 |
IDII Software Newsletter
Volume 1 No. 10
July 24th 2000 |
To assist the professional dealing with software in Warehousing Distribution, Logistics,
and the Supply Chain.
Subscribe to newsletter Now..
Techniques, Vision, & Educational Thoughts
"Intelligent Business Alerts
- Smart, Practical, and Saves
Money"
|
 |
Using intelligent messaging for new and legacy
supply chain applications is very important. All parties involved (manufacturers, warehouse
operations, wholesalers, distributions, carriers,
retailers, the consumer, and your employees)
can greatly benefit from Intelligent Business
Alerts. We see business alerts being used
commonly by dot.com companies, when you complete
an order - you receive an e-mail thanking
you for the order. When the order ships,
you receive another alert - an e-mail indicating
the shipment date, carrier, contents, and
tracking number. These are just basic applications of alerts - one should expect
much more.
What is a Business Alert? A business alert
is an AUTOMATIC notification (a message) that has been prescribed for
a designated trading party (customer, carrier,
vendor, or the customer's customer). This
message will be in a preferred format sent
via a preferred transmission vehicle. Common
format may be a report, an ASCII data file,
an XML data file, an X12/EDIFACT file, or
a simple text message. Common transmission
vehicles today are fax, e-mail, pager, file
transfer protocols such as FTP, EDI, and
mobile data protocols such as WAP, GPRS and
3G. The e-mails in our dot.com example, where
reports (describing the order & shipment)
are sent in ASCII text format.
Messaging can be initiated by designated
events that are sent to select personnel,
customers, and/or vendors. Events can be
warehouse related, such as a stock out, late
arrival, outbound shipment completed. Events
may be financial or inventory related, such
as a credit limit has been exceeded or a
part has just been marked as obsolete. For
each event, one must ask - what needs to
occur automatically? What should occur automatically
on a new part? What should occur automatically
on closing a trailer? How about faxing that
CERT or MSDS automatically to the appropriate
parties for their outbound shipment?
Better WMS, TMS, CRM, and ERP systems will
support a larger number of "business
events" than others. The designers of these packages must exert
thought on where to put the alerts. One should
be asking both (1) What formats & vehicles
does your alerts support? and (2) Provide
me a list of business events where I can
configure intelligent alerts. Review carefully.
Insist on new ones where "it makes sense". "Intelligent Alerts save time &
save money - by automating common sense
items".
(Written by Philip Obal, President of IDII;
philobal@idii.com)
IDII News
- NEW - Warehousing SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS Directory - See Press Release. IDII has spent significant time to update
our directory of software solution providers.
NEW FORMAT. Has indexes for popular databases
(Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Progress, etc.).
Has indexes for popular operating systems
(Unix, Linux, Windows NT, etc.). Appications
are also listed by type of software - WMS
- TMS - Labor Managment - Yard Management
- Slotting Optimization - Shipping Manifest
System. The IDII Warehouse Software Directory
is a thorough guide of solutions in North
America. The Directory includes some European
and Asian/Pacific solutions as well.
- Order IDII Products ONLINE - Order any of our products or bundles right
from our website now. Top two items
that
are purchased the most are the Standard WMS Bundle and the Advanced WMS Bundle - both are significant time savers for those
doing a warehouse management system
selection.
Software Company News
- Applied Tactical Systems (1988, ATS) - to install the Universal Mobile Data Collector
(UMDC) for SAP R/3 in the ZF Batavia plant in Batavia, Ohio.
ZF-Batavia, a division of ZF Industries headquartered
in Germany, recently announced that they
will be the U.S. source for Continuously
Variable Transmissions (CVTs) for cars and
light trucks. ATS will provide ZF Batavia
with hand held barcode scanners, access points
and barcode label printers in addition to
the UMDC software, training and 24x7 technical
support.
UMDC from Applied Tactical Systems is the
industry's first product that allows direct
connection of mobile data collection equipment
to SAP R/3. This solution requires no middleware
and will enable ZF Batavia to automate the
warehouse operation, thereby improving inventory
control and decreasing errors in order fulfillment.
UMDC is one of the core products in the company's
ATS Continuum Series of enterprise data collection
applications. The ATS UMDC software offers
SAP R/3 users unprecedented connections to
most handheld and fixed mobile data communication
terminal devices. UMDC makes use of native tools within SAP
R/3, such as, the ABAP development language, Screen Painter, and
Menu Painter. Additionally, UMDC is compatible
with SAP R/3 releases 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.5
and 4.6.
- Berger Software (ERP, CRM, WMS, Australia) - New eCommerce Division to focus on providing eCommerce related
services both to existing clients
in Warehousing
& Logistics and CRM Divisions
and also
to new clients. Areas of focus are
eFulfillment, Web based order entry, EDI
and electronic document distribution
solutions. The new Division will focus on these areas
but will also be driven by client
demand.
