“Our research found that organizations are striving towards more accurate and comprehensive information on which to base their important business decisions. The research shows businesses are ready to transform into information driven organizations in 2007 and beyond through advanced use of technology.” said Mark Smith, CEO and EVP of Research at Ventana Research.

Among the key research findings, Ventana Research found:
· Information management is just beginning to mature. Nearly two-thirds of organizations (66%) are still in the early stages of information management maturity, with the large majority of organizations built on entry-level technologies such as data warehousing and business intelligence (BI).
· Data governance is not widespread but is rated a high priority. More than half of respondents reported that their organizations do not publish a formal data governance policy but those that do tend to be large companies.
· Broad diversification of Information Management is underway. While our research found a heavy existing focus on BI, data warehousing, data quality and data integration, there is a significant diversification underway with new projects in progress or planned in enterprise master data management, enterprise search, information security, enterprise information integration, and data governance.
· Customer information is the most important but followed by financial then product information assets. Customer information holds the highest priority among the information assets of companies, according to survey respondents. Over 50 percent of organizations ranked
customer information first followed by financial information with 36 percent.

Ventana Research will expand on the key findings of the research study Information Management Actions, Intentions, Perceptions and Trends in Information at a live interactive webinar on Tuesday, December 5 at 9:00am Pacific.

More information on the webinar and the study can be found at www.ventanaresearch.com.

“Vendors and organizations alike must recognize that MEA’s are not just about mobilizing a particular application, but rather delivering a set of composite applications based on the mobile workers business processes,” said Stephen Drake, program director of IDC’s Mobile Enterprise research. “Recognizing this, the underlying platform infrastructure plays a critical role in the delivery of such MEA’s. Vendors must continue to enhance their platform or otherwise look to support other existing platforms. Organizations should seek out suppliers that offer a robust underlying infrastructure to support the applications and provide enterprise-grade scalability for future expansion.”

“The worldwide growth of cellular networks, the proliferation of handheld devices, and a general level of ‘connection’ in individuals’ personal lives are quickly finding their way into the enterprise,” said Mary Wardley, vice president of IDC’s CRM applications research. “The current trend in enterprise applications is to ‘mobilize’ the application by giving employees access to salient portions of the application’s content while working in an ‘always available’ mode with various levels of connectivity.”

IDC’s study identified several factors that are driving and impacting this emerging market:
· Varying requirements for application functionality and data based on employee role and time criticality;
· Ability for carriers, device manufacturers, ISVs, and systems integrators to provide packaged solutions to end-user organizations;
· Sophistication of organizations as it relates to mobility, and;
· Horizontal deployments across organizations that drive collaborative, customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

More information and a copy of the study is available at idc.com

StorePerform’s President Srikant Vasan will continue to provide strategic guidance for the StorePerform group. No headcount reductions are planned as part of this acquisition.

“States Kim Eaton, RedPrairie President, Retail Productivity Solutions, “We have led the industry by delivering optimized scheduling based on projected customer traffic and related sales. This workload typically represents two-thirds of the store’s required labor. However, Store Execution Management also plays a vital role in optimizing the workforce and, therefore, the retail environment. StorePerform allows retailers to schedule and track the remaining third – task-driven labor requirements, such as inventory resets, new displays, product recalls, etc. These task-driven requirements have dramatically increased in recent years with the advent of advanced price optimization and merchandizing solutions that create added workload for the store operation.”

Eaton adds, “True workforce optimization requires a labor schedule that considers demand from traffic and task drivers. Combined with world-class time and attendance, workforce analytics and learning management, RedPrairie’s Retail Productivity suite now provides the kind of end-to-end workforce optimization that retailers will leverage to outperform their competition. This integrated view of the retail operation pays dividends by reducing the costs of operating the business and providing the ability to maximize the performance of every store employee.”

“This is one of the more logical and beneficial retail software deals to have transpired in 2006,” observes Rob Garf, Research Director at AMR Research. “Combining workforce management and task management assets makes sense for RedPrairie, which now has an additional store operations product in its arsenal. It can use its installed base and marketing power to penetrate a relatively immature market. More importantly though, the deal makes sense for the retail community, which should find tremendous value from procuring these complementary systems from a single vendor. This acquisition proves that RedPrairie is serious about integrating data and processes between workforce and task management applications.”

