April 1997, Volume 14, No. 4 News in Brief

Gensym and Camelot Spin Off PDS
Gensym (Cambridge, Mass.; http://www.gensym.com), a supplier of software products for developing and deploying intelligent systems, and Camelot IS-2 International, a manufacturing consultancy, have formed a joint venture company to provide an open application framework for intelligent supply chain solutions. The new venture, PDS Technologies (Cambridge, Mass.), will address the increasing complexities of supply chain and production management for a variety of manufacturing industries.

PDS plans to offer an application framework to model, plan, schedule, optimize and execute supply chain and production strategy. This new framework, called PDS/2, is based on Gensym's G2 software, which provides a foundation for intelligent systems that manage complex, dynamic processes.

PDS/2 will be designed to integrate with manufacturing software across all levels of supply chain processes, to ensure that the processes are optimized and synchronized. Working with consulting and technology partners, PDS intends to provide solutions for a variety of manufacturing industries, such as electronics, semiconductor, food and beverage, oil and gas, and chemical.

i2 Acquires Operations Planning Group from CSC
i2 Technologies (Irving, Tex.; http://www.i2.com), a provider of intelligent planning and optimization software for global supply chain management, has acquired the Operations Planning Group (OPG) of Computer Sciences Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.; http://www.csc.com). OPG was the products and services division of CSC which provided Operation Planning Environment (OPE) optimization software for planning and scheduling.

i2 will continue to support the OPE customer base. All employees of OPG will become employees of i2.

i2 has already begun embedding distribution-specific algorithms from OPG within its Rhythm suite of products. Future Rhythm releases will feature enhanced flexible deployment, a concept featured in OPE that makes the best use of current finished goods inventory. Operations planners will be able to determine how finished goods inventories should be deployed from day to day to fulfill immediate customer orders, maintain inventory targets and minimize operating costs.

As part of the agreement, CSC will incorporate i2's Business Release Methodology into its own integration and implementation methodology, Catalyst, to ensure successful value-based implementations.

PPG Implements Bridgeware System
PPG Industries (Huntsville, Ala.; http://www.ppg.com), a manufacturer of windshields for major commercial and military aircraft, has begun implementation of a finite capacity planning system from Bridgeware (Hayward, Calif.; http://www.bridgeware.com). Bridge-ware's MPSwin-P Planning system, with its Computer Aided Scheduling (CAS) finite planning engine, analyzes demands for all master scheduled items against the key machine, labor or material component resources that will be required to produce them. Using a rule-based approach, the system can be used both automatically or interactively to suggest a new production plan.

MPSwin-S Scheduling is also available for short-interval sequencing and production line-loading. Bridgeware's DMSwin system provides sales forecasting and demand management capabilities. The three systems are often used together, linked to host ERP and other systems, as a complete supply chain decision management vehicle.

Read-Rite Licenses Solutions from PeopleSoft
Read-Rite (Milpitas, Calif.; http://www.readrite.com), a manufacturer of recording heads and assemblies for disk drives and cartridge tape drives, has signed a multi-million dollar licensing agreement with PeopleSoft (Pleasanton, Calif.; http://www.peoplesoft.com), a provider of enterprise-wide manufacturing solutions. Read-Rite will license PeopleSoft's workflow-enabled manufacturing, financial and distribution applications.

The PeopleSoft modular architecture will enable Read-Rite to begin its implementation with the Red Pepper supply chain solutions, integrated with its legacy environment, and then continue with the full PeopleSoft enterprise solution. Read-Rite has announced a new information systems technology strategy, which calls for investments totallying $15 million. The company's private voice, fax, data and video network will be expanded to handle increased communications between its Milpitas headquarters and its sites in Fremont and San Jose, Calif., several sites in the Far East, and its customers and suppliers.

Lockheed Martin Wins $28M ERP Contract from Fieldcrest Cannon
Fieldcrest Cannon (Kannapolis, N.C.), a manufacturer of towels, sheets and home finishing products, has selected Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md.; http://www.lockheed.com) to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in a two-year contract worth $28 million. Lockheed Martin's Integrated Business Solutions group will be responsible for overall program management and enterprise systems expertise.

Lockheed Martin has engaged Deloitte &Touche Consulting Group (Wilton, Conn.) to provide textile industry, consumer products and business process expertise, and Keane Inc. (Boston, Mass.) to provide applications development services.

The ERP system will be delivered in three phases supporting functional business activities with an integrated set of core applications that will become standardized across Fieldcrest Cannon. Phase I consists of a business process analysis and selection of appropriate software and hardware packages robust enough to support Fieldcrest Cannon's future information technology plans. Phase II will provide a conference room pilot which will test supply chain, order fulfillment, financial performance and product development capabilities. Phase III will be the deployment of the selected ERP backbone system across the Fieldcrest Cannon enterprise. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 1998.

Hershey Opts for SAP's R/3
Hershey Foods (Hershey, Pa.; http://www.hersheys.com), a confectionary producer, has selected the R/3 integrated suite of client/server business applications from SAP America (Wayne, Pa.; http://www.sap.com) for its new enterprise-wide information system. R/3 is fully Year 2000-compliant, and will furnish Hershey with the integration it needs in such applications as manufacturing, supply chain management, inventory, costing, finance, and sales and distribution. As a result, Hershey managers will be able to make critical decisions based on real-time information gathered by R/3 from many areas of the company.

Hershey will also use R/3 to reduce unnecessary paperwork and redundant data entry inherent in its non-integrated legacy systems, thereby allowing employees to focus on more productive, value-added work. When the implementation is complete, Hershey expects about 4,000 R/3 users.

Cincom and HP Target the MRO Market
Cincom Systems (Cincinnati, Ohio; http://www.cincom.com), a supplier of ERP software, has formed a global joint initiative with Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, Calif.; http://www.hp.com), a manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products. The two companies will expand their Premier Solution Provider partnership, which delivers manufacturing solutions to joint customers, into the market for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).

Most MRO is done by manufacturers of highly engineered products (HEP), such as aerospace and defense companies. In fact, much of the MRO growth (forecast to hit $60 billion by the year 2000) is being driven by expanding airline maintenance costs and military outsourcing. However, there are also additional sectors, including industrial equipment manufacturers as well as third-party suppliers to OEMs. As competition for MRO business intensifies, many companies who remanufacture are finding they need improved inventory management and shop floor control. Cincom and HP intend to offer their combined experience and products to manufacturers in the MRO marketplace.

Heinz Tackles Year 2000 Problem
H.J. Heinz (Pittsburgh, Pa.), a provider of processed food products, has fully deployed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from Marcam (Newton, Mass.; http://www.marcam.com) at its manufacturing plant in Kendal, England that addresses the Year 2000 problem. Marcam's PRISM 4.3 is an open enterprise application solution for process manufacturers that features Year 2000 compliance.