OpenPro Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software announces its latest release version 5

OpenPro is the leader in licensed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) using the open source LAMP technology. Version 5.0 has over 500 enhancements, many benefits for small to enterprise size businesses. Some enhancements are for our many international distributors that include new 9 language version, English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese languages are new available for distribution. "This new release is so OpenPro can expand our international Distributors" says President and CEO Jim Clark. Other new features include new menu system, new look and feel, built in communications module (fax, email, electronic, printed), business paperless workflow and document imaging. With version 5 OpenPro updated the executive desktop with flash graphics. OpenPro tries to use the best of the Open Source community offers, like LAMP technology, with version 5 we have phone and fax integration using proven open source products. OpenPro even has an interface to Asterisk FreePBX phone systems and Hylafax faxing software. OpenPro also has a few feature, create a screen with AJAX controls.

Organization like LAMP helps communities and businesses by making professional software available for the smaller organizations at a reasonable cost. Now small businesses can purchase software like OpenPro for less that half the cost of other traditional products..

OpenPro, Inc. a leader in licensed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software using open source LAMP technology. Version 5.0 has many benefits for small to enterprise size businesses. Some enhancements include new menu system, new look and feel, built in communications module (fax, email, electronic, printed), business workflow and document imaging.

OpenPro, which has delivered quick start business software to hundreds of American businesses since 1998, announced a version 5.0 of Easy ERP and Enterprise Software.

The software includes modules for finance (Payables, Receivables, General Ledger, Budgets, Check Recon, fixed assets, job costing), wholesale distribution (Order Processing, Inventory Control, Bar Coding, Retail POS. warehousing and purchasing), manufacturing (Bill of Material, Routings, MRP, MPS CRP), customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce. OpenPro even has interface to wireless portable terminals for manufacturing and warehousing.

OpenPro is the first to offer implementation options, bring in-house on a server, host with a hosting company or ASP or Software as a service. OpenPro being the first fully web based ERP software product is ideal ASP or Software as a service option for most businesses, because users only need a connection to the Internet to access the software, which runs on a computers worldwide.

OpenPro is first to have features built into ERP Software like built in document imaging. You can attach documents to most of the transactions within the OpenPro system. User customizable Work Flow is built into OpenPro to improve customer relationship and speed of transactions.

When you compare OpenPro with other software packages, OpenPro ranked highest in technical features and functionality. This evaluation compared OpenPro with Tier 1 Enterprise software packages like Oracle and SAP, Mid-level software companies like Microsoft Business Solutions and Best Software. OpenPro excelled in test with manufacturing software packages like Epicor, Macola, Made2Manage, Cincom, Jeeves, and JobBOSS. OpenPro also came on top with comparing ASP solutions like netsuite, and open source solutions like ComPiere. OpenPro customers have saved millions of dollars from converting from packages like these to OpenPro.

Because of Easy ERP software design, and OpenPro's Rapid Implementation Method, a business can be set up, trained and running OpenPro software within a day.

OpenPro is certified using US-FASB and international IASB standards, VAT taxing, Euro dollars Approved, Compliant with Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) for public companies, APICS certified for inventory control, ISO 9000 Compliant, and FDA 21 CFR part 11.

Source : OpenPro

OpenPro ERP Software Information

OpenPro offers business software solutions for every company looking for more value and more features from their ERP solutions. Since 1998 we have been delivering Web-based ERP software solutions to small and mid-sized companies, and international enterprises.

OpenPro supports most industries with a complete ERP software solution. As a provider of manufacturing ERP software, OpenPro excels in its MES software and manufacturing inventory software. The financial accounting software supports a closed loop financial flow, and offers government accounting software.

Another of the many business software solutions is a complete retail POS system, while distributors benefit from the supply chain management software.

Because OpenPro is built using open source technology, both the initial purchase price and the ongoing maintenance expense can be half or less than Windows-based ERP software solutions, while offering a broader range of functionality.

OpenPro ERP is the first Web Based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system available. Version 5 of our ERP software solution is flexible enough to run on any operating system and SQL database. As an open source erp solution, OpenPro software is a complete, solution that delivers outstanding value based on exceptional price/performance and functionality.

