL — June 6, 2007 — The state of Tennessee has joined the states of Ohio and Georgia, as well as San Bernardino County, Calif., in selecting a mobile emergency response solution from Integrated Warehousing Solutions (IWS) to support disaster preparedness strategies.

IWS initially designed its "Go-Kit" solution to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandate for management and tracking of strategic national stockpiles of lifesaving vaccines as part of a coordinated response to a large-scale bioterrorism or pandemic event.

A self-contained mobile warehouse, the "Go-Kit" supports the activation of distribution and treatment centers in as little as 15 minutes and maintains rigorous control of supplies, according to IWS. It provides visibility both upstream to command centers and downstream to field operations, allowing crisis teams to focus on the most important priorities.

The system comes with options to record critical medical information such as lot control and patient level information, making it well suited for day-to-day public health initiatives such as onsite delivery of flu vaccines or other routine preventative treatments, IWS said.

Incorporating emergency response decision support wizards to control and monitor medical and pharmaceutical supplies, the "Go-Kit" supports command and control personnel, allowing these teams to monitor distribution of supplies in real time without the need to call field personnel and shift resources.

The "Go-Kit" comes in a custom-designed storage container and includes a rugged commercial grade laptop preconfigured with the application, mobile wireless access points, handheld wireless devices and scanners for recording distribution and patient information, printers and satellite telephone.

SAIC Announces Financial Results for First Quarter Fiscal Year 2008

Web Services Journal - Montvale,NJ,USA
... storage, and distribution functions, contributing supply chain
management expertise in forecasting, inventory management, and worldwide
distribution. ...

SAN DIEGO and MCLEAN, Va., June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAIC, Inc. , a leading provider of research, engineering, and technology services and solutions, today announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, which ended April 30, 2007.

"Thanks to the hard work of our 44,000 employees, the company is off to a good start for the year," said Ken Dahlberg, SAIC chairman and chief executive officer. "The company met its financial objectives for the quarter and is on track to achieve all of the metrics contained in the company's guidance for the year. In addition, the enactment of the supplemental spending bill in May should allow our primary customers to fund their critical missions."

Summary Operating Results

Revenues for the quarter were $2.1 billion, up 6 percent from $2.0 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. Internal, or non-acquisition, growth represented 2 percentage points of the consolidated growth for the quarter.

Operating income for the quarter was $140 million (6.8 percent of revenue), down 1 percent from $142 million (7.3 percent of revenue) in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. The year-over-year decrease in operating margin was primarily caused by the timing of business development and internal research and development spending, which is forecast to be consistent throughout fiscal year 2008 but was weighted toward the second half of fiscal year 2007.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $77 million, down 17 percent from $93 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. The decrease in income from continuing operations results primarily from a $15 million decrease in interest income and a 3.6 percentage point increase in the effective tax rate. Interest income declined year-over-year in response to declines in average cash and investment balances due to the payment of the $2.45 billion special dividend in November 2006. The tax rate in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 was lower than normal as a result of the reversal of certain tax contingencies; the tax rate in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 represents a more normative rate of 40 percent.

Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the quarter were $0.18, down 33 percent from $0.27 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, driven by the decrease in income from continuing operations and a higher share count compared to the prior year. The diluted share count for the quarter was 418 million, up 20 percent from 347 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007 as a result of the 86.25 million shares issued in the October 2006 initial public offering (IPO).

Diluted earnings per share, which include discontinued operations, were $0.19 for the quarter, down 39 percent from $0.31 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. Discontinued operations include the majority owned subsidiary ANX, which was sold in the third quarter of fiscal year 2007, and Telcordia, which was sold in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006.

Cash Generation and Capital Deployment

The company used $134 million of cash flow in support of operations during the quarter, compared to generating $79 million in cash flow from operations in the first quarter of fiscal year 2007. The decrease in cash flow from operations is in part due to increases during the quarter in the settlement of payables and accrued expenses and in days sales outstanding from 69 to 73 days. The decrease was also attributable to the year-over-year shift from equity to cash of certain bonus payments and retirement plan contributions, timing differences in payments for Employee Stock Purchase Plan and retirement plan activities, and the recategorization of tax benefits received on stock option exercises and other stock awards from cash flow from operations to cash flow from financing activities effective with the October 2006 IPO-related reorganization merger as required by SFAS 123( R ). In general, cash flow from operations is lowest in the first quarter because the company pays its annual bonuses for the prior year in March.

