End User Articles

APPLICATIONS

CASE STUDIES

LIVING WITH SOFTWARE

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SOFTWARE?

SELECTING SOFTWARE

SELLING SOFTWARE

Food Safety and the Four Ps

Food safety is in the news, on the Web, and a frequent point of conversation. Scares and recalls are not uncommon. For the food processor, a well-publicized incident can mean major damage to its brand and its revenue—and maybe the end of the company. The greater a food company’s risk, the greater the need for a proactive food safety strategy. Food safety strategy can be summarized with “the four Ps.”

21CFR Part11, Challenge or Opportunity?

ABSTRACT: An examination of 21CFR Part 11 requirements and how it can be an opportunity or a challenge depending on your view. Includes an analysis of Oracle OPM and Part 11.

Are new FDA regulations headed your way?

ABSTRACT: The pharmaceutical industry is buzzing with the impact of an FDA regulation called 21 CFR Part 11 or simply Part 11. Does a food company need to concern itself about Part 11?

Are you ready for serial numbers on T-bones?

ABSTRACT: A look at providing full traceability in the food supply chain and the impact on the members of the supply chain and their systems.

Are you ready for real-time information?

ABSTRACT: The challenge lies in discerning the points of information that will make a difference from the trivial points.

Business Intelligence Data Marts in ERP

ABSTRACT: The wealth of data stored in ERP systems need to be leveraged with Business Intelligence approaches.

Business Intelligence (BI)? An Outlet of Value for Supply Chain Management

ABSTRACT: The wide adoption of Supply Chain Management (SCM), consisting of both execution and planning functions, is well documented. Industry analysts tell us that the majority of companies have adopted SCM and spent handsome sums. However, questions continue to surface about the return on the SCM investment. ROI may require BI.

Business Intelligence Success, Lessons Learned

Is Business Intelligence (BI) an application that pays off? We have all heard mixed results but a recent, extensive study on the subject tells us that BI usually pays off (over 60% of the time) and also tells us where value has been found and what’s required to get the pay off. Is Business Intelligence (BI) an application that pays off? We have all heard mixed results but a recent, extensive study on the subject tells us that BI usually pays off (over 60% of the time) and also tells us where value has been found and what’s required to get the pay off.

Collaboration in the Chemical Industry

ABSTRACT: A series of case studies dealing with different collaboration applications within the chemical industry. (Marcus Evans Chemical Event 12/02)

Consumer Products Companies Demand A Demand-Driven Supply Chain

ABSTRACT: If marketing, the supply chain and production could get in-synch, the promotion would have enough product, and shipping and production schedules would reflect true demand. Each link within the supply chain would be successful in performing their basic task.

Energy Management – The Last Untamed Resource

ABSTRACT: Enterprise Energy Management (EEM) addresses what is often a key element of total overhead in the food industry, energy cost.

Enterprise Energy Management - the Key to Effective Energy Utilization

ABSTRACT: Energy purchasing has become increasingly complex as a result of deregulation. The deregulated market provides more suppliers and more options for supply contracts. Managers who buy energy need to have more information about projected operational energy demand in order to get the best energy prices. They need a software system.

ERP now ready for prime time

ABSTRACT: The latest applications allow food manufacturers to leverage their
business processes across enterprises.

NOTE - Cover article from Food Engineering Magazine - April 2003

Extending Quality’s Reach to Manage Quality in the Supply Chain

ABSTRACT: Quality does not start at the receiving dock and end at the shipping dock. The focus on the supply chain demands that the quality department be involved from the beginning to the end of the supply chain.

Food Industry Issues and Trends

ABSTRACT: Food Industry Kick-off presentation for 2003 QAD User Group. Covers key food industry trends and issues and what they mean to a food manufacturing company.

Food Safety - Impact of the Bio-terrorism Act of 2002

ABSTRACT: The Bio-terrorism Act of 2002 placed a series of regulations on the food manufacturer. This presentation gives a quick overview of the regulations explores the concerns generated for manufacturers and their systems.

