October 1997, Volume 3, No. 10 News in Brief

SynQuest Forms Supply Chain Alliance with Origin SynQuest Inc. (Norcross, Ga.; www.synquest.com) has formed a strategic alliance with Origin B.V. (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), a $1.5 billion global consulting and technology firm. Origin will provide systems integration services worldwide for SynQuest Supply Chain Synchronization Series software. Additionally, Origin will implement SynQuest software with QAD's MFG/PRO supply chain management software in enterprise applications. The SynQuest Supply Chain Synchronization Series is an integrated set of business applications that optimize planning and synchronize plan execution for supply chain management. The applications provide decision support capabilities that allow an organization to optimally manage material and information flow — from suppliers, through manufacturing and logistics facilities to final customers. Origin has the capabilities to specify, design, implement and support solutions across the full spectrum of services worldwide. Its service range spans consultancy, transformation services via software installation, development and implementation, package integration and support, including application processing and network management. QAD's MFG/PRO software is a supply chain management system which enables users to control the flow of materials and information across every link in the production chain. SynQuest software complements MFG/PRO by providing advanced optimized planning, finite scheduling and manufacturing execution capabilities in one solution. Information on Origin and the Origin QAD Services can be found at www.origin-it.com/qad. Blue Diamond Growers Signs $2.2 Million ADAGE Deal with SCT Blue Diamond Growers (Sacramento, Calif.), a tree nut company, has licensed the ADAGE enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from Systems & Computer Technology Corporation (SCT) (Malvern, Pa.; www.sctcorp.com) as its enterprise-wide solution for manufacturing, distribution and financial management. The contract for software and related maintenance fees is valued at approximately $2.2 million. In state-of-the art plants located in northern California, Blue Diamond can shell and process 2.5 million pounds of almonds in a single day. The company will implement ADAGE in three manufacturing and distribution facilities on HP Intel-based servers in a Microsoft BackOffice environment running Windows NT and utilizing the Microsoft SQL Server database. ADAGE is an object-oriented, graphical ERP solution with a special emphasis on the process and hybrid manufacturing/distribution industries. ADAGE employs a workflow-based approach that focuses on configuring objects and business rules — rather than traditional software modules — to model key business processes across the supply chain. BellSouth Teams Up with Carnegie Group to Launch Solution Advisor BellSouth (Atlanta, Ga.) has launched a service called Solution Advisor which offers its small business customers customized, individualized recommendations for telecommunications solutions over the World Wide Web. BellSouth small business customers can now either use Solution Advisor or continue to obtain service recommendations over the phone. Knowledge engineering consulting provided by Carnegie Group Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.cgi.com), an intelligent systems integrator, enabled BellSouth to utilize best practices and customer information in the development of the Solution Advisor technology. Solution Advisor harnesses BellSouth's expertise about solving small business communications challenges, analyzes the responses to questions customers provide online and offers instant recommendations. Visit Solution Advisor at BellSouth's Small Business Services web site located at http://www.smlbiz.bellsouth.com. FourGen Changes Name to Endura FourGen Software Inc. (Seattle, Wash.), a provider of enterprise distribution management application solutions for manufacturers, has changed its name to Endura Software Corp. (www.enduracorp.com). The new name was chosen to more accurately reflect the company's business focus of helping clients win and keep customers profitably. Endura's Enterprise software solution includes order management, distribution and inventory control, purchasing, replenishment, and financial management applications; customization tools; and a decision-support toolset for business analysis. Intelligroup Signs Consulting Deal with Baan Intelligroup Inc. (Iselin, N.J.; www.intelligroup.com), a system integrator of ERP solutions, has been named a member of The Baan Company's Consulting Alliance Program. Baan (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.baan.com) is a provider of enterprise business software solutions for manufacturers. Intelligroup will provide project management and implementation services for Baan solutions direct to the marketplace on a worldwide basis. Intelligroup will offer a variety of enterprise-wide services through its Baan Implementation Services, including on-site consulting, offshore development, application maintenance and fixed-time/fixed-price engagement options to clients looking to utilize Baan applications for their business. Intelligroup delivers offshore development project solutions for Baan implementations and continues to develop innovations in consulting solutions for the ERP market. Intelligroup has also customized its 4Sight Plus Toolset for Baan implementations to enable better results in project planning, resource planning and project management. Developed using the Baan toolset, the 4Sight Plus Toolset for Baan is technically and functionally integrated with Baan's Enterprise Modeler for configuration, business process modeling and redesign. PeopleSoft Acquires Salerno Manufacturing Systems PeopleSoft Inc. (Pleasanton, Calif.; www.peoplesoft.com), a provider of enterprise application software, has acquired Salerno Manufacturing Systems, a provider of quality management solutions. All Salerno employees, including development, support and sales staff, have been relocated to PeopleSoft offices in Southfield, Mich. Salerno recently completed porting a beta version of its Quality application to PeopleTools, the PeopleSoft development environment. The Quality application is scheduled to be generally available with the PeopleSoft 7.5 enterprise application suite in the first half of 1998. PeopleSoft Quality will allow quality engineers to identify trends and address problems as they occur, by gathering real-time data from the shop floor. Traditional quality systems have focused on tracking data for the sole purpose of improving processes after the fact. PeopleSoft Quality takes this function one step further with real-time data collection and robust process analysis that allows global manufacturers to regain control of their processes, automate labor intensive tasks, improve communication within their enterprise, and accelerate their ISO 9000 implementations. PeopleSoft's enterprise solution for manufacturing includes the PeopleSoft Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Distribution, Financials, and HRMS applications, as well as the Internet-based Supply Chain Collaborator for linking trading partners. Nestle Installs ORTEMS for Planning and Scheduling Nestle (Glendale, Calif.), one of the world's largest food processors, has certified ORTEMS 6.0 from ORTEMS Americas Inc. (Chicago, Ill.) as its worldwide standard plant-level advanced planning and scheduling solution. ORTEMS is currently installed in seven Nestle plants, including plants in Europe, South America and the Asia Pacific. As a result of initial success in individual plants in Europe, Nestec, Nestle's Technical Assistance Company, became integrally involved in the development of ORTEMS Synchronized MRP solution. Nestle's involvement was to ensure software enhancements vital to improve the production scheduling process through a better synchronization between manufacturing and packaging. ORTEMS enables Nestle to perform continuous rapid rescheduling, including crew reassignment in the event of last-minute changes in demand and production problems. The net result for Nestle has been improved operational excellence. Nestle operates 489 factories worldwide. Two hundred fifty plants have implemented the Nestle FMS1 manufacturing system. ORTEMS integrates with FMS1 via ORTEMS' Visual Interface Configurator (VIC) middleware. ORTEMS is working with Nestle in projects to integrate with SSA's BPCS, Marcam's Protean, and SAP's R/3 ERP solutions. ORTEMS software, especially its new Synchronized MRP solution, is designed to provide complete optimization and synchronization of production in a dynamic, multi-criteria, multi-resource environment. Optimized schedules are created in support of criteria chosen by the user to support any variety of complex scheduling strategies. ORTEMS real-time simulations enable schedulers to quickly evaluate performance to stated objectives, ensuring the most advantageous balancing of materials, plant productivity, and customer service. ORTEMS' advanced design and algorithm permits improved responsiveness to unplanned events; improved synchronization of production and packaging with diverse product mix; and superior available-to-promise and on-time delivery. ORTEMS Visual Interface Configurator enables standard component plug and play integration with virtually all enterprise information systems, including ERP, MES, and other third-party solutions.

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