OpenPro ERP has a rules based design to help many industries. OpenPro is a complete end-to-end solution that includes Financials, Distribution (supply chain), E-commerce, Manufacturing and Customer Relationship Management. OpenPro incorporates a suite of integrated products that enables you to move seamlessly between all facets of your business, from order management to the plant floor to distribution.

Source : Openpro

Lawson Software Announces 2007 Platinum Partner Award Recipients

Lawson Software (Nasdaq:LWSN) today announced the inaugural recipients of the Lawson Platinum Partner Awards. Lawson created this new award program as a way to recognize outstanding business performance and productivity among its channel partners around the world. The awards are separated into categories including "best newcomer," "simpler is better," and regional "partner of the year" awards. Recipients of the Lawson partner of the year awards are:

- Americas region - Sigma S.A. (based in Chile)

- Europe, Middle East and Africa region - Groupe HELIOS (based in France)

- Asia Pacific region - Lawson Thailand (formerly Intentia Thailand)

- Best newcomer - Accentia Middle East

- Simpler is Better - Intentia Israel and Alfa-Beta Solutions (Netherlands)

The Lawson channel management team nominates partners for the Lawson Partner of the Year program. The regional partner of the year awards are based on the best performance in license revenue for software sales. The "Simpler is Better" award is based on the Lawson partner's ability to sell and deliver Lawson QuickStep solutions or other packaged, preconfigured offerings. The "best newcomer" award is based on outstanding performance by a partner that joined the Lawson partner network within the preceding 12 months.

"Lawson has established a highly strategic partner program over the last year, because we know we can deliver greater value to more customers around the world by having the right partners in place," said Brian Sterrett, vice president of channels and partners for Lawson. "We want to recognize and continually energize our partners - and this award program is just one way for us to do that. Our customers rely on us to have a partner network, which includes approximately 200 partners worldwide, that provides the kind of industry-specific expertise, combined with Lawson's industry-specific functionality, to help them meet their business objectives."

The partner awards will be presented individually to all award recipients, and the award winners will be recognized during the Lawson Conference and User Exchange (CUE) in Las Vegas in March 2008.

About Lawson Software

Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to 4,000 customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service sector industries across 40 countries. Lawson's solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com.

Source : Lawson Software

Yaying Garment selects Lawson M3 fashion solution

Lawson Software announced the successful implementation of the Lawson M3 Enterprise Management System for Zhejiang Yaying Garment Co. Ltd. (Yaying Garment), a Sino-Italian company specializing in fashion for women.

Yaying Garment designs, manufactures, and distributes women’s apparel in the People’s Republic of China under two brand names – Elegant Prosper and Elena Miro. Yaying Garment is a modern multi-branded business enterprise with 2,800 employees and an annual turnover exceeding RMB500 million. The company has plans to go global and will be exploring new markets in Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe.

On a mission to enhance its operational system for internationalization, Yaying Garment selected the Lawson M3 Fashion solution after considering a number of domestic and foreign enterprise software providers.

Yaying Garment required a system that can accommodate the demands of a diversified product range, low production volume per order, and the dynamic market trends inherent in the fashion industry. Other requirements included scalability, compatibility and advanced functionality of the enterprise software system for the company’s development in the long run.

The Lawson M3 Fashion solution supports enterprises on a full operation flow ranging from sales, marketing logistics, production, and finance through a platform with different applications that are fully integrated and highly compatible.

The Lawson M3 Fashionsolution can be implemented by a fashion company as a full enterprise software solution, or it can be implemented using a modular approach that can help simplify integration with other applications already in use.

Lawson worked closely with the team from Yaying Garment for eight months and successfully implemented the Lawson solution, centralizing the management of different parts of its operating process such as production, planning, procurement, inventory, and financial management.

The implementation team needed only to configure the workflow on the Lawson M3 system which helped keep the cost of implementation low and reduced risks.

“In the course of implementing the Lawson system, we moved away from transplanting the entire workflow from our daily operations, but focused on optimizing our workflow by considering carefully the actual circumstances that may affect the operations,” said Zhu Honggen, vice president and chief financial officer, Yaying Garment.