Food Supply Chain Management - Getting Kinks Out of the Food Supply Chain

ABSTRACT: The food supply chain is arguably the oldest and best understood of all manufacturing supply chains. But it is also one of the least automated and most inefficient.

Good Customer Service is Simple

ABSTRACT: Outstanding customer service is a competitive advantage. Most companies salute good customer service as a key objective. But in its simplest form, what is good customer service?

Integrating Maintenance into plant ERP software

ABSTRACT: Plant-wide visibility to maintenance and production schedules and transactions improves profits and productivity.

Is the food industry ready for Product Life Cycle Management?

ABSTRACT: Software enables communications among departments like sales, R&D and production. Is the food industry ready?

Living And Thriving With Channel Master Customers

ABSTRACT: Channel master business is good. Everyone likes increased volume. But the impact of this business can be bad for the bottom line. How can manufacturers meet the demands of the channel master and preserve their business?

Measuring Supply Chain Effectiveness

ABSTRACT: How good is your supply chain? How should you measure it and how can you metrics for continuous improvement?

Plants in the Age of E

ABSTRACT: The role of the plant is changing. How is it changing and what is the impact on plant management systems?

PLM Is An Industry Affair - Or Is It?
ABSTRACT: The question, 'Do vertical industry needs play a significant role in a PLM software selection?' should be a simple question to answer. Instead, it is a question best answered with a series of questions.

Process Product Life Cycle Management (PLM)

ABSTRACT: Product Life Cycle Management is a series of business processes, enabled by application software, which has proven to generate business value in a variety of industries. This article discusses the value of PLM in process and the requirements for PLM software.

Production Intelligence – Improving Production By Filling A Traditional Gap

ABSTRACT: Enterprises understand the value of integration. One area that has been ignored is the plant. Plant systems and corporate systems must be complementary and leverage each other to provide their maximum value. Production Intelligence provides both integration and valuable information not available in either type of system.

Profit Optimization - Can We Possible Argue With The Objective?

ABSTRACT: The "why" of Profit Optimization is easy? The objective is to increase profits and we can all agree on that objective. The "how" of Profit Optimization is not so easy. The seemingly simple solutions are dependent upon each other and many more variables. Profit Optimization is not a simple objective; it is a very complex objective.

Regulatory Compliance Across the Product Lifecycle

ABSTRACT: Reduced risk and lowered costs through proactive EH&S

Selecting B2B Exchanges - Walmart, Kroger or Your Local Fish Store?

ABSTRACT: Many exchanges are available with many claiming amazing savings. How do you select a B2B exchange? The answer is like where to go shopping -- Wal-Mart, Kroger or your local fish store?

Should Your E-Business Be Inside or Outside of IT?

ABSTRACT: Your e-business strategy could call for it to be in-house or outsourced. Which is better for a food company?

Supply chain payoffs with RFID

ABSTRACT: Radio frequency identification (RFID) is here today, but at a price. Pioneers are claiming limitless potential to drive down costs and provide faster, cleaner data. Today, the price is too high for many food industry applications. But the information that RFID can provide will greatly enhance accuracy and effectiveness.

Supply Chain Software Moves into the Mainstream

ABSTRACT: Merging standards and technology will move the food supply chain to a place where partners will be able to ‘sense and respond’ to the overall needs of the chain.

Supply Chain Planning - Issues for Continuous Chemical Companies

ABSTRACT: The continuous chemical industries typically share an objective of running at near 100% utilization. This and other realities yield unique requirements for a Supply Chain Planning (SCP) system. This article discusses some of these unique needs.

Supply Chain Planning Optimization in the Chemical Industry

ABSTRACT: Issues, approaches and results of Supply Chain Planning optimization in the chemical industry

The Pinto Bean Power Buy

ABSTRACT: A practical, how to look at using internet exchanges to buy ingredients.