In addition Berger will leverage
tools for
eCommerce including: Web based reporting
and analysis (Panorama for Web from
StayinFront
Inc) - Web based forms and transactions
and
full web enabled CRM (Webworks from
StayinFront
Inc.) - Document formatting and distribution
solutions (Paris from XLPrint, Berger's
own
eXpedite automated email agent, and
Faxgate
from Esker)
- Epicor (1984, ERP, MRP, Nasdaq: EPIC) - Epicor and TDC Solutions offer Data Collection and Warehouse Management
Solutions to customers of Epicor
& the
midmarket. Epicor will sell Epicor
eWarehouse
Data Collection and Epicor eWarehouse Management and Fulfillment to customers through the
private label OEM agreement. "With
over
40 joint customers, the decision
to offer
the Epicor eWarehouse products was
a natural
evolution in our relationship with
TDC,"
said John Hiraoka, VP of marketing
for Epicor.
- FourthShift (ERP, MRP, Nasdaq: FSFT) - Editor's note: stock price is currently low.
- Kewill (ERP) - KEWILL sold its logistics division to Swisslog, a worldwide supplier of integrated material
handling supply chain products and services.
The deal includes both Kewill's U.S. and
U.K. warehouse management systems (WMS) businesses.
$25 million cash transaction.
- Manhattan Associates (WMS, TMS, LMS, Nasdaq:
MANH) - announced record revenue and net income for the second quarter ended June 30, 2000.
Revenue for the second quarter ended June
30, 2000 was $34.6 million, an increase of
22% from revenue of $28.3 million for the
first quarter ended March 31, 2000 and an
increase of 75% from revenue of $19.8 million
for the second quarter ended June 30, 1999.
Software fees for the second quarter ended
June 30, 2000 were $5.7 million, an increase
of 13% from software fees of $5.0 million
for the first quarter of 2000 and an increase
of 84% from software fees of $3.1 million
for the second quarter of the prior year.
Services revenue for the second quarter ended
June 30, 2000 was $19.2 million, an increase
of 10% over services revenue of $17.5 million
for the first quarter of 2000 and 50% over
services revenue of $12.8 million for the
second quarter of the prior year.
Manhattan also "mentioned" it has
made progress this year in these
areas:
Continued progress on InfoLink(TM), its new Business Community Integration
(BCI) solution. This product, scheduled for
release on September 30, 2000, links suppliers, retailers, transportation
companies, and the newly emerging Internet
trading exchanges using Microsoft Corporation's XML schemas and BizTalk(TM) framework.
Announces its Manager's Workbench warehouse business intelligence
product, with planned availability in November 2000. This new product utilizes Microsoft's SQL
Server 2000 Analytical Services and integrating
into Microsoft's Digital Dashboard technology.
- Mercator Software (Middleware - Data Interchange) - Editor's note: stock price is currently low.
- Robocom (WMS, NASDAQ: RIMS) announced the newest release of its flagship
product, the RIMS Warehouse Management System 4.3. The product combines wireless warehouse
management capabilities with features designed
to make a company's warehouse an active participant
in the supply chain and electronic commerce.
- Tecysys (ERP, WMS, TMS, TSE: TCS) announced it has signed a letter of intent
to acquire Disticom Systems, a supplier of software specializing in
automation of shipping and receiving
processes.
The closing of this transaction is
subject
to regulatory approval.
"The proposed acquisition of
Disticom
is a key step in the e-fulfillment
race."
said Peter Brereton, President and
CEO of
TECSYS Inc. "Through the acquisition
of Disticom's high-performance transportation
software, TECSYS will be able to
offer its
customers the flexibility to choose
the lowest-cost
carrier that meets their specific
shipment
needs, with excellent shipment tracking,
and freight audit capabilities. Transportation
represents a significant cost in
the fulfillment
process and must be tightly controlled."
he added.
Disticom's Modular ShipWare product, a multi-carrier shipping system, provides standard
shipping software functionality such as carrier-compliant
documents and labels and rate shopping and
also provides unique features like Internet-based
rate updates and Web-based access to courier
package tracking systems. Disticom has also
developed the Mailcenter Tracking System,
a tool for inbound and outbound tracking
and delivery of courier packages, mail and
other deliverable items.
Websites To Check Out
www.ascet.com - Andersen Consulting and Montgomery Research
today announced that they have introduced
a new book and Web site that investigate
the Internet's impact on the supply chain.
Achieving Supply Chain Excellence Through
Technology Volume 2 and its accompanying
Web site, www.ascet.com, capture the visionary
perspectives of leading practitioners, academics,
technology providers and corporations who
are helping to shape the future of supply
chain management. Many white papers on this website.
Quotes to Ponder
"Success is a journey, not a destination."--Ben
Sweetland
Scripture to Ponder
"But godliness with contentment is great gain." - 1 Timothy 6:6
Good Book
About This Newsletter
We educate and share news on software
for warehousing, transportation, shipping, packing, slotting, loading,
optimization, and enterprise wide software solutions. This free newsletter
is published twice a month and is targeted toward supply chain professionals
involved in software. Currently, it is only available electronically. Feel
free to forward this newsletter to others that you know. One may quickly
subscribe by accessing our website at www.idii.com.
To submit information to be considered for inclusion in our newsletter,
send any news, events, press releases, research, and newsletters to editor@idii.com.
The current and back issues of our E-Software Newsletters can be accessed
at www.idii.com/esn
© 2000 Industrial
Data & Information Inc. All Rights Reserved.. Trademarks belong to
respective trademark holders. Information accuracy is not guaranteed due
to variety of sources. |