During the quarter, the company used a total of $94 million to repurchase 2.5 million shares under the 40-million share stock repurchase program and 2.7 million shares in privately negotiated transactions or other recurring repurchases from employees in settlement of withholding taxes associated with stock option exercises and vesting events. Share count guidance given by the company expressly assumes no future repurchases under the repurchase program but includes an estimate for other recurring repurchases from employees.

New Business Awards

Net new business bookings totaled $1.5 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 0.7. Net bookings reflect net additions to backlog, derived by taking the change in backlog plus revenue recognized for the period. No bookings value is assigned unless the company has received a signed contract for a priced statement of work. Quarterly net bookings were diminished by $300 million to reflect that the company received notice that a customer intends to move certain tasks from a definite delivery contract to existing indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts. Without this contract category change, net bookings would have been $1.8 billion, yielding a book-to-bill ratio of 0.9.

Notable highlights of competitive definite delivery contracts received during the quarter include:

- Global Positioning System Wing (GPSW) Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I). SAIC won a five-year, $212 million contract to provide SE&I services in support of the GPSW. SAIC will produce and maintain the technical baseline for a dynamic and multi-segment program and deliver a broad range of services, including integration management, engineering process control and improvement, system security, program certification, specialty engineering, logistics, quality assurance, and risk management. - Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Electronic Warfare Technical Services. Under a five-year, $122 million cost-plus-award-fee task order, SAIC will provide engineering, technical, and programmatic support services for surface and airborne electronic warfare to the NSWC, Crane Division. - Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Navy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems. SAIC won a three-year, $22 million task order from the SPAWAR Systems Center, Charleston (SSCC) to support the deployment of the Navy ERP Systems, Applications and Products common business solution. SAIC support includes project and financial management, business processes and information, communications and organizational change management, quality assurance, testing, training, helpdesk management, technical environment, business realization, and balanced scorecard/Lean Six Sigma processes.

In addition to these definite delivery awards, SAIC also won several IDIQ contracts that are not included in the bookings total. Notable IDIQ awards during the quarter include:

- U.S. Air Force, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Support Services. SAIC won a five-year, $394 million time-and-materials contract from PACAF to provide a full range of engineering and technical support services. Under this recompeted master contract, SAIC will continue to support systems for PACAF command, control, computers, intelligence, wargaming and force protection. - Military Ground Tires Supply Chain Management (Michelin). SAIC won a single award, firm-fixed-price contract from Michelin North America to help supply ground tires to the U.S. military through the Defense Supply Center-Columbus (DSCC). Under the ten-year, $300 million contract, SAIC will manage the wholesale supply, storage, and distribution functions, contributing supply chain management expertise in forecasting, inventory management, and worldwide distribution. - General Services Administration (GSA) Networx Universal Program. SAIC is a key subcontractor to Qwest Communications International Inc. on the GSA Networx Universal program, which has an estimated value of $20 billion and ceiling of $48.1 billion over 10 years. Qwest is one of three companies to receive a Networx Universal prime contract. SAIC will provide managed security services, managed tiered security services, customer specific design and engineering services, managed hosting services, transition services, and other related professional services. - U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) Technical Services. SAIC was one of three companies awarded a contract to provide technical services to the U.S. Army CMA with a five-year period of performance and a $62 million ceiling. Under this recompeted contract, SAIC will continue to provide engineering design; chemical agent, industrial chemical and pollutant monitoring; technical analysis; quality assurance; safety, security, and surety; training and testing to support CMA's mission of storing and disposing chemicals in a safe and environmentally sound manner.

The company's backlog of signed business orders at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 was over $14.5 billion, of which $4.8 billion was funded. The negotiated unfunded backlog of $9.7 billion represents the estimated amount to be earned in the future from firm orders for which funding has not been appropriated or otherwise authorized and unexercised priced contract options. Negotiated unfunded backlog does not include any estimate of future potential task orders that might be awarded under IDIQ or other master agreement contract vehicles.

Forward Guidance

The company is reaffirming its guidance for fiscal year 2008 given on December 12, 2006, which is shown in the table below.