The PLM Program - An Incremental Approach the Strategic Value of PLM

ABSTRACT: Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a business strategy that is beginning to gain wide acceptance and showing meaningful results. What has been interesting about the emerging success stories is how different many of the stories are from one another, even within the same industry. This is because most companies have adopted an incremental approach to implementing PLM and have been targeting their projects at solving tangible problems that have short-term paybacks for their particular business.

The Role of Technology Solutions in the Search for 21 CFR Part 11 Compliance

ABSTRACT: For Part 11 compliance, the answer lies in utilizing technology to promote a change in manufacturing operations that delivers both improved compliance and greater operational efficiency. Companies must look at the entire manufacturing process and adopt an enterprise-wide approach that maximizes the valve of new technology by leveraging the value of legacy systems.

The Tomato Processing Industry Moves Toward Virtual Information Integration

ABSTRACT: The tomato processing industry has embrace collaborative information systems which has made a significant impact in the areas of food safety and traceability, improving relationships between suppliers and customers and increasing operational efficiencies. This case study illustrates how one tomato processor utilized several of the ExtendAg software modules to accomplish the aforementioned goals.

The Why of Data Collection

ABSTRACT: Data collection systems work. However, they mean an investment in technology. Before we can justify that investment, we need to understand why we may want to use a data collection system in place of people with clipboards.

What does the Future Hold for Pharma Supply Chains?

ABSTRACT: Thoughts on the future of the Pharma Supply Chain. From the Marcus Evans "Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Management" event, August 2002.

Aligning IT with Corporate Strategy

ABSTRACT: This is a Case Study on leveraging a decision support tool to connect an IT initiative to corporate strategy.

BF Goodrich - Unleashing the Power of ERP with Business Intelligence

ABSTRACT: ERP gives the enterprise an excellent tool for transactional needs and that results in a mountain of detailed information about the business. However, turning that mountain of detailed information into rich, easily understood, actionable information is a different issue.

Business Intelligence Success at Biomet, Inc.

ABSTRACT: Biomet, a manufacturer of orthopedic medical products needed to support its worldwide need for sales information.

Case Study- Customer Service through e-business

ABSTRACT: Specialty chemical manufacturer Perstorp is taking customer service to a higher level with eBusiness tools.

E-business Buy Side Success at H. B. Fuller

ABSTRACT: Chemical Company H. B. Fuller leveraged e-business to impact their procurement operations. This article discusses their experiences and value.

E-Business Customer Service Success at H.B. Fuller Company
ABSTRACT: Chemical company H. B. Fuller has leveraged the Internet to improve their level of customer service.

E-Business Sell Side Success at H.B. Fuller

ABSTRACT: Chemical company H. B. Fuller has leveraged the Internet to increase their ability to sell.

Production scheduling in a supply driven, short shelf life environment

ABSTRACT: Horizon Organics a vertically integrated dairy processor. However, it represents a new breed of vertically integrated processors. It is responsible for the entire supply chain but owns very few of the assets. In the jargon of the popular business press, Horizon Organic is a “virtual” vertically integrated processor. The key supply chain issue - supply is fixed, how do they manage production to maximize both customer service and profitability?

Juice maker squeezes more out of its inventory

ABSTRACT: By installing demand-planning software, Tropicana gains forecasting accuracy, fewer out of stocks.

Legacy Systems: Weighing the Costs, Benefits and Risks

ABSTRACT: Most replacement systems will, or at least should, provide marginal benefits over your legacy system.

Featured article, Food Engineering Magazine

Lighting Up The Supply Chain at Lithonia Lighting

ABSTRACT: Lithonia Lighting's challenge was relatively simple to identify. Over time, customers' expectations for fast, accurate and complete order fulfillment had increased. With over 14,000 products comprising 450,000 SKUs, and 19 manufacturing plants feeding a distribution network of 20 warehouses, it became increasingly difficult to reliably meet those
expectations.

Managing the Meat Mix – a Unique Plant and Supply Chain Challenge

ABSTRACT: Bernard Matthews Limited is the UK’s leading producer and brand leader for fresh, chilled and frozen turkey products. Bernard Matthews decided that improving their plant planning functions could improve their bottom line.

