Karen Dilger, contributing editor (kadilger@comcast.net)
Articles
Corporate responsibility: Use GRC systems to keep plants and suppliers in check
Complying with governmental regulations normally involves lots of paperwork and plenty of manual workarounds. Still another layer of knowledge is necessary to ensure suppliers are in compliance with certain standards. Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) systems address these compliance issues and a lot more.
Hot potato: Food supply scares heighten demand for product recall technology
In light of recent product recalls, manufacturers must be ready to respond quickly to supply chain issues to protect consumers as well as brand reputations. That’s why right now many food & beverage manufacturers are looking to expand their use of solutions that offer capabilities in product genealogy, lot tracking & tracing, and alert notification.
Total clarity: Timely reports, data flexibility power up business intelligence
Upper management at CLARCOR Air Filtration Products has good data, but making it easily accessible is no small task when that data must be extracted, sorted, analyzed, and presented to the right people in the right format. That's why CLARCOR chose to implement a business intelligence (BI) and enterprise performance management system from Bitam, which is accessed by nearly 30 users.
Free space: Applimation archiving solution stores excess application data
Transaction data usually remains in the application database long after its useful life. But excess data puts a strain on application performance and leads to longer response times. Deleting data outright isn't an option since regulatory compliance requirements often dictate retention periods. As the amount of transaction data continues to grow, many companies are battling a new concern: what ...
Beyond spreadsheets: Price management needs dedicated tools; market space still being defined
Despite the importance of price as the determinator of revenue and profit, many companies remain baffled by the complexity of managing the pricing process, and fail to dedicate the necessary resources to the issue. While the outlines of the fledgling pricing software space are somewhat murky, many organizations are ready to improve their pricing programs.
Business intelligence solution presents customer data without delay
The accounts receivable (A/R) department at Virtek Vision International had its hands full. Credit managers at the Ontario-based supplier of laser marking products needed to keep collections up-to-date by identifying those potentially delinquent before they became problems. Until recently, workers relied on spreadsheets that pulled information from the company's ERP system.
Purchasing’s evolution to strategic sourcing is a multistage process
When considering the move from transactional purchasing to strategic sourcing and world-class supply management, while there is no sure-fire method for refining procurement processes, there is a five-step process that most companies pass through as they move their value propositions up into higher and higher levels.
Risk think tank: Prediction market platform taps the wisdom of employees, partners, customers
Anticipating market response can be a virtual guessing game when it comes to launching a new product or determining key features during product development. Traditional surveys offer some insight to customer opinion, but usually their accuracy is questionable since the response rate is typically low.
Kroll: Corporate fraud is almost 100-percent preventable
Corporate fraud and corruption may seem like the stuff of movies, but such threats can be found in your own office. Shocking but real statistics show four out of five companies suffered from corporate fraud in the past three years. One in 10 large companies loses more than $100 million per year to fraud.
Excel-based collaboration tool is free; ensures single version of truth
Using a spreadsheet for personal use is a lot different than managing one in a process involving a whole group. There are plenty of applications available to enable spreadsheet collaboration, but most require purchasing and learning new software. Most users prefer to use tools they already have, and Microsoft Excel remains the clear-cut spreadsheet of choice among desktop users.