Measure FY Ending 1/31/2008 Revenue (billions) $8.70 - $9.00 Diluted EPS from continuing operations $0.83 - $0.88 Diluted share equivalents (millions) 430 Cash flow from operations (millions) $450 or greater About SAIC

SAIC is a leading provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to all branches of the U.S. military, agencies of the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. Government civil agencies, as well as to customers in selected commercial markets. With more than 44,000 employees in over 150 cities worldwide, SAIC engineers and scientists solve

complex technical challenges requiring innovative solutions for customers' mission-critical functions.

SAIC: FROM SCIENCE TO SOLUTIONS(TM) Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release contain or are based on "forward- looking" information within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "guidance" and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release include, among others, estimates of future sales, earnings, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flow. These statements reflect our belief and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual performance and results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release depending on a variety of factors, including: changes in the U.S. Government defense budget or budgetary priorities or delays in the U.S. budget process; changes in U.S. Government procurement rules and regulations; our compliance with various U.S. Government and other government procurement rules and regulations; the outcome of U.S. Government audits of our company; our ability to win contracts with the U.S. Government and others; our ability to attract, train and retain skilled employees; our ability to maintain relationships with prime contractors, subcontractors and joint venture partners; our ability to obtain required security clearances for our employees; our ability to accurately estimate costs associated with our firm-fixed-price and other contracts; resolution of legal and other disputes with our customers and others; our ability to successfully acquire and integrate businesses; our ability to manage risks associated with our international business; our ability to compete with others in the markets in which we operate; and our ability to execute our business plan effectively and to overcome these and other known and unknown risks that we face. These are only some of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements contained in this release. For further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with our business, please refer to the filings we make from time to time with the SEC, including the "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Legal Proceedings" sections of our latest annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2007, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our Web site at http://www.saic.com/.

All information in this release is as of June 6, 2007. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update the guidance or any other forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in the company's expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

SAIC, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Unaudited, in millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended April 30 2007 2006 Revenues $2,068 $1,954 Costs and expenses: Cost of revenues 1,797 1,684 Selling, general and administrative expenses 131 128 Operating income 140 142 Non-operating income (expense): Interest income 14 29 Interest expense (22) (23) Minority interest in income of consolidated subsidiaries (3) (3) Other income, net - 2 Income from continuing operations before income taxes 129 147 Provision for income taxes 52 54 Income from continuing operations 77 93 Discontinued operations: Income from discontinued operations before income taxes 9 1 Provision (benefit) for income taxes 6 (12) Income from discontinued operations 3 13 Net income $80 $106 Earnings per share Basic: Income from continuing operations $0.19 $0.28 Income from discontinued operations 0.01 0.04 $0.20 $0.32 Diluted: Income from continuing operations $0.18 $0.27 Income from discontinued operations 0.01 0.04 $0.19 $0.31 Weighted average shares outstanding: Basic 404 336 Diluted 418 347 SAIC, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited, in millions) April 30, January 31, 2007 2007 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $943 $1,113 Receivables, net 1,671 1,641 Inventory, prepaid expenses and other current assets 183 191 Total current assets 2,797 2,945 Property, plant and equipment (less accumulated depreciation and amortization of $280 and $268 at April 30, 2007 and January 31, 2007, respectively) 389 387 Intangible assets, net 92 109 Goodwill 964 951 Deferred income taxes 76 57 Other assets 109 109 $4,427 $4,558 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $916 $1,042 Accrued payroll and employee benefits 408 519 Income taxes payable 20 73 Notes payable and long-term debt, current portion 129 29 Total current liabilities 1,473 1,663 Notes payable and long-term debt, net of current portion 1,102 1,199 Other long-term liabilities 183 104 Commitments and contingencies Minority interest in consolidated subsidiaries 59 56 Stockholders' equity: Common and preferred stock - - Additional paid-in capital 1,636 1,557 Retained earnings - 6 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (26) (27) Total stockholders' equity 1,610 1,536 $4,427 $4,558 SAIC, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited, in millions) Three Months Ended April 30 2007 2006 Cash flows from operations: Net income $80 $106 Income from discontinued operations (3) (13) Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used in) operations: Depreciation and amortization 17 15 Stock-based compensation 23 15 Excess tax benefits from stock- based compensation (27) - Other non-cash items 3 1 Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents, excluding effects of acquisitions and divestitures, resulting from changes in: Receivables (30) 3 Inventory, prepaid expenses and other current assets 2 20 Deferred income taxes - (15) Other assets (2) (3) Accounts payable and accrued liabilities (116) (39) Accrued payroll and employee benefits (111) (74) Income taxes payable 27 61 Other long-term liabilities 3 2 Total cash flows provided by (used in) operations (134) 79 Cash flows from investing activities: Expenditures for property, plant and equipment (12) (18) Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired of $1 in 2006 - (14) Purchases of marketable securities available-for-sale - (4,258) Proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities available-for-sale - 5,917 Other 4 10 Total cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities (8) 1,637 Cash flows from financing activities: Payments on notes payable and long-term debt (1) (20) Sales of stock and exercise of stock options 35 16 Repurchases of stock (94) (32) Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 27 - Other 1 (1) Total cash flows used in financing activities (32) (37) Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents from continuing operations (174) 1,679 Cash flows of discontinued operations: Cash provided by investing activities from discontinued operations 4 1 Increase in cash and cash equivalents from discontinued operations 4 1 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 1,113 1,010 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $943 $2,690 Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities: Stock exchanged upon exercise of stock options $85 $52 Stock issued for settlement of accrued employee benefits $4 $32 Fair value of assets acquired in acquisitions $- $18 Cash paid in acquisitions, net of cash acquired - (14) Accrued acquisition payments - (1) Liabilities assumed in acquisitions $- $3 Web Services Journal - Montvale,NJ,USA
... storage, and distribution functions, contributing supply chain
management expertise in forecasting, inventory management, and worldwide
distribution. ...