“For example, in ensuring a smooth operation, the workflow structure we adopted for our Lawson M3 system is based on ‘persons-in-charge’ approach instead of the conventional way of functional divisions in the company.”

Through the Lawson M3 implementation, Yaying Garment established within the enterprise a highly efficient and visible supply chain, and a common work platform that saw the following operational improvements:

•Establishment of a standardized product database;
•Creation of a smooth and efficient workflow;
•Setting up of a fully integrated supply chain system; and
•Integration of financial research and analysis systems.

Zhejiang Yaying Garment Co. Ltd. is a Sino-Italian joint venture engaged in the research and development, sales and marketing, information, logistics and production of women’s apparel under two flagship brands, Elegant Prosper and Elena Miro. The Company has an expanding network of over 300 outlets, adding 80 new shops per year.

Source : Fibre2fashion.com

SAP ERP Software Solution

Business Transformation Made Simple with SAP's Enterprise Resource Planning Software

Improve alignment of your strategies and operations. Enhance productivity and insight for your enterprise. That's the power you get with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software from SAP – the power to adapt quickly to changing industry requirements.

SAP ERP addresses the core business software requirements of the most demanding midsize and large organizations – in all industries and sectors.

SAP ERP includes four individual solutions that support key areas of enterprise resource planning:

* SAP ERP Human Capital Management – Transform the role and value of HCM.
* SAP ERP Financials – Turn finance into a strategic business partner.
* SAP ERP Operations – Free up resources; budget for innovation.
* SAP ERP Corporate Services – Streamline business processes and costs.

- Features & Functions

SAP ERP redefines enterprise resource planning – delivering role-based access to crucial data, applications, and analytical tools. With SAP ERP, you can efficiently deal with business challenges in the following areas:

- End-user service delivery – Ensure that your employees can readily access the crucial data, applications, and analytical tools they need to perform all their job functions efficiently and effectively while also supporting a shared-services organizational model for human resources, finances, and other key processes. SAP ERP offers role-based access, self-services, and employee interaction center support through SAP Manager Self-Service, SAP Employee Self-Service, Duet and employee interaction center support.

- SAP ERP Financials – Ensure compliance and predictability of business performance – so your organization can gain a deeper financial insight across the enterprise and tighten control of finances. SAP ERP Financials automates financial and management accounting and financial supply chain management. The solution also provides rigorous support for corporate-governance mandates such as Basel II and Sarbanes-Oxley.

- SAP ERP Human Capital Management – Optimize your HR processes with a complete, integrated, and global human capital management (HCM) solution. SAP ERP provides this HCM solution for organizations of all sizes and in all industries. You can maximize the potential of your workforce, while supporting innovation, growth, and flexibility. The SAP ERP HCM solution automates talent management, core HR processes, and workforce deployment – enabling increased efficiency and better compliance with changing global and local regulations.

- SAP ERP Operations – Manage end-to-end procurement and logistics business processes for complete business cycles – from self-service requisitioning to flexible invoicing and payment – optimizing the flow of materials. SAP ERP Operations also helps discrete and process manufacturers manage the entire life cycle of product development and manufacturing. The solution automates the entire manufacturing process and reduces costs by controlling and adapting the manufacturing process in real time – and increases customer satisfaction by delivering higher-quality products.

- SAP ERP Corporate Services – Helps organizations manage their most cost-intensive corporate functions by supporting and streamlining administrative processes in the areas of real estate; enterprise assets; project portfolios; corporate travel; environment, health, and safety compliance; quality; and global trade services. SAP ERP Corporate Services is a complete and integrated solution that maximizes transparency and control, while reducing financial and environmental risks and enhancing safety of employees. Performance management – Support the entire life cycle of performance management, delivering real-time, personalized measurements and metrics to improve business insight and decision making. SAP ERP supports financial analytics, operations analytics, and workforce analytics, as well as consolidated financial and statutory reporting; planning, budgeting, and forecasting, strategy management and scorecards, and risk management.

