I recently read an article about the implementation and go-live experience of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution at a relatively small metal-forming manufacturing company called Clips and Clamps Industries (CCI). This Plymouth, Michigan–based family-owned company is a metal stamping supplier to the automotive industry and produces a variety of custom-made items for its industrial customers. The business flow therefore involves many processes for engineer-to-order manufacturing, such as project management, engineering, prototype creation, and so on.

A few specific things about this ERP implementation project caught my attention. Read the rest of this entry »

The Plex Systems team was in town recently. TEC’s P.J. Jakovljevic and I took the opportunity to sit down with the new Plex CEO, Jason Blessing, as well as V.P. of Corporate Strategy Jim Shepherd, and V.P. of Marketing Patrick Fetterman. 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 »

Technology is changing at a breakneck pace, and is there anyone out there who will debate me on that issue? The undeniable evidence that I am getting old is the fact that I got my engineering degree in the late 1980s. Imagine how much easier my studies would have been then had only the Internet, word processors, Wikipedia, presentation software, multimedia products, etc., been available?

The other day I saw a TV commercial where an oblivious “back to the future” dude in a crowded coffee shop was noisily typing away on an ancient typewriter and getting strange looks and grimaces from other patrons in the shop who were all using nifty smartphones and PC’s. Well, guess what, I had to type my final paper on a squeaky typewriter, make multiple photocopies of it, and have it bound into books for the final exam committee.

At least, I wasn’t doing anything that would have been considered archaic for the time.

Read the rest of this entry »

The departments within a company are like the children in a family: the owner, chief executive officer (CEO), or any other decision maker in the company, has a favorite department—in somewhat the same way that parents tend to have a favorite child. Not having children of my own, I did some research on the topic and found this very interesting article on a study about the burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides), an insect that seems to have a family structure that is very similar to ours. Read the rest of this entry »