Saas: Omniture and the Extended Enterprise

By Sramana_Mitra
They help in providing this data across all levels in the organization so that informed decisions could be taken about marketing, pricing, product development, supply chain and inventory management. (more...)

Omniture (OMTR) provides on-demand (SaaS) Web analytics solutions that if used effectively can be seen catering to the Enterprise 3.0 trend we discussed earlier.

It provides online business optimization software that can help capture, analyze, and manage data about marketing and sales in businesses that have both offline and online retail stores. Consider this scenario. A customer finds something of interest on an online store and buys it at their brick and mortar store. So the offline and online channels of a store are not independent.

As the boundaries between begin to blur, businesses find it important to measure and analyze cross-channel buying behavior. Omniture provides the analytics on data about customers across different channels. They help in providing this data across all levels in the organization so that informed decisions could be taken about marketing, pricing, product development, supply chain and inventory management.

Along with the data, Omniture also provides a configuration and management tool that helps the client manage the user access for individuals, groups, and functions. Optimum use of this tool would put vital information in the hands of the Extended Enterprise : manufacturers, suppliers, logistics service providers, etc.

Its clients include eBay, AOL, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Oracle, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard as well as Salesforce.com. The industries it caters to include automotive, financial services, media, retail, technology, and travel.

Omniture was founded in 1996 as SuperStats.com and in 2002 it came to be known as Omniture, Inc. It saw a growth of more than 100% for five years and has become a leader in the Web Analytics industry. It went public in June last year at a price of $6.5 and its stock price on 30th May was $17.97 on NASDAQ and the market cap $883.28 million. In 2006, it posted revenue of $79.7 million, a growth of 86% over 2005. For the first quarter in 2007, it had revenue of $29.2 million, a 77% year-to-year quarterly growth and a 24% quarter-to-quarter growth. It is expected to achieve a sales growth of more than 50% by Dec 08.

Omniture acquired two companies in early 2007, Instadia and Touch Clarity. The acquisition of the Danish company Instadia has helped Omniture get a stronger foothold in the Nordic region and Germany. Touch Clarity, a behavioral targeting specialist, on the other hand, helps Omniture add a new dimension to their technology.

Overall, of the companies best positioned to capitalize on the SaaS+Extended Enterprise trends, Omniture is certainly a key one to watch.

Kelley Blue Book Launches KARPOWER Online

By 5nizza(5nizza)
Car Dealer Inventory Management and Marketing Solution Now Online Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, announces that KARPOWER, its long-standing vehicle inventory, pricing, management and ...