Source : SAP

meco join forces within technology experts RF-iT Solutions

Graz, Austria-based technology experts RF-iT Solutions and the meco group have signed a partnership agreement. The occasion was the RFID Journal LIVE! Europe, the largest RFID event in Europe, which is currently taking place from November 6 to 8 in Amsterdam.

“In the fashion industry, we are seeing a growing demand for RFID solutions and increasing interest in these products, which may be deployed in a large variety of ways,” Dominik Berger, managing director of RF-iT Solutions, stated.

The Graz-based technology company is a provider of RFID middleware and technology consulting services, products that support the interlinking of business processes, RFID technology and IT systems. To this end, the Graz-based software and technology company RF-iT Solutions has developed You-R OPEN, the world’s leading RFID operating environment which serves as a platform for system integrators. To date, reference projects have been successfully completed for Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, Bültel, Otto, Windsor and gardeur.

Among the major drivers for implementing this innovative technology in the textile and clothing industry are EU regulations, globalized markets, broadly distributed supplier networks as well as growing complexity in the face of shrinking profit margins.

A number of pilot projects carried out with international partners have put RF-iT Solutions in a leading position in this market segment. “Our expertise clearly lies in the area of RFID software and technology. Yet, in order to be able to implement projects using RFID technologies that are feasible both in technical and economic terms, we rely on partners with profound process knowledge who have also grasped how to integrate RFID with ERP systems,” Berger explained.

Their most recent partner is the meco group of Germany, who specialize in IT consulting, infrastructure management services, RFID-based solutions as well as user help desk services and on-site support for the textile industry, retailers, SMEs and the health services sector. “The market is pushing strongly for RFID.

This technology will enhance the efficiency of many existing logistics processes, enable capacities to be increased and costs reduced. Particularly in this connection I appreciate the flexible concept embodied in You-R OPEN, which is especially suited for deployment in the retail and fashion segments.

To us, You-R OPEN ideally complements our array of high-quality services in the area of RFID, which build on the IT expertise and process knowledge amassed within the meco group,” Norbert Hofmann, CEO of meco Systemhaus AG, announced.

The meco group has been supplying IT consulting, management services, infrastructure management services, RFIDbased solutions as well as user help desk services and on-site support for the textile industry, retailers, SMEs and the health services sector since 1998. The meco group stands for quality when it comes to solutions in the areas of application service providing, managed services, retail software solutions as well as innovative leasing concepts.

Source : Fibre2fashion.com

Basic Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software Solution

The term ERP originally implied systems designed to plan the use of enterprise-wide resources. Although the initialism ERP originated in the manufacturing environment, today's use of the term ERP systems has much broader scope.

ERP systems typically attempt to cover all basic functions of an organization, regardless of the organization's business or charter. Businesses, non-profit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and other large entities utilize ERP systems.

Additionally, to be considered an ERP system, a software package generally would only need to provide functionality in a single package that would normally be covered by two or more systems. Technically, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions would be considered an ERP software package.
However, the term is typically reserved for larger, more broadly based applications.

The introduction of an ERP system to replace two or more independent applications eliminates the need for external interfaces previously required between systems, and provides additional benefits that range from standardization and lower maintenance (one system instead of two or more) to easier and/or greater reporting capabilities (as all data is typically kept in one database).

Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Financials, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Human Resources, Warehouse Management and Decision Support System.

Source: wikipedia.org

London College of Fashion to buy OptiTex 2D to 3D software

As part of its commitment to provide students with the latest in design capabilities, the London College of Fashion (LCF) has purchased OptiTex software for 25 design stations. It has opted for the full OptiTex package including PDS, Marker, 3D modules and 3D Runway Designer.

The London College of Fashion (LCF) has the distinction of being the only college in the UK specializing in all aspects of the fashion field, based upon a philosophy of offering creative development coupled with a strong vocational focus.

“After reviewing several software packages in our bid to remain at the cutting edge of 3D CAD/CAM fashion technology, LCF decided to purchase the OptiTex 2D to 3D software," says Sharon Blackford, Senior Lecturer of CAD/CAM at LCF.