This acquisition will close in the next 20-30 days.

Additional information can be found at www.RedPrairie.com.

Available on-site at the client’s facilities or at TZA University in Long Grove, IL, the programs focus on the integration of logistics best-practices with human resource management and development and are targeted for associates, supervisors and managers. The curriculum has been designed, developed and facilitated by training specialists with extensive consulting and operational experience to provide participants with the tools they need to achieve the optimal performance levels. Through live presentations, case studies, thought-provoking exercises, and guided discussions, participants will be exposed to new tools, strategies and concepts that they can implement immediately on return to their businesses.

Michael Droske, a skilled educator in developing leaders and managers in both “blue collar” and “white collar” environments, leads the TZA Training Division.

“Michael and his team have developed a high level of technical expertise in a wide range of distribution issues, coupled with the ability to explain technical topics at almost any level of detail. Their unique combination of skills is an essential element as we launch this new venture,” said Evan Danner, TZA’s President.

More information about TZA’s new training programs and consulting offerings are available at the TZA website.

Commissioning Tags – during picking, the RedPrairie warehouse management solution, DLx® Warehouse, will commission the RFID tags that are required for each item on the order. DLx Warehouse will generate the EPC numbers for each case and pallet in the correct format and will relate them to a bar-coded license plate number, if necessary. These RFID-enabled labels will be applied to the appropriate cartons on the pallet. Similarly, an RFID-enabled pallet label will be generated.

Tag Aggregation – RedPrairie solutions aggregate case-level tag information for each case on a pallet and associate it with the pallet-level tag. This helps to reduce the amount of data that needs to be read at the reader portals. By reading the pallet tag and a definable number of case tags, the user can get a positive confirmation when moving pallets in the warehouse. This aggregation of tag list data is also passed in standard EPCIS format to the database that is shared with the retailer for data analysis. This analysis capability benefits both Unilever and the retailers.

Shipping Verification – At shipping, DLx Warehouse will physically read the tags that move through the reader portal at the shipping dock. The GLN (Global Location Number) will be assigned to the pallet depicting the pallet’s site location. This is the final step in capturing the tag list data and ensuring that the order was identified correctly.

“By replacing manually intensive data exchange tasks with automated processes, more time is available for analysis and value creation,” said Simon Ellis, Supply Chain Director at Unilever. “As RFID begins to proliferate, EPCIS will serve as the foundation for manufacturers like Unilever to gain valuable insight, predict needs and problems before they occur, and improve our business operations and responsiveness to each of our partners within the supply chain.”

Comments Tom Kozenski, RedPrairie Vice President, “Manufacturers and Retailers can share vast amounts of item data by accurately tracking RIFD tagged products. RedPrairie’s RFID capabilities help Unilever sift through the raw data and analyze store level promotional success within their EPCIS business analytics.”

Source: Red Prarie

Oracle Production Scheduling helps manufacturers to optimize process, semiconductor and discrete manufacturing shop floor operations through out-of-the-box integration with Oracle Discrete Manufacturing, Oracle Process Manufacturing, and Oracle Shop Floor Management. Customers can create highly detailed shop floor schedules that automatically detect floating bottlenecks, simulate corrective actions and measure shop floor performance improvements. This gives companies the ability to pre-empt supply chain disruptions and maximize shop-floor efficiency and throughput while minimizing cost.

Oracle Production Scheduling and Oracle Strategic Network Optimization can be leveraged as part of the Oracle E-Business Suite or as a stand-alone product.

Source: Oracle 27-NOV-2006

The new organization will provide integrated real-time information solutions and services for securing and managing global supply chains. Vic Verma, previous chief executive officer of Savi Technology, acquired by Lockheed Martin in June, will lead the new group and serve as chief executive officer of Savi Networks. Verma highlighted that the newly formed Savi Group will leverage its expertise to address the development and delivery of integrated ITV, Cargo Security and Mobile Asset Management solutions for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Defense (including the U.S. Transportation Command and the Defense Logistics Agency), as well as other government agencies, port and terminal operators, and commercial customers.

