All White PapersFive reasons why organizations should consider high availabilityDramatic changes in cost and ease of use have made downtime-reducing technologies more accessible.
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Six essential considerations when selecting an ERP systemThe right Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can integrate key business operations, delivering significant return on investment (ROI). The wrong ERP application can drain your IT budget, or even create new problems for your business. Asking your company and the vendors being evaluated the right questions during the selection process are critical. Here are six aspects you should consider.
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Six fatal mistakes to avoid in ERP implementationsIt is a well known fact that there are hundreds of horror stories out there of things that have gone wrong with ERP systems implementations and like all bad news it is often exaggerated so as to guarantee a dramatic effect on the recipient audience.
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Gain a competitive edge with an efficient Business Intelligence processBusiness intelligence is the key to making successful management decisions. Increased global competition, pricing pressure and the need to rationalize resources have made business and operational measurement vital on all levels in a company. Efficient planning and analysis capabilities can favorably impact almost any area of your business, ranging from top management decision taking, key performance indicators (KPIs) and ROI calculations, to improved business partner performance overviews, competitiveness analysis and internal efficiency control. Business intelligence and data warehousing tools are no longer only for the exclusive use of financial controllers. The white paper discusses how these tools can be used across company divisions, giving a correct, relevant and efficient overview of information that covers all areas of responsibility.
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Improve profitability with an efficient financial management processA financial management system can automate accounting and financial reporting to suit your changing business needs. It can process all customer and supplier accounting and act as an efficient, integrated tool to streamline payments. No matter the size of your organization, financial software keeps track of day-to-day financial details and can act as a valuable resource in terms of planning and decision-making. This white paper discusses how financial management software can help you recognize areas of improvement in your current business and how you can use this information to offer better added value and services to your customers.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the wine, spirits and beverages industryToday’s wine, spirits and beverages industry faces ever-shifting demand for its products, strict regulation and increasing price competition. World-class companies in this mature industry are succeeding by scaling up production, streamlining their supply chains, expanding into new geographic areas, implementing more efficient processes, cleverly marketing products, and focusing on ever closer relationships with suppliers, partners and customers. This brief examines the issues faced by the people who wholesale and distribute beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks and other beverages.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the chemicals industryThe chemicals industry faces ever stricter regulation, unpredictable supply costs and increasing price competition for its volume products. This brief takes a look at the issues faced by the people who manufacture, wholesale and distribute chemicals. It examines the current state of the industry and explores the future issues that confront it. The brief also spells out some of the technological requirements that are specific to the industry.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the consumer durables industryConsumer durables are so much fun! A new MP3 player, a pair of expensive shoes, an espresso machine, a new watch – with more disposable income and more leisure time it seems we just can’t stop buying the latest fashion item or cool toy or kitchen gadget. The consumer durables industry is booming, showing growth year after year, decade after decade.This industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the consumer durables industry and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve the efficiency of the industry supply chain and reduce overall costs for wholesalers and distributors.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the electrical products distribution industryDespite intense price competition for its volume products, the electrical products distribution industry remains healthy and dynamic. This brief takes a look at the issues faced by wholesalers and distributors of electrical products today. The brief also spells out some of the technological requirements that are specific to the industry and matches them with the software products that IBS already provides to many leading companies in this market segment.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the food industryThe food industry is by far the largest distribution sector in the global economy. Food wholesalers and distributors are leaders in the use of information technology. They use IT to manage all aspects of their business, from tracking customer demands, through inventory management, to handling returns and rebates. This industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the market and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve the efficiency of food industry supply chains, reducing overall costs for wholesalers and distributors.