Optimizing Capacity Deployment and Reducing Capital Investment

ABSTRACT: Going beyond basic supply chain and manufacturing optimization in the Process Industries.

PLM Proving Value at Heinz

ABSTRACT: Product Life Cycle Management case study including results

Rethinking and Retooling At Premium Brands

ABSTRACT: The margin between success and failure can be razor thin – perhaps nowhere as perilously thin as in the food industry. Food processors are being forced to rethink and retool. One example of exemplary success in this area is Premium Brands, Inc., of Richmond, British Columbia. Management at Premium Brands is steering a course for significant new growth and in the process, is remaking the business it’s in.

Sausage Producer Packs Out the Profit with Technology

ABSTRACT: Odom's Tennessee Pride Sausage, Inc. wanted to improve operations and customer service. Their ERP and SCM technology solution resulted in a fifteen-month project with a three-year payback period.

Software takes the sting out of horseradish production

ABSTRACT: Silver Springs uses ERP to increase production and cut waste.

Steering Collaborative Commerce Initiatives that Deliver ROI

ABSTRACT: A presentation from a Marcus Evans conference for Chemical Industry Executives. The presentation gives a series of collaboration case studies from chemical companies and the lessons learned.

Supply chain tools pay off

ABSTRACT: The proof is in the percentages. Food companies using supply chain software can better predict demand and reduce inventories.

Wish for fish yields booming business

ABSTRACT: Fishmonger software integrates all of a seafood company’s central business processes into one system.

LIVING WITH SOFTWARE

A CFO's Guide For Managing IT - IT Has Changed Forever

ABSTRACT: Often, it is difficult to determine precisely when sea change starts. For the Information Technology sector, it is clear that if the signs were not apparent before, sometime shortly after 12:01 on Saturday, January 1, 2000, things changed forever. Ironically, IT changed, not because something happened, but because of a non-event. Y2K didn’t really happen, at least in sense of the disaster that was predicted. IT did its job.

Business Strategy, Business Processes And Business Systems

ABSTRACT: Business strategy as a road map to success. However, a good strategy does not guarantee success. Strategy must be supported by business processes which must be support with business systems. A direct link exists between the success of a business strategy and the business systems utilized. While great systems do not guarantee the success of a business strategy, poor systems are a frequent cause of failure.

Are your systems contaminated?

ABSTRACT: Contamination—what a terrible word. Contamination means dumping product, extra clean up, and maybe even worse. But what about your computer systems? They can get contaminated as well.

Standardizing on One ERP System in a Multi-division Enterprise

ABSTRACT: In an enterprise with multiple operating divisions, should the enterprise standardize on a single set of software? Recent broadening of major ERP products' scope and the advent of Web-based product architecture may tempt corporations to consider deploying this concept. Although the enterprise can generate many benefits from standardization, do the negatives out weigh the positives?

Application Erosion: Eating Away at Your Hard Earned Value

ABSTRACT: Installed applications suffer with time. The value you fought so hard for during the implementation erodes, losing the value that you already paid for. What is Application Erosion, how does it happen and what can you do to avoid or reverse it? (SEE also "More on Application Erosion"

Fast-path Implementations - Are They Good or Bad?
ABSTRACT: Over the last few years the market has seen a plethora of fixed-scope and fixed-price applications, pre-packaged vertical solutions with industry templates, limited education and training, implementation tools, attractive support programs and hosting services with catchy names, all aimed at making it faster, simpler and less expensive. Is it worth it in the long run?

Get innovative in dealing with IT

ABSTRACT: Point IT to places in operations where there are technology-based opportunities.
From an operations perspective, centralized corporate IT organizations can take on all the characteristics of a fortress under siege. Despite increased IT budgets and staffs, it’s still difficult to get operations-related IT projects in the queue. To get more of your IT organization’s attention, you may want to consider another strategy.

Information has value, but how much are you willing to pay for it?