“OptiTex offers students a thorough design experience, whilst affording them the ability to explore new innovative digital approaches to producing and displaying tangible products such as garments through the creation of virtual catwalks and virtual fit.”

OptiTex’s platform has the widest range of options and parameters and is the most user friendly on the market. It leverages 3D models, ending the limitations of standard production technology. Entire textile lines can now be created virtually, eliminating wasted material and speeding products to market.

The advantages of exposing their students to the software were clear to the LCF staff, while the opportunity to contribute to the students’ education excited OptiTex as well. “It’s wonderful to facilitate the creativity of the next generation of designers,” said Ran Machtinger, President and CEO of OptiTex Ltd.

“The student designers can see their creative visions come to life while gaining valuable experience they will take to their first jobs.”

“Fashion designers and labels using OptiTex include Land’s End, Coach Leather, Tommy Hilfiger, and Target Corporation,” concludes Blackford. “The OptiTex software facilitates design solutions across several markets, and the experience gained from this cutting-edge software will enhance the employment prospects of LCF graduates.”

Source : http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsDetails.aspx?news_id=43694

Aria Systems Integrates BusinessObjects(TM) XI into Aria 4XP!

Advanced Business Intelligence Offering Puts Critical Management Data at Customers’ Fingertips for Informed Business Decision-Making.

Aria Systems has begun offering the industry's leading suite of business intelligence (BI) software by Business Objects, BusinessObjects(TM) XI, as an integrated component of the ground-breaking Aria 4XP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Product Suite.

With the addition of BusinessObjects XI, Aria’s 4XP Business Intelligence module provides a complete set of BI capabilities, from enterprise reporting to querying and analysis, and delivers the actionable information required to track key performance indicators, understand business drivers, and make informed business decisions.

The new BI reporting capabilities in Aria 4XP reduce the complexity of business data and deliver business intelligence as meaningful information to decision makers. Moreover, the powerful built-in query and analysis features allow end users to interact with business information and answer ad hoc questions without advanced knowledge of the underlying data sources.

“Our new Business Intelligence offering allows Aria customers to gain extreme insight into the performance of their operations and reap the benefits of improved profitability and reduced costs through more effective and responsive management,” says Omar Ramadan, Aria Systems President. “Customers will also benefit from automated reporting that will facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.”

As part of its Business Intelligence product suite, Aria Systems also offers Crystal Reports XI, the world standard for enterprise reporting.

Source : Aria Systems

Fibre2fashion’s Software Portal Out Of Beta

Fibre2fashion had initiated a beta service called Software Solutions that can help software buyers and software providers get connected in a more efficient manner. This site has been out of beta recently. The site combines news, articles & events aggregation, commentary from industry experts, user-generated content, case-studies, articles, product show-case, etc.

Fibre2fashion.com is a premier B2B portal for Apparel, Textile, Fashion and Retail industry. This portal gets more than 1.5 million visitors every month. The industry that this portal focuses on is highly fragmented and participates in both vertically and horizontally integrated activities. For example, a textile company can be vertically integrated by engaging in activities such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management or Supplier Relationship Management. Textile companies also often engage in horizontally – oriented activities by outsourcing part of their operation to a sub – contractor. As this particular sector is fragmented and thus IT is used entirely differently for doing business than if the market was made up of a few big companies.

This portal aims at providing its members with a sense of community through informative content about products, services, business, and industry. As a trusted infomediary for the focused vertical it isalso engaged in an ongoing research to keep a track of the IT usage within this global market segment in order to identify new opportunities to add value to the firms. This portal is a focal point to channel traffic into the websites of product / service providers in the designated industries.

The site arranges its content to be used by two distinct categories of visitors: Software buyers and Software providers. The software buyers benefit by reading informative content in the form of articles, case studies, white papers. They can also keep themselves updated about the latest news and events. Most importantly they can view the product show case and look out for the products of their interest and request proposals from the solution providers. The software providers gain advantage by listing their products and promoting content in the forms of articles, case studies, and white papers to convey marketing message to the prospective buyers. They can also benefit by opting for membership & advertising solutions.

