Intelligent Manufacturing € February € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 2
Intelligent Manufacturing € February € 1996 € Vol. 2
€ No. 2
Baan Co. (Menlo Park, Calif.), a provider of open,
client/server-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, has
established a software partners progaram with key third-party
software providers to bring added openness, robustness and
flexibility to its Triton ERP product. Baan is partnering with B.A.
Intelligence Networks (BAIN), Berclain, Business Objects, i2
Technologies, Interactive Software Systems, Premenos, SQL Systems,
and Wonderware to extend Triton functionality based upon each
company's track record and area of expertise.
The areas in which these partners will provide functionality include:
scheduling, plant maintenance, product data management, shop floor
control and execution systems, information management/data access
technologies, and electronic data interchange (EDI). Baan is working
with its partners from an engineering standpoint to ensure that the
resulting products are well integrated by offering increased levels
of connectivity within the Triton environment, including generic
APIs, data dictionary interfaces, a data exchange module, and
distributed data. In addition, the program will allow for expansion
of Baan's and its partners' ability to provide service and support
for their joint customers, as well as participation in joint sales
and marketing activities.
Loral Federal Systems (Oswego, N.Y.), a provider of advanced
solutions in manufacturing and logistics support for a variety of
government, commercial and international programs, has been awarded a
$12.8 million contract from Warner Robins Air Logistics Center
(Warner Robins, Ga.), to provide 79 very high speed integrated
circuit (VHSIC) central computers for Saudi Arabian F-15 aircraft
upgrades. Loral has responsibility for manufacturing the computers.
Deliveries will begin in February 1997 and are scheduled to be
completed in April 1998. The contract has options for an additional
10 computers and 100 E5690 input/output modules, bringing the total
potential contract value to $16 million.
Warner Robins Air Logistics Center is responsible for the foreign
military sale procurement to the Saudi Arabian government. The
upgraded computers will modernize Saudi Arabia's existing fleet. They
will be used for the Saudi in-country F-15 aircraft upgrades, from
the AP-1R to the third-generation computers - the F-15 VHSIC
computers.
Structural Dynamics Research Corp. (SDRC) (Milford, Ohio), a
supplier of mechanical design automation software, product data
management software and implementation services, has signed an
agreement with GAZ, one of the major Russian automotive companies.
GAZ has selected SDRC's I-DEAS Master Series software for use in its
design and manufacturing departments. The value of the software order
is approximately $400,000.
GAZ, with headquarters in Nizhni Novgorod, will use I-DEAS software
extensively in the development and refinement of its 1.5-ton light
trucks, vans, police and medical vehicles, and passenger cars.
Activities will include performing structural analysis of a vehicle's
body, suspension, and other sections; fatigue life analysis of
vehicle components; modal analysis; and design optimization.
GAZ will be able to analyze data from laboratory and road tests and
new vehicle structure simulations. Finite element modeling will allow
GAZ engineers to optimize vehicle structure design in the early
stages of the design process. With I-DEAS Test software applications,
the test lab will have the opportunity to play a more valuable role
throughout the mechanical design process.
GAZ will also be using I-DEAS software for plastics analysis, such as
producing complex tooling for thermoplastic injection molding. In
this particular application, I-DEAS will be used for geometry
modeling and for working with models imported from other CAD systems,
for finite element modeling and for mold process analysis of such
factors as mold filling, cooling, warping and shrinkage.
SAP America Inc. (Wayne, Pa.), a provider of client/server
business applications, has formed an electronic commerce alliance
with Sterling Software Inc. (Dallas, Tex.), a supplier of software
products and services for systems and applications management. The
two companies will develop customized electronic data interchange
(EDI) maps for North American automotive industry companies who want
to more effectively manage the supply chain and interface their
systems with modules of the SAP R/3 client/server applications suite
(see Intelligent Manufacturing, October 1995).
These new EDI maps will facilitate communication with R/3 using
Sterling's electronic commerce messaging gateway software,
GENTRAN:Server, as well as Sterling's SAP-specific implementation
services. Custom mapping between GENTRAN:Server and the manufacturing
functionality of R/3 will add an electronic commerce foundation to
R/3, extending its reach beyond the enterprise to meet the goal of
worldwide automated supply chain management for both customers and
suppliers.
Marson Corp. (Chelsea, Mass.), a manufacturer of rivets, rivet
tools and automotive body repair products, has chosen the Finished
Goods Series (FGS) product from E/Step Software (Tieton, Wash.) to
manage its finished goods inventories. FGS is an integrated, PC-based
software package designed to help companies reduce finished goods
inventories and improve customer service by computing accurate
inventory targets.
