Having worked my way through a full agenda at this year's APICS International Conference and Exhibition visiting the exhibits and sessions and meeting

with numerous attendees, I'm still working on digesting all the information I brought back. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to bring it all together and use it to the best of our advantage. And with the holidays fast upon us, most everyone is trying to do the same with their families. Thinking such thoughts made me realize that the most effective businesses are now practically required to have scores of people thinking like this about their operations every day: How do we bring it all together and use it to our best advantage?

Thus the topic for this month's issue — Integrated Resource Management. Looking at it from an information technology (IT) viewpoint , Jorge Lopez points out why integrated resource management is not a strategy, but rather a method to support a strategy (see "Integrated Resource Management: An Internal Methodology for Affecting Business Outcomes"). When looked at in this way, the true value of your IT investment can be reaped.

Following the integration theme, Lance LaCross explains the rising importance of integrated service management and why it's become the newest competitive weapon, particularly in the automotive, electronics, consumer goods, industrial products, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage equipment industries (see "Integrated Service Management: A Key Competitive Component").

The LaCross article fits appropriately into our feature section this month not only for its integration aspects, but for its focus on service. As you should know, APICS launched its service initiative during this year's conference. This initiative holds great possibilities for the society, not only because it brings to light the customer-focused service mentality necessary for a business to compete in today's marketplace, but because it promises to bring APICS education and certification to the service industries as well. The potential for expanding the society into this arena is vast, and holds great promise for APICS and its members. Go to "APICS Report" for more information about the launch and intentions of the APICS Service Initiative.

Other coverage of the APICS International Conference and Exhibition also appears in this issue. Steve Melnyk presents his take on the offerings presented by this year's exhibitors, making particular note of the fact that MRP no longer exists as a stand-alone software solution from a software vendor's viewpoint, and that the Web rules the future of supply chain activity (see "The 1997 APICS Exhibition: Trends in Software Evolution").

Words of wisdom from this year's keynote speakers, as well as a glance at a number of the most well-attended presentations can be found starting in "Lively and Insightful Presentations Illuminate APICS '97".

Capping our conference coverage is the first of two installments on roundtable sessions held during the conference to explore two issues of importance to nearly everyone: quality improvement and software selection. The first roundtable, which is presented in this issue (see "Working the Problem: A roundtable discussion"), deals with improving quality and operations via the kaizen process. A cross section of participants, representing consultants, academia, practitioners and vendors, met to discuss this process and how it helps companies achieve real, measurable improvement, while inspiring employees and management alike to keep the improvement process alive and ongoing.

In the January issue, the results of the second roundtable discussion on software selection will be printed.

Here's hoping that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. See you in 1998.

David Greenfield, editor

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