ABSTRACT: Not all information is equal. Savvy companies must weigh the costs. Understand the trade-offs between the cost and value of information.

Is ROI King In Evaluating IT Investments?

ABSTRACT: ROI is the way we evaluation IT initiatives, even though initial estimates of cash flows from IT projects are often hard to determine because underlying business assumptions can change. KPI’s can still be relatively reliable indicators of the impact of an IT project.

More on Application Erosion

ABSTRACT: The above article "Application Erosion: Eating Away at Your Hard Earned Value" prompted an unusually high volume of e-mails. Unanimously, people agreed that application erosion is real and it has a significant impact on the long-term value of technology. Several of the e-mails yielded some additional causes and cures for application erosion.

Overcoming Obstacles to Getting to YES on New Projects

ABSTRACT: OK, the economy is bad. OK, it is hard to get excited about the turn-around. IT projects are on hold to the dismay of IT professionals and vendors. But is money really the roadblock? We think risk and time present roadblocks as big, if not bigger than money.

Proactive IT Managers Can Make a Difference

ABSTRACT: In the back of every CIO's mind at the time of the annual performance review are two questions, "Do I run an IT shop that is aligned with the requirements of our business?" and "Are the IT projects we are doing generating an acceptable ROI?"

Programs, Processes and Practices:
Planning Implementations and Evaluating Systems

ABSTRACT: No company has ever fully evaluated the entire product that they are buying, time does not permit such a complete evaluation. Few people really track how well the software is used after it is installed.

Project Failure – The Numbers, Why and What It Means

IT projects fail regularly—considerably missing expectations, drastically overrunning budgets, significantly missing their deadlines, and far too often having to be abandoned entirely. Research shows us that this is the rule, not the exception. Research also tells us why. What is the impact of failure on enterprises, IT professionals and software and services providers? Does it have to be this way?

Should You Modify an Application Product?

ABSTRACT: When it comes to modifications to an application product, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Enter the modification process cautiously, with your eyes open.

The CIO's Agenda--Make IT Affordable, Workable, and Credible

ABSTRACT: A recent forum included a round table discussion of CIOs from different companies and industries. They summarized their charter as make IT affordable, workable and credible. These realities impact all IT users, professionals, and vendors.

The Old ERP Dilemma: How Long Should You Pay Maintenance?

ABSTRACT: After a company has decided to keep an existing ERP system, the next decision is how long should they continue to pay the vendor for maintenance.

The Old ERP Dilemma: Should We Install The New Release?

ABSTRACT: If you have an older ERP system and you have decided to continue to pay maintenance you should be getting periodic releases from the vendor. The frequency of these releases varies, but for each new release, you have a decision to make. Should you install the new release or not?

The Old ERP Dilemma – The Refresh Option

ABSTRACT: If your ERP system is “old”, if it is highly modified, if it is far behind in releases, if it is not really serving your current needs, you may be thinking of replacing it. Many companies ignore the option of “refreshing” the existing system up to the current release and implementing modules and functions added since your original purchase. It works for some people, but will it work for you?

The Reinvention of Software Vendors and End-User Value

ABSTRACT: Application vendors are focusing on their install base as their primary source of revenue while cutting costs to provide profitability. What does this mean to the industry? What does it mean to the enterprise user?

What Does Vendor Consolidation Mean To The End User?

ABSTRACT: End-user companies should track the financial health of their vendors to see if the vendor will be a collector or one of the collected. If the end-user company has a focused vendor, think of that vendor's health and help them become even better in your type of business. If your vendor is acquired, meet the new owners. The new owners motivation in buying your product and vendor was the install base and that's you. Showing interest is your part in keeping the relationship the way you want it.

What happens when your software vendor sells out?

ABSTRACT: If your software vendor gets gobbled up in the current feeding frenzy, what are your options?

Why don’t more food companies make the “Best Of” IT lists?

ABSTRACT: Each year, publications like Information Week, eWeek, and InfoWorld publish lists of who they consider to be the best Information Technology (IT) innovators. Again in 2001, the food industry was not well represented.