Car Dealer Inventory Management and Marketing Solution Now Online

Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new- and used-vehicle information, announces that KARPOWER, its long-standing vehicle inventory, pricing, management and marketing solution, has moved from a software-based CD-ROM to an easy-to-use, always available, Web enabled solution. KARPOWER Online(SM) can be accessed across the entire sales organization, offering dealer management system (DMS) polling, automated Web export capabilities, and necessary information and tools to value, manage, and market used vehicle inventory more efficiently and effectively. This new online version of KARPOWER is the culmination of enhancement requests received and implemented from top dealers across the country over the last several years.

KARPOWER Online's new DMS integration allows dealerships to easily input, manage and market their used vehicle inventory. In addition to having access to 21 years of regionally adjusted Kelley Blue Book Retail, Wholesale and Trade-In Values, KARPOWER Online offers a built-in VIN decoder in which dealers can quickly input and evaluate vehicles rather than individually keying in vehicle details. These two features allow inventory to be captured and more easily managed through KARPOWER Online.

The most popular feature in KARPOWER Online is the capability to customize and print Kelley Blue Book branded window stickers and buyer's guides for a single vehicle or a dealer's entire used-vehicle inventory. Kelley Blue Book window stickers allow dealers to display the Kelley Blue Book seal, consumer-trusted Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Price, and the dealer's reduced price on each vehicle. In 2006, more than three million used and certified vehicles were sold in the U.S. displaying Kelley Blue Book window stickers.

"Migrating to KARPOWER Online or ordering it new is simple and the price still remains $39 a month," said Mike Romano, vice president, Dealer Strategy, Kelley Blue Book. "With the over 10,000 dealers currently using KARPOWER to access Kelley Blue Book Trade-In, Wholesale and Retail values, we now offer dealers instant access to all of our values in one tool."

A new feature of KARPOWER Online is the Vehicle Fact Sheet. Once a vehicle's data is populated into KARPOWER Online, with a simple click vehicle details can be transformed into a one-page vehicle fact sheet used for further marketing of the vehicle on- and offline. Vehicle Fact Sheets are easily customized to display the dealership name, vehicle details, multiple photos and the Kelley Blue Book Retail Value as well as the dealer's asking price.

"Since migrating to KARPOWER Online we have been using the vehicle fact sheets as a sales tool on- and off-line, handing them to shoppers interested in the vehicle in addition to e-mailing the fact sheets to interested parties through our Internet department," said Jennifer Lees, used vehicle inventory manager of Polar Chevrolet in White Bear Lake, MN. "By allowing the shopper to take a fact sheet home with them, no detail of the vehicle is forgotten and we're finding that the more they look at the vehicle the more they want it. We are seeing more repeat business than before by giving them information to take home."

To further assist dealers in the online marketing of their used vehicle inventory, KARPOWER Online also offers the ability to automatically upload inventory each night, seven days a week to Web sites such as AutoTrader.com, kbb.com and Cars.com. KARPOWER Online allows up to 32 photos per vehicle to be stored within the program. Nightly exports help keep inventory accurate and current, facilitating a greater amount of vehicle sales online.

For more information and details on Kelley Blue Book's all-new KARPOWER Online, please visit http://www.karpower.com/ or to order, call 1-800-Blue-Book.

About Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com)

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource(R), has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book(R) Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book(R) Official Guide. Kbb.com is rated the No. 1 automotive information site by Nielsen//NetRatings and the most visited auto site by J.D. Power and Associates eight years in a row. No other medium reaches more in-market vehicle shoppers than kbb.com; nearly one in every three American car buyers performs their research on kbb.com.

FoxyCart Inventory 0.1.0

By The Man Can!
Adds simple inventory management for MODx sites using FoxyCart.com.

This functionality comes in two pieces:

* XML Parser: FoxyCart can be configured to send an encrypted XML file to a URL of your choice. The first snippet parses that XML and decreses inventory as necessary, based on configurable "product code" and "inventory" TVs.
* Add to Cart Link: A very simple snippet that checks a document's inventory TV value and outputs an "available" or "unavailable" chunk, based on inventory being >0 or no

LANDesk and Lenovo License Inventory Management Tool at No Charge

Web Services Journal - Montvale,NJ,USA
The solution is optimized for Lenovo PCs and introduces customers to
inventory management tools such as client discovery, extensive
hardware/software data ...

