Jim Fulcher

Invensys Process Systems Global Consulting: Energy producer creates method for responding to market swings

In these energy-conscious times, SASOL finds itself in an enviable position. The 58-year-old South African company has been converting coal into gasoline since its inception. It also now converts natural gas into diesel fuel and other liquids, such as industrial chemicals—and it does it all in an environmentally friendly fashion.

Apriso: Operations execution system raises Volvo CE to global enterprise status

There's a difference between a multinational corporation and a global enterprise. The former has operating units—production plants and other facilities—in numerous countries that essentially function on their own. The latter has an infrastructure—typically built on standard business processes and integrated information systems—that allow its globally dispersed units to ...

Exact Software: Business analytics solution soothes international growing pains for Alltech Biotechnology

The good news for Alltech Biotechnology, a leader in the animal feed industry, was rapid international growth. The bad news was that in the meantime, the Lexington, Ken.-based company's number of major databases had grown to 60. Alltech uses perishable products, so it's essential for managers to track supply numbers and inventory expiration dates to avoid wasting labor and resources.

Decision-makers get a high-visibility assist with Kinaxis response management solutions

Front-line managers that must make tradeoffs and compromises to make up for unexpected events now are able to analyze alternative response actions before making a decision using a new category of solutions called Response Management. According to Stephen Hochman, a director with Boston-based AMR Research , these solutions can lower costs and time-to-resolution of high-visibility judgment calls.“In high-velocity, supply-constrained businesses where decisions are high in risk and complexity, many companies reach the conclusion that they require systems for collective risk tradeoff and response as the new basis of competition,” says Hochman. “Whether the risk takes the form of a forecast spike, a component approaching obsolescence, a sales order shortfall, or gaining more strategic sales and operations planning or network commitments, discrete manufacturers place a premium on the ability to see, study, and simulate alternate resolutions that show financial and operational impact before pulling the trigger on a major tradeoff.”Graeme Walker, ERP development manager at Adeptron Technologies , a Toronto-based contract manufacturer, says reaction time is a key competitive differentiator, so the ability to run “what-if?” simulations ensures the right part is available at the right price, and can be delivered to customers when needed to build product on schedule.“Use of‘what-if?’ scenario planning allows quickly looking at the potential consequences of a proposed action—such as accepting a customer’s order change—so we can determine not only if we could make on-time delivery, but also how accepting that order change will impact other customers’ orders,” Walker says.