Why Systems Fail - The Dead-end of Dirty Data

ABSTRACT: If your data does not reflect reality, the system can never be effective.

Who to Blame for Project Failure?

Look Up - Not Down, Not Left, Not Right.

ABSTRACT: Project failure is not a nice topic. None of us want to be involved in a failure. But when a failure occurs, we feel compelled to assign blame. But who to blame and how to avoid the same problems in the future?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH SOFTWARE?

Commodity Software, Best Practice and Competitive Advantage

ABSTRACT: Can industry-leading practice be found in a commodity software package? If we accept that application software is a commodity, by definition, the answer is no.

If Software Is A Commodity...Then What?

ABSTRACT: Many, if not most categories of software have become commodities. Vendors hate to hear it, but most of the products in a category produce the same results, pretty much in the same way. If this is true, how do user select the right vendor? How does a vendor get selected?

If Software Is A Commodity - Can You Still Win Some Competitive Advantage?

ABSTRACT: An application product can never provide competitive advantage by itself, it is a function of how and how much is implemented. A good implementation of a commodity software product can give you a short-term advantage until the competition catches up.

Looking For Software—The Expectations of Small and Medium Enterprises

ABSTRACT: Many small and medium enterprises (SME) are actively looking for software. Many vendors are trying to meet their needs. However, what the SME expects to gain from software is not always what the vendor expects. SMEs must understand their needs articulate their expectations to potential vendors if they are to get what they want and need from software.

What's Wrong With Application Software? It's the Economics

ABSTRACT: Enterprise architecture is a technology problem, not the business problem. The business problem is time, money, and quality. Focusing on modifications as an example, the reason that modifications are bad is that they take too long, cost too much, and often have quality issues.

What's Wrong With Application Software? Are Businesses Really Unique?

ABSTRACT: Many vendors consider their market to be a series of different industries with their product claiming different industry specific features for many. Some vendors consider their market limited to a few or even a single marketplace (for example process or A&D). This market definition by the vendors indicates that they think different industries have different requirements. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!

What's Wrong With Application Software?

Business Changes, Software Must Change With The Business.

ABSTRACT: Business changes constantly, in small ways and large. It is rare to find an application product that can change once it is implemented. This gap is a reality leading to dissatisfaction and the application being a drag on the business. This gap, the lack of the ability to change, costs the business dearly. Software needs to be the agent of change, not the enemy of change.

What’s Wrong With Application Software? Business Processes Cross Application Boundaries

ABSTRACT: The reality of today’s application environment is that no single application meets all of the needs of a business, or frequently even the needs of a single business process, so multiple applications must work together to support business processes.

What's Wrong With Application Software? - A Possible Solution?

ABSTRACT: The series, 'What's Wrong With Application Software' explored key challenges found in enterprise applications and also discussed the characteristics of next generation architectures that would provide better support for applications. Once such solution, model based architectures, deserves to be on an enterprise's 'technologies to watch' list.

What's Wrong With Application Software and What Are Vendors Doing About It?

ABSTRACT: This article summarizes the other articles in the series, discusses what approaches are being taken by various vendors and evaluates the many plus and minus points of each approach.

SELECTING SOFTWARE

Boutique Vendors Can Bring Big Value

ABSTRACT: What is a boutique vendor? It tends to be small and highly focused. It is typically very strong in its chosen area. It will often prove to be the solution with the greatest source of value. These qualities make it worthwhile to expend the effort of looking at boutique vendors that focus on your situation.

Build versus Buy – A Long Term Decision

ABSTRACT: With the software industry offering greater options and depth of function, we do not hear the idea of a company building their own software very often, but the option is still discussed and is valid in some situations. When it is discussed, the company often fails in fully evaluating the entire array of benefits and disadvantages.

Can You Add New Life To an Old ERP System?

ABSTRACT: Getting ERP transaction data into a summarized form that is useful to knowledge workers is one way to extend the value of your ERP system. This article discusses the advantages that can be gained by moving ERP and other transaction data to a data warehouse.

