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What is Happening on Your Shop Floor?
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- Managing Automation Blogs
Monthly Archives: March 2010
(Mis)understanding NetWeaver
SAP’s NetWeaver is being skewered for not competing successfully against middleware market leaders. But it hasn’t realistically been positioned to do so for a long time.
Posted in Enterprise Integration, Systems & Integration Tagged IBM, Microsoft, middleware, NetWeaver, Oracle, SAP, service-oriented architecture, SOA Leave a comment
Good Ethics = Better Profits
Corruption and quality control problems can’t always be fixed by new regulations or clever PR. When the trust is gone, so is, sorry to say, your business model.
Don’t Fire Unprofitable Customers; Price Them Out the Door
A roundtable discussion among pricing practitioners reveals that perfecting the science of pricing is only the first step in improving margins; the second step is much harder.
Posted in Customer Management Tagged firing customers, margin improvement, Price management, Price optimization, PROS, salespeople 3 Comments
Ordering Up Innovation
SAP’s new CEOs want to reclaim the mantle of industry innovation leader. But building a culture of innovation takes time, and it can’t be mandated from the top.
Onshoring Manufacturing
A trickle of announcements from manufacturers moving their production operations to the United States could be the start of something big, reshaping supply chains in the process.
Scrutinizing SAP’s Mobile Strategy
SAP is creating a strong ecosystem of partners in its mobility practice, but an acquisition might give the company the leg up it needs in this emerging wireless enterprise space.
Posted in Enterprise Mobility Tagged 3i Solutions, Antenna Software, ClickSoftware, Lighthammer, mobile CRM, SAP, SAP EcoHub, Sky Technologies, Sybase, Visiprise 3 Comments
Toyota and the Curse of Lean
Toyota’s legendary adherence to lean didn’t lead to its current quality problems. But it may be making it harder for the company to find a fix.
Predicting a Recovery Requires a Crystal Ball
A variety of experts forecast a manufacturing rebound, but nobody really knows what the future holds.
Toyota’s Biggest Blunder
In the wake of the automaker’s massive recall and now more driver complaints, questions linger about gas pedals, electronic throttle control systems, and just how Toyota is treating its customers.
Is Your Supply Chain Manager a Big Phony?