A round-up of all the IT news making the headlines in December.
Baker Perkins selects Epicor in the UK and US
Epicor Software Corporation announced that Baker Perkins, a manufacturer of technology to the food processing industry, has chosen Epicor 9, the ERP solution from Epicor.
Baker Perkins selected Epicor after an evaluation process of multiple vendors that involved several presentations, demonstrations, and reference visits. To help them better expedite their manufacturing schedules, gain more detailed analysis across their two sites, and integrate their system across functions to reduce data re-entry, Baker Perkins has chosen to implement Epicor ERP.
Bob Collin, project manager, Baker Perkins, said: “We chose Epicor because it was felt to be more project-oriented than other products. This is extremely important to us because capital manufacturing projects form the basis of our business. Epicor will help us move away from our current disparate structure, with different parts of the business using different software systems, to a situation where we all access data from a single source.”
Exel extends ERP capabilities with Oracle integration
Exel Computer Systems, the UK-based author and developer of the EFACS ERP system, announce the launch of the EFACS Enterprise.
Designed to be adapted to the individual needs of larger businesses, EFACS Enterprise is built with software technology including Java and the Oracle database. EFACS Enterprise brings the corporate-wide functionality and visibility that larger companies require with the rapid implementation times and lower cost of ownership traditionally enjoyed by SMEs.
Exel managing director, Rue Dilhe, said: “Whilst EFACS Enterprise has inbuilt functionality for some elements of these Oracle products, the ability to choose an appropriate combination will be important for the larger and more sophisticated business.” “Oracle will be the only company that can engineer an integrated system — applications to disk — where all the pieces fit and work together so customers do not have to do it themselves. Our customers benefit as their systems integration costs go down while system performance, reliability, and security go up.”
CDC Software completes acquisition of Activplant Corporation
CDC Software Corporation, a global provider of enterprise software applications and services, has announced the acquisition of Activplant Corporation, a Canadian – based provider of manufacturing business intelligence solutions.
“With CDC Factory and Activplant’s out-of the-box MOM functionality, manufacturers do not have to spend costly consulting fees to customise software to fit their distinct business processes. With these CDC Software solutions, manufacturers can now focus their budget on implementing best practices and continuous improvement initiatives that will ultimately improve their profitability,” said Bruce Cameron, president, CDC Software.
The announcement marks the latest of several strategic initiatives undertaken by CDC Software. Last quarter, the company completed the acquisition of WKD Solutions Ltd, a provider of supply chain event management solutions marketed under the brand Categoric. In addition, CDC Software recently announced plans to acquire two SaaS companies as part of its SaaS rollup strategy to expand in this growing market.
Swan sailing yachts selects Siemens PLM Software
Siemens PLM Software announced that Oy Nautor Ab, builder of the Swan sailing yachts, selected Teamcenter software as its corporatewide PLM solution, and will deploy 60 seats when fully implemented.
In addition, Nautor has selected Siemens PLM Software’s NX software for yacht development. Siemens PLM Software will provide both software and services. Teamcenter will enable Nautor to collaborate by sharing design and product information within a single PLM solution. NX — Siemens PLM Software’s digital product development solution — will enable Nautor’s engineers to increase design efficiency, share design and innovation ideas, and meet customer specific requirements more precisely and eliminate compromises in the engineering workflow.
“With Siemens PLM Software we see an opportunity to invest in a new enterprise solution for yacht development and product lifecycle management that is fully integrated and will enhance our competitive edge and customer value and continue to help further our growth,” said Antti Ivaska, technical director, Nautor.
Preactor appoints Wonderware to extend Scandinavian growth
Preactor International announced that it has appointed Wonderware Scandinavia to be its network partner for Scandinavia. This builds on the growing relationship between the two leaders in their respective fields of Advance Planning and Scheduling (APS) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), cemented earlier this year with the inclusion of the Preactor Finite Capacity Scheduling module in the Wonderware Operations systems, formerly known as Factelligence.
Psion Teklogix selects CSI as its SAP Partner
Psion Teklogix, a global provider of solutions for mobile computing and wireless data collection, has exclusively selected CSI as its partner for all SAP based solutions.
Traditionally providing mobile software solutions to an array of SAP customers, Psion Teklogix recently changed its strategy to focus on rugged data capture products and associated technologies — and distributing these products through its channel partners.
Said Psion Teklogix managing director, Paul Westmoreland: “Partnering with CSI Limited to handle our existing SAP accounts was a strategic step towards further improving our integration abilities with a dynamic partner and increasing customer service levels.
SAPActive Global Support Organization wins STAR Award for Service Excellence
The SAPActive Global Support organisation has been honored by the Technology Services Industry Association with a STAR Award for Service Excellence in Partner Management.
STAR awards recognise technology companies that display exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment in service excellence. SAP received the award for its holistic partner support program and in recognition of its promoting a partnercentric culture; establishing common business drivers; incorporating appropriate partner selection standards and offering comprehensive partner training and certifications.
ADT supports global guides for employing electronic surveillance solutions
ADT Security Services announced today its support for two new GS1 EPCglobal publications, a Strategic Overview Guide and a Technical Implementation Guide.
Both aim to help retailers understand how they can deploy EPC/RFID-based, antitheft solutions in their stores.
GS1 EPCglobal standards are a set of integrated, industrydriven specifications developed to enable the identification of objects, data capture, and sharing of information among partners throughout the supply chain. ADT, with its Sensormatic EAS and item-level intelligence solutions, is a founding member of the GS1 EPCglobal standards body and part of its EAS Phase 2 Joint Requirement Group, which contributed to the Guides.
DHL Global Forwarding joins INTTRA eInvoice initiative
INTTRA, an e-commerce platform for the ocean freight industry, announced that DHL Global Forwarding has joined the INTTRA eInvoice initiative.
DHL Global Forwarding will work with INTTRA in completing a project analysis for the implementation of INTTRA eInvoice solution — with a view to becoming both a pilot and eInvoice customer. INTTRA eInvoice is an electronic invoicing, dispute resolution, and payment processing solution that will enable freight forwarders with the potential to more efficiently receive process and pay carrier invoices, as well as cut average transaction processing costs by more than half.
John DeBenedette, senior vice president commercial, INTTRA, said: “We are delighted DHL Global Forwarding is participating in this program. There are an estimated 50 million invoice transactions processed a year for ocean shipping. Electronic invoicing not only saves time and money, but digitisation of invoices within the ocean freight industry could preserve 75,000 trees per year, contributing to climate protection and reducing carbon footprint.”
Telematics solution gives fleet managers increased control
A new webbased solution for fleet managers, GeoManager, has been launched by Trimble, a provider of Mobile Resource Management (MRM) solutions.
Designed to monitor fleets of any size, GeoManager is a tracking and telematics solution providing easy-to-read, customisable reports — along with a choice of enhanced mapping for vehicle and job location and the option of integrated vehicle diagnostics.
As well as real-time data about driver location and activity, GeoManager highlights additional information such as whether vehicles need servicing, how many are stopped, moving or inactive at any one time, and also has a “cluster” function to identify closely located vehicles and landmarks.
For integrated vehicle diagnostics, GeoManager can be implemented using the Trimble Driver DNA box — otherwise known as the TVG 660 — which draws information directly from the vehicle. With this, fleet managers can view Co2 emissions, accurate mpg, and vehicle faults in real time.