Client References - Still A Valuable Part of Vendor Selection?

ABSTRACT: With application software vendors focusing their sales effort more on the top executives or C-levels (CEO/CFO/COO/CIO) of companies, and less on IT, the establishment of an application software selection methodology in advance of a software purchase becomes crucial. The value in making client reference checks is a critical success in the selection process.

Fatal Flaws in ERP Software Create Opportunity for Niche Software in CPG Companies

ABSTRACT: Some Consumer Goods Product (CPG) manufacturers find themselves looking for niche software when they look to improve the operation of their back office functions relating to pricing, trade promotion, and trade receivables after discovering that their ERP system does not provide the depth of functionality needed to completely manage their business issues.

Find The Software’s Fatal Flaws To Avoid Failure.

ABSTRACT: When compared to the needs of your business, application software can have fatal flaws. These flaws may make it difficult if not impossible for the application software to run the business. If you do not understand the issues in your business that can expose fatal flaws in software – it can cost you a lot more than money to fix them and perhaps put your business at risk.

Is SAP right for your plant?

ABSTRACT: The 800-pound gorilla in the enterprise application software market may be appropriate for simple food plant operations, but can SAP make the move from simple to complex process plants?

Identify requirements before purchasing or modifying ERP

ABSTRACT: Knowing your requirements will bring greater financial returns.

Process Manufacturing:

Industry Specific Requirements for the Food Industry

ABSTRACT: Traditionally, manufacturing is categorized by two methods: process and discrete. Many differences exist, but most can be grouped into two areas: those derived from material issues and those derived from production issues. How does this translate in to the needs of a food manufacturer?

Process Software Vendors - Is it Worth Checking Their Client References?

ABSTRACT: With application software vendors focusing their sales effort more on the top executives or C-levels (CEO/CFO/COO/CIO) of food companies, and less on IT, the establishment of an application software selection methodology in advance of a software purchase becomes crucial.

Single Source or Best of Breed - The Debate Continues

ABSTRACT: Both sides of this argument are certain that the other side is crazy. This will never be a clear-cut decision - it is all about the trade-offs.

Sizing Up Your Options

ABSTRACT: A proper fit is essential to a successful enterprise software search. For many business, a smaller vendor, tightly focused on their kind of business maybe the best choice.

The Fatal Flaws for Process Manufacturers

ABSTRACT: Every piece of software you consider holds the potential for fatal flaws. Miss the fatal flaws and it is difficult to project what the future holds for you. Process manufacturers have greater odds of running into Fatal Flaws than other companies.

Category ERP

ABSTRACT: When it comes to ERP, the food industry is not really the food industry. People who work in this industry seldom think of themselves as food, they think about a lower level of detail – the food category.

Supply Chain Software Moves into the Mainstream

ABSTRACT: Cover article from Food Engineering magazine on supple chain software for the food industry.

The Essential Guide to Manufacturing Software

ABSTRACT: Cover article from Food Engineering magazine on manufacturing software designed to manage food business. However, food manufacturers still have to integrate software from diverse vendors to create a viable plant system.

The fatal flaws of software for the Food Industry -- Overlooking the details that are essential to your business may result in a total failure.

ABSTRACT: Dealing with software vendors can be difficult. You need to understand what the system can do for you and they want to tell you all the great things that make them look good – the two lists usually do not agree. Your challenge is getting vendors to focus on what you need and what makes you money. It is important to be aware that most systems have flaws and these flaws can be fatal if they impact the key requirements of running your business.

The 'Old ERP' Dilemma: Replace or Add-on

ABSTRACT: Replace or Add-on to an aging ERP system is a dilemma faced by many companies today. This article discusses the trade-offs involved in making that decision.

What Makes Process Process?

ABSTRACT: Process manufacturers have had difficulty in selecting ERP and SCM products that meet their needs. This management note places these unmet needs in the context of the business characteristics that serve as their root causes. (note – award winning article)

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