FGS uses a flexible database and a range of statistical forecasting
techniques, including expert systems. The software can exchange data
easily with other systems, such as order entry and MRP systems. It
can be reconfigured repeatedly to meet users' changing requirements,
and can utilize an unlimited number of new database fields at any
time.
Pritsker Corp. (Indianapolis, Ind.), a developer of simulation
technology for manufacturing scheduling, has announced plans to merge
with Time Compression Strategies Inc. (Indianapolis, Ind.), a
provider of consulting services in order fulfillment and synchronous
manufacturing techniques. The new company will retain the name
Pritsker Corp.
The new Pritsker will focus on the delivery of consulting services
and software systems to customers in the areas of simulation,
business process reengineering and manufacturing. The company will
offer a complete solution which includes advanced time-based design
concepts, dynamic simulation of system and process behavior, and
system implementation using the company's hardware and software
systems. The company will also offer services and software for
activity-based cost modeling.
System Software Associates Inc. (Chicago, Ill.), a supplier of
supply chain management and business process reengineering (BPR)
software, has opened three Global Centers of Excellence for the
automotive industry in Detroit, London and Dusseldorf. The Automotive
GCEs will provide a state-of-the-art technology environment where
clients and prospects can work with SSA consultants to apply BPCS
Client/Server to their business requirements, as well as leverage
global experience and knowledge in the automotive industry. SSA's
BPCS Client/Server provides BPR and integration of all operations,
including multi-mode manufacturing processes, supply chain management
and global financial solutions.
According to SSA, there are almost 400 suppliers to the automotive
industry using BPCS Client/Server to manage their businesses. Users
include Eaton, Mazda, Fiat, Volvo Truck, Standard Products, and
GKN.
Numetrix Ltd. (Toronto, Ont., Canada), a provider of intelligent
supply chain management software solutions, has announced the
completion and implementation of the first joint Numetrix-SAP R/3
integrated solution. The solution was designed for Imperial Tobacco
Ltd. (Montreal, Queb., Canada) and implemented at three of Imperial
Tobacco's plants and at its corporate headquarters. The Numetrix-SAP
R/3 solution went live on Jan. 8, 1996. Last month, Numetrix and SAP
(Wayne, Pa.) joined forces to provide seamless integration between
their products (see
Intelligent
Manufacturing, January 1996).
Numetrix was invited into an ongoing SAP R/3 implementation at
Imperial Tobacco when the need for finite scheduling at the
implementation site in Montreal was recognized. Imperial Tobacco
selected Numetrix to provide the critical scheduling functionality.
Full project implementation was completed in six months. As part of
the project, Numetrix developed detailed modules which represent the
production environment at each of Imperial Tobacco's plants using two
of Numetrix's software modules: Schedulex, a finite capacity
scheduler, and Supply Chain Integrator (SCI), which enables
collaborative decision-making across an enterprise. Numetrix modules
provide a complementary software system to SAP's R/3.
Leveraging technology developed by Numetrix, a configurable module of
the SCI called the Numetrix wrapper was developed using SAP's ABAP/4
programming language. The Numetrix wrapper enabled SAP's R/3
environment to be seamlessly integrated with Numetrix's production
planning and scheduling solution. Together, SCI and the Numetrix
wrapper will allow users to establish integrated links between SAP
and Numetrix using off-the-shelf software. Numetrix now offers the
wrapper as an optical component of its SCI module, which can be
implemented by Numetrix consultants in any enterprise to link SCI
with any SAP R/3 environment.
Marcam Corp. (Newton, Mass.), a supplier of open enterprise
applications for process and discrete manufacturers, has signed a
deal with Rexene Corp. (Dallas, Tex.), a manufacturer of
thermoplastic and petrochemical products. Rexene will use Marcam's
Protean application suite for major upgrading of its enterprise-wide
information systems.
Rexene will install Protean maintenance and procurement applications
initially at its Rexene Products Division (Odessa, Tex.), a producer
of plastic resins and petrochemicals. Subsequent installations will
be implemented at Rexene's CT Film Division, which produces plastic
film at manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin, Georgia, Delaware,
Utah, and the U.K. Future plans also call for the installation of
Protean customer service and manufacturing modules. Protean provides
advanced functions for managing customer orders, logistics,
production, financials and maintenance.
Intellution Inc. (Norwood, Mass.), a vendor of industrial
automation software, has signed an original equipment manufacturer
(OEM) agreement with Applied Statistics Inc. (St. Paul, Minn.), a
developer of Windows-based manufacturing execution system (MES)
software solutions. The agreement will enable Intellution to market
ASI's statistical process control software, currently under the name
FIX Stats.