“We will offer customers complete, integrated solutions, including powerful analysis tools that will enhance their situational awareness, security, and decision making in tracking and managing shipments every step along the way as they move through global supply chains from point of origin to destination,” Verma said. “To meet these significant challenges for our customers, Savi Group is being ‘turbocharged’ with Lockheed Martin resources, technical expertise and seasoned leadership in managing large complex systems integration projects.”

An important charter of the Savi Group will be to leverage the Savi Networks joint venture between Savi Technology and Hutchison Port Holdings, the world’s largest port operator. Savi Networks provides information services based on wireless data transmissions on the location, security and condition of cargo shipments as they are transported end-to-end throughout the global supply chain.

The Group will also support corporate initiatives for Secure Freight and Logistics. “We are actively participating in Lockheed Martin-wide efforts to offer the best integrated solutions to address our customers’ significant and complex asset management and security challenges,” Verma said.

http://www.supply-

chain.org/page.ww?name=Events+Calendar+Detail§ion=Events+Calendar&id=75
.
SCC was incorporated in 1997 as a global, not-for-profit trade
association with membership open to all companies interested in improving
supply-chain efficiencies through the use of SCOR(R), the supply-chain
diagnostic tool that enables users to address, improve, and communicate
supply-chain management practices within and between interested parties
from the customer’s customer to the supplier’s supplier. The Supply-Chain
Council’s members include Fortune 500 companies from industries worldwide,
consulting firms, computer systems and solutions providers, and educational
and nonprofit institutions. There are currently more than 800 corporate
members.
For more information on the Supply-Chain Council, SCOR(R), its members,
and its activities, please visit http://www.supply-chain.org; or contact
the Council Headquarters at +1 202 962 0440, SCC-E at +32(0)2-627.0160
(Brussels, Belgium); or email info@supply-chain.org. Registration for all
SCC educational seminars and sessions is available online.
(R)SCOR is a registered trademark in the United States and Europe.

SOURCE Supply-Chain Council

*Almost all (96%) respondents say the ability to return merchandise from home is important to their purchasing decisions.
*Nine out of 10 (88%) respondents highlight the time factor—the ability to shop day or night or in the wee hours of the morning— as a key benefit of shopping at home.
*When it comes to returns, three out of four adults prefer to use a pre-paid U.S. Postal Service label as a return method when shopping from home.
*It comes as no surprise that a large percentage (71%) of respondents say that shipping fees are a drawback to shopping from home.
*The number one item purchased by home shoppers is seasonal apparel.
*More than three out of five online shoppers (63%) say they feel that shopping at home saves them money.
*More than half of respondents say they are more likely to shop with retailers who provide them with the option to return purchases directly from home with a pre-paid label.
*Responding to the pressure on household income, half of survey respondents say they are curtailing discretionary spending due to fuel prices.

Source: logisticstoday.com

Davenport, IA — November 17, 2006 — Kaplan University announced today the introduction of an online Six Sigma Certificate program for professionals interested in leading complex process improvements.

Six Sigma methodologies are designed to help businesses improve productivity and generate savings. “In today’s global economy, large companies increasingly rely on process improvement to maintain quality and manage costs,” said Kristina Belanger, vice president of continuing and professional studies at Kaplan. “As the demand for the Six Sigma method grows, so too does the demand for Six Sigma-certified professionals.”

The Six Sigma Certificate is a self-study program that can be completed in six months for the Green Belt level, or 12 months for the advanced Black Belt level. Six Sigma students will learn to more effectively manage quality improvements in both processes and projects. The curriculum includes learning how to define project goals, measure existing performance and analyze defects to eliminate them from business processes.

Professionals with Six Sigma certification typically earn nearly 10 percent more than those without certification, according to the American Society of Quality 2004 Salary Survey. The typical salary for a Six Sigma Black Belt is $88,858.

Several of the largest companies in the United States, including General Electric, use the Six Sigma program. It can be incorporated into every facet of a business, including production, human resources, accounts receivable and technical support.

Kaplan said it would begin enrollment in the certificate program immediately. More information is available on the university’s Web site.

Based in Davenport, Iowa, Kaplan University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA). Kaplan University currently serves more than 26,000 online and on-ground students.