Infor recently announced the release of Infor Automotive Exchange v11.0 and Infor Supplier Exchange v11.3, two products that deliver embedded industry-required collaboration throughout the automotive supplier value chain. Infor Automotive Exchange (previous version 10.3 and previous product name AutoConnect) provides automotive suppliers with connectivity with their OEM and up-tier customers, whereas Infor Supplier Exchange (previous version 11.2 and previous product name SupplyWEB) provides connectivity with their downstream supply chain.

Both solutions are generally available now, and are integrated with Infor ION, Infor’s purpose-built integration solution built on industry standards, and a part of the Infor 10x technology platform. The idea is to create an automotive industry solution suite, which provides the connectivity, capabilities, and user experience required for the automotive industry.

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Infor recently announced that Truck-Lite Europe, a global provider of lighting, electrical harnessing, and mirror systems for commercial and automotive vehicles, has chosen Infor to implement a common platform across the group. The platform is expected to enable more comprehensive and integrated manufacturing and logistics business processes. Truck-Lite was seeking to improve the visibility of its manufacturing and supply chain operations, accelerate stock turnover, enable accurate demand planning, boost collaboration with suppliers, and drive faster responsiveness to Truck-Lite customer needs. The company wants to be able to see current manufacturing plans, experiment with alternatives, and share the risk of those changes throughout the supply chain.

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We’re pleased to announce the launch of TEC’s second buyer’s guide of 2013: ERP for Process Manufacturing.

In this buyer’s guide, TEC ERP analysts Aleksey Osintsev and Ted Rohm take an in-depth look at the state of the process manufacturing industry, the challenges facing process manufacturers, and how vendors are responding.

The guide delves into trends like integrated business intelligence (BI), in-memory analytics, mobility, and social media that are becoming increasingly popular as ERP vendors opt for cloud delivery and subscription-based pricing models.

Also included is a special supplement for food and beverage companies, who face unique challenges, including more stringent food safety requirements and more health conscious consumers.

And like all of our buyer’s guides, this one features software comparison charts, thought leadership from industry experts, customer success stories, and a comprehensive vendor directory.

Process manufacturing is changing fast these days. We hope you’ll find this guide helpful, whether you’re researching new ERP solutions for your company or just looking to keep up to date.

Download the 2013 TEC ERP Buyer’s Guide for Process Manufacturing.

Coming Up: Our next 2013 buyer’s guide—supply chain management—is due out in August. Stay tuned.

At the recently held Inforum 2013 conference, many ears pricked up at the announcement of Infor Sky Vault, a big data initiative that leverages Infor’s ION middleware, micro-vertical expertise, and visually appealing dashboards developed by Infor ION business intelligence (BI) experts and designed by Hook & Loop, Infor’s recently incubated Manhattan-based in-house design agency. Infor Sky Vault is planned to launch in the second half of 2013 with predefined content for sales finance, and production. Additional functional areas and industries will be added in subsequent iterations.

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The slew of product announcements at the recent Inforum 2013 conference was underlined by the announced general availability of Infor 10x, an enterprise release that in Infor’s view marks a major step forward in achieving its vision. Infor 10x unites a multi-purpose middleware platform featuring social, mobile, analytical, and cloud capabilities with Infor’s suite of solutions.

All major applications feature a reinvented HTML5 user experience, the new Infor Ming.le platform for social collaboration, business process improvement, and contextual analytics, and pervasive in-context analytics embedded throughout workflows that are packaged within the Infor ION integration framework for managing business process flows, workflows, and alerts. Read the rest of this entry »

Infor has announced Infor Learning Management—a software solution that stems from its recent acquisition of CERTPOINT Systems. The platform is targeted at organizations that want to sustain learning, training, and development processes for their employees.

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At the Inforum 2013 user conference, Infor announced it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire longstanding partner TDCI Inc. Financial terms of the proposed transaction were not being disclosed and the parties expect to complete the transaction within thirty days (subject to some due diligence conditions).