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Winning supply chain strategies for industrial machinery and equipmentIndustrial machinery and equipment is an industry that provides a range of products and services to manufacturers, primary producers, foresters, construction companies, and homebuilders. It takes a highly sophisticated, global distribution industry to provide the machinery and equipment that manufacturers and other parts of the industry needs.This industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the industrial machinery and equipment distribution business and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve the efficiency of the industry supply chain and reduce overall costs for wholesalers and distributors.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the industrial supplies industryTens of thousands of companies play a role in the distribution of supplies to industry around the world. Industrial supplies, from nuts and bolts to robot memory chips, flow along complex supply chains that can stretch across many countries. It takes a highly sophisticated, global industry to provide the variety and choice of supplies that manufacturers and other customers want. This industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the industrial supplies distribution industry and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve the efficiency of the industry supply chain and reduce overall costs for wholesalers and distributors.
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Winning supply chain strategies for the manufacturing industryAn increasing emphasis on demand-driven production is forcing a revolution of the processes and routines of manufacturers. In their quest to remain profitable, manufacturing companies are being forced to adopt leaner and more efficient production techniques, to outsource large parts of their business, and to integrate suppliers, partners and customers ever tighter into their business. This cross-industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the sector and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve efficiency and reduce overall costs for the leading companies in this business.
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Winning supply chain strategies for medical equipment and suppliesThe healthcare industry occupies a huge sector of the economy. The supply chain for medical equipment and supplies (MES) stretches around the world, across borders and cultures, under different political regimes, from manufacturer to consumer. MES is a growing industry, but one with much competition at all levels. This industry brief takes a look at the current situation and trends in the MES sector, and explains how IT solutions from IBS can improve the efficiency across all the industry supply chain and reduce overall costs.
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Winning supply chain strategies for paper merchants and distributorsThe recurring theme for all involved in the paper industry is heightened competition, overcapacity and low margins. Industry size and scale is increasingly important for profitability, while at the same time preserving the best of local service and brands. It is the players who work smarter, more efficiently and who can broaden their services, products and customer value in these difficult times that will ultimately succeed. This white paper will tell you how to be competitive in the paper merchants industry.
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Winning supply chain strategies for pharmaceutical and healthcare wholesale and distributionPharmaceutical wholesalers comprise the lifeline within the pharmaceutical industry, providing continuity of supply and facilities for storage. They also offer a range of supporting services, such as information technology systems, advanced labeling solutions, inventory control systems and product withdrawal notifications, which form an essential part of the total healthcare package. These companies and institutions all operate in an environment where speed and efficiency may mean the difference between life and death.
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Winning IT strategies for publishers and book distributorsThe modern publishing industry is rapidly evolving. Print-on-demand technology is transforming printing and distribution models. Electronic books are growing in popularity. Supermarkets are major retailers of books, affecting trading terms and pushing the industry to utilize sophisticated supply chain technologies such as RFID and EDI. ONIX compliance and 13-digit ISBN require publishers and distributors to re-assess their systems’ capabilities. This white paper addresses current trends and technologies.
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Delivering digital content in the publishing industryThe delivery of digital content is an emerging and rapidly changing technology that is working hard to find its place in the overall publishing industry. While not exactly taking the consumer market by storm, digital content has established a significant place in the education and reference market. For most publishers, digital content is an important new route to market. This white paper explores the key question - is it going to reduce market value or deliver significant incremental value?
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Delivering supply chain excellenceThe proliferation of IT systems has transformed the face of business. There is very little in terms of the operational processes within an enterprise that is not affected by IT. If there is a definable process, there is an IT solution that can automate it. This white paper concentrates on IT’s contribution to Supply Chain Execution and Management. IT systems have had a massive impact on how companies operate, both internally and with their suppliers and customers. Business processes, expectation levels and system requirements are likely to have changed significantly and in five years time, they are sure to have changed again.
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Demand-driven manufacturing and the Theory of ContstraintsDemand-driven manufacturing and the Theory of Constraints (TOC, also known as constraint management) are often referred to, but what do they mean for your business? How can your manufacturing operations achieve success by using these ideas? How can an IT solution that supports demand-driven manufacturing and TOC benefit a company? This white paper presents the ideas behind demand-driven manufacturing and highlights some of the advantages to be gained from business software that makes these ideas a reality.