SALT LAKE CITY, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LANDesk Software, a leading provider of IT service management solutions, and Lenovo, a leading provider of PC products, today announced the availability of LANDesk(R) Starter Pack for ThinkVantage(R) Technologies (TVT) -- which may be licensed as part of a promotion at no-charge to owners of Lenovo 3000 ThinkPad and ThinkCentre PCs. The solution is optimized for Lenovo PCs and introduces customers to inventory management tools such as client discovery, extensive hardware/software data collection, integrated lease management information, centralized asset and ThinkVantage reporting, executive dashboard, and remote diagnostic reporting.

According to analyst research, 80 percent of the ownership cost of a PC is incurred after it is purchased. The availability of a robust suite of management tools can significantly improve user productivity, reduce IT support costs, minimize overall lifecycle costs and enhance IT processes. LANDesk Starter Pack for ThinkVantage Technologies brings all these benefits to organizations of any size and extends them to customers that have a heterogeneous computing environment with multiple computing platforms.

"The tracking and management of IT assets can be a daunting task, especially in distributed environments with mobile and remote workers, and multiple branch offices," said Rich Cheston, executive director of software marketing at Lenovo. "LANDesk Starter Pack for ThinkVantage Technologies will help IT administrators better manage their hardware and software assets quickly and cost effectively through powerful inventory collection and reporting, as well as lease management."

ThinkVantage Technologies are PC client-oriented tools that help Lenovo customers improve security and usability, thereby reducing total cost of ownership and minimizing end user support calls. Through the LANDesk Starter Pack for ThinkVantage Technologies, an IT organization can discover and track PC assets, manage these assets from a single console, plan for Windows(TM) Vista upgrades, identify security issues and determine purchase needs for computing platforms including Windows(R), Mac OS, Unix and Linux.

"Lenovo ThinkVantage Technologies provide added value to our customers by delivering management capabilities that reduce the total cost of ownership of their business systems," said Steve Daly, general manager of LANDesk Software. "Coupled with the inventory capability found in LANDesk(R) Inventory Manager through the new LANDesk Starter Pack, organizations will be able to extract maximum value from their investments throughout the various stages of a PC lifecycle, while enjoying the added benefits of enhanced visibility and inventory management of all corporate IT assets."

Pricing and Availability

LANDesk(R) Starter Pack for ThinkVantage Technologies is now available via complementary download to owners of Lenovo 3000 ThinkPad and ThinkCentre PCs manufactured after January 1, 2002. The download can be accessed at http://www.landesk.com/thinkvantage/starterpack. The software can also be purchased for owners of non-Lenovo systems.

About LANDesk Software

LANDesk Software, an Avocent company, is a leading provider of systems, security, and process management solutions for desktops, servers and mobile devices across the enterprise. LANDesk enables thousands of organizations to easily deploy and use end-to-end management solutions. LANDesk is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices located in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and can be found on the Web at http://www.landesk.com/ or by calling 1-800-982-2130.

About Avocent Corporation

Avocent delivers IT operations and infrastructure management solutions for enterprises worldwide, helping customers to reduce costs and simplify complex IT environments via integrated, centralized in-band and out-of-band hardware and software. Additional information is available at: http://www.avocent.com/.

About Lenovo

Lenovo (OTC Pink Sheets: LNVGY) (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building the world's best engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable high-quality, secure and easy-to- use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, see http://www.lenovo.com/us/en.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are forward-looking statements as defined within the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding market opportunity, product development, engineering and design activities, integration with third party products and product availability and operability. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made, including the risks associated with general economic conditions, risks attributable to future product demand, sales, and expenses, risks associated with product design efforts and the introduction of new products and technologies, risks associated with reliance on a limited number of component suppliers and single source components, and risk associated with obtaining and protecting intellectual property rights. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in Avocent's reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Copyright (C) 2007 LANDesk Software Ltd. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. LANDesk is either a registered trademark or trademark of LANDesk Software Ltd. or its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. Avocent and the Avocent logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avocent Corporation or its subsidiaries. Windows and Vista are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names or brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Survey: Most Companies Still Struggle with Inventory Management

Multichannel Merchant - Stamford,CT,USA
... retailers, and distributors in February and March--shows a clear link
between these issues and the need for improved inventor