Based in Columbus, Ohio, TDCI is a provider of configurator and guided selling solutions for manufacturers and distributors of customizable products and services. Read the rest of this entry »

At the Inforum 2013 user conference, Infor announced Infor Ming.le, a new platform for social collaboration, business process improvement, and contextual analytics. The social tool is embedded within Infor’s key systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), human capital management (HCM), enterprise asset management (EAM), etc., so employees across all areas of the business can communicate and collaborate, as well as follow people, assets, and processes relevant to the task at hand. Read the rest of this entry »

QAD, a provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturing companies specializing in automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial, and life sciences products, recently announced that the Automotive Edition of QAD Enterprise Applications has greater market share in China than any other ERP solution, according to the IDC report “China Automotive Industry IT Solutions 2012–2016 Forecast and Analysis”. Of the top five ERP providers in China, QAD was the 2011 automotive industry leader ahead of SAP, UFIDA, Infor, and Siemens.

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Providing implementation facilitation tools and instruments has become a common practice for many enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendors. I recently wrote about Oracle’s experience in this matter, and I saw the news about Infor today.

Infor has been offering a range of industry-specific predefined configurations of its software packages for some time, and now it’s the turn of the fashion industry. As the vendor announced, Infor Implementation Accelerator is available for the garment and footware designers, manufacturers, and distributors. It is described as a “set of preconfigured industry solutions based on the latest version of the Infor application suites that deliver leading industry practices and business processes.” Read the rest of this entry »

Infor, a provider of business application software serving more than 70,000 customers in over 190 countries, recently announced strong momentum for Infor ION technology. More than 900 organizations in 59 countries have reportedly purchased ION, making it the top-selling and fastest-growing product in Infor’s portfolio of industry-specialized software products.

Hailed as a lightweight middleware offering, Infor ION is an integration framework that connects operational, front-office, and back-office systems across the entire business using industry standard XML document exchange. This open-standard document-based integration idea has been devised by Infor’s previous management garniture and nurtured by the current one (see TEC’s earlier article for more details).

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Infor has announced that the Iowa Health System (IHS) has chosen to implement a full suite of the Infor Healthcare products across IHS’s hospital network. IHS has relationships with 28 hospitals, sees 3.1 million patient visits per year, and has a network of more than 24,000 employees.

IHS will use Infor products for finance, supply chain, and human resources.  The Infor Healthcare suite of products to be implemented at IHS includes Infor Lawson Enterprise Financial Management system, Infor Lawson Supply Chain Management, and Infor Human Resources Management. The suite of Infor Healthcare applications are tailored to the healthcare industry and will enable organizational efficiencies across all of the hospital system’s critical support services. Read the rest of this entry »

While many might have been aware of IFS’ prowess in asset and project intensive industries as well as in field service management (FSM) of late, many might not be aware of the fact that the automotive industry is one of IFS’ targeted markets. IFS’ Automotive solution provides the tools for managing the interaction between automotive dealers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, and subcontractors in networks of varying complexity. IFS’ automotive customers include Volvo, BMW, Scania, Linamar, Borgstena, HUF Hülsbeck & Fürst, Toyota, and Finnveden Group.

Most recently, DTR Industries, a leading supplier of automotive components, has selected IFS Applications to support its complex multi-mode production with enterprise resource planning (ERP). DTR engages in a broad range of manufacturing operations for automotive anti-vibration and hose products that include rubber mixing, metal stamping, welding, aluminum die casting, painting, rubber curing, rubber extruding, plastic injection, and assembly operations. DTR’s main customers include Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

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Infor has reached an agreement to acquire CERTPOINT, a provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS)–based learning technology. CERTPOINT currently holds a portfolio of clients counting more than 1,300 businesses in more than 80 countries and 30 languages. The list of clients includes Honda, Stanley Black & Decker, Lutheran Medical Center, Meritas Health, and Toyota.

Infor intends to take advantage of CERTPOINT’s learning management system (LMS) and learning content management software (LCMS) capabilities to advance the Infor human capital management (HCM) suite. Read the rest of this entry »

Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) is proud to announce the 16th Vendor Shootout for ERP. This year the Shootout will take place in beautiful Miami, Florida. The event will be held from February 20–21, 2013. For more information and to register for the event, visit the Vendor Shootout Web site.

TEC once again be moderating the event where top enterprise software vendors will present their solutions to attendees. This unique event offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity for you and your team to see solutions from eight of the market leaders all in one place. The Vendor Shootout for ERP is a great opportunity for companies looking for a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution to evaluate some of the important players.

The eight solutions being demonstrated at the 16th Vendor Shootout are listed below. The participating vendors belong to what are commonly classified as tiers one, two, and three of the ERP market. Read the rest of this entry »