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Drive business forward with graphical planning toolsGraphical Planning tools enable information from any data source to be compiled on a user's PC and tailored into any format required. They allow the user to look at the information in as many different views as they like and in a huge array of graphical formats. These comprehensive and highly flexible views allow the user to make key decisions based on live, accurate information and to make changes to the information where needed. This paper demonstates how graphical planning tools in IBS Enterprise make the user more efficient and enable them to gain greater satisfaction by helping them achieve their goals with an easy-to-use, yet comprehensive solution.
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Inventory optimization can increase your profitabilityOne of the largest capital expenses for many distributors and wholesalers is stock. Finding the balance between ensuring products are available when customers need them and not holding too much, is business critical. In order to get accurate forecasting, the statistical forecast figures have to be based on requested demand rather than delivery statistics. This paper demonstrates how an an inventory optimization system is designed to help companies increase accuracy and overcome these issues in order to enhance customer service and lower operational costs.
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Less stock, more profit: Inventory optimizationInventory optimization is the area where most ERP software implementations normally get the highest and fastest Return on Investment (ROI). But, surprisingly, many companies that have implemented ERP have not yet added a dedicated inventory optimization module. It is a huge potential for companies to maximize the value of their IT investment for a relatively small incremental cost.
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Make the right decisions with Business IntelligenceIt is not so very long ago that most companies made decisions based on analyzing traditional reports from their ERP applications and making experienced guesses. The addition of modern Key Performance Indicator (KPI) analysis tools and integration of 'data warehouses' containing ERP information have allowed companies to create Business Intelligence (BI) environments that provide greater insight for better and more accurate decision making. This white paper explores how to make this information available to allow optimal decision making for your business and presents six strategies for BI success.
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Increasing efficiency drives profitability for paper merchantsRecent years have seen the overall structure of the paper industry go through some significant changes. Paper merchants, in particular, have felt these effects and much consolidation of the market, both European and global, has occurred. The recurring theme for all involved in the paper industry is high competition and low margins. The merchants that work smarter, more efficiently and can broaden their services in these difficult times are the ones that will ultimately succeed.
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Stay alert and improve your business with supply chain event management More and more companies, particularly those dealing with very large numbers of transactions, are utilizing event alerts to help synchronize and streamline their supply chains. In many cases, this is in response to the fear that major orders can be lost, production facilities can be wasted and customer satisfaction eroded as a result of something that could easily have been resolved with a simple, timely and targeted alert. This paper discusses the advantages of having ‘inbuilt’ alerts within the business system.
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Using EAI software to achieve best business practice in system and process integrationMany IT development initiatives now focus on linking systems, applications and databases to create new views of the existing business and to make new ways of doing business possible. Integration systems require more flexibility than ERP, CRM and other prefabricated applications. When you select an integration solution the only thing you do know is that there is no way of telling what systems, applications and databases will need to be integrated in the future. This white paper demonstrates how EAI software can be used in a simple business scenario to link disconnected systems both within and between companies.
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Download competitive supply chain white paperStreamlining your supply chain can boost revenue, reduce costs and help to grow your business. The days of managing
your supply chain from the back-office are over. Today’s successful companies understand that a lean, efficient supply chain maximizes revenue and helps stimulate growth – and the top executives at these companies aren’t afraid to wield their supply chains like competitive weapons in the boardroom. This white paper explores several real life company examples of leveraging supply chain efficiencies.
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Traceability in the pharmaceutical supply chainThe distribution of counterfeit medicine is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest threats. It is believed that 7% of all medicines world-wide are counterfeit. The figures become even more shocking on a regional basis, with 40% in South America and nearly 70% in West Africa. This is rapidly becoming far more of a health problem than it is an economical problem. This white paper explores how IT solutions are helping pharmaceutical companies tackle the problem and turn around a situation that could, left un-checked, end up being a global disaster.
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