The uniqueness of this site is in terms of its ability to blend and present vertical-specific content with general software solutions. This blending makes it useful not only for visitors belonging to textile, apparel, fashion, retail, and allied industries but also to visitors belonging to different verticals. At the same time this leverages software vendors to address additional segments through a single platform.

Source : http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=41497&page=1

Scottsdale software firm helps move MasterCard payments

Apriva has been certified by MasterCard Worldwide for use on the credit card company's long-range wireless payment terminals. The certification makes the Scottsdale company's point-of-sale software compliant with the highest levels of mobile payment terminals used by MasterCard, officials said.

Combined with the device i7910, Apriva's Secure POS was approved by MasterCard's Payment Terminal Security Program. Device-maker Ingenico officials said the software will offer customers "the most robust and complete solution available."

"Apriva's expertise and comprehensive service offerings have made them a valued partner to both Ingenico and our merchants across the U.S.," said Geoff Bowen, Ingenico North America president.

Ingenico is one of the largest makers of point-of-sale terminals and has clients in more than 100 countries. The company claims to have 12 million units in use.

Tapping into that market will only benefit customers, said Paul Coppinger, Apriva president. "Our combined solution with Ingenico is a key step in addressing the increasing need for advanced security and will provide value to agents and merchants," he said. "We welcome Ingenico to the Apriva family of products."

Source : http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/08/27/daily8.html

Technology One wins Casey City Council tender

Technology One Limited (ASX:TNE), a leading Australian provider of enterprise business software solutions, has secured a contract to provide its financial solution to Australia’s fourth fastest growing municipality, Casey City Council, located in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs with a diverse constituency of more than 230,000 residents.

Casey City Council sought tenders for a new financial management software solution after the existing, eight year old program required replacement. Casey City Council was seeking a flexible, easy-to-use solution which would streamline its financial processes by utilising advanced technology. Equally important to the local government organisation was the ability to increase accountability within the organisation through accurate and relevant budgeting and reporting, while securing a solution that would see the Council into the future.

According to Mr Steve Dalton, Director of Corporate Services, Casey City Council, “We were rigorous with our selection process, accepting a number of tenders and presentations from major software vendors. We undertook extensive referee checking within the local government market and found the feedback from current users of TechnologyOne Financials solution to be very positive.”

“We chose the TechnologyOne solution because we were impressed with the flexibility of the general ledger function and the capacity to streamline our manual business processes. TechnologyOne Financials enables easier access for our managers with the ability to monitor budgets on a regular basis and produce reports easily,” said Mr Dalton.

“TechnologyOne Financials has been highly supported by our senior staff members who were involved in presentations and demos as part of the tender evaluation process. This program is very much welcomed by our employees who are eager to see the reduction of manual administrative processes.”

Mr Dalton also added that, “We were also keen to partner with an organisation that has a longstanding history and reputation that would see us work closely together long into the future. TechnologyOne more than met this criterion with their proven history in the local government sector and their long term goals to move into new markets.”

Mr Adrian Di Marco, Executive Chairman, TechnologyOne said that Casey City Council’s decision was further endorsement of TechnologyOne’s best-in-class local government offering.

“As an Australian company which commits a substantial amount of revenue into R&D each year, we are able to deliver solutions that are highly responsive to the needs of our customers, and because we have a direct relationship, we can guarantee they get the best service and continuous upgrades to ensure their solution fits with the changing local regulatory requirements.”

The implementation is expected to go live late in 2007.

TechnologyOne provides solutions to over 110 local councils across Australia and New Zealand with almost 25 percent of councils’ rates notices across Australia produced using TechnologyOne software.

About TechnologyOne:

TechnologyOne has been providing comprehensive and deeply integrated enterprise business software solutions for over 20 years. The company’s unique value proposition, The Power of One, is that it develops, markets, sells, implements and supports its own world class, fully integrated software solutions including Financials, HR & Payroll, Supply Chain, Business Intelligence, Budgeting, Performance Planning, Property & Rating, Student Management and Works & Assets. The company’s new generation Connected Intelligence (Ci) solution suite is based on leading edge, state of the art technology and backed up by a substantial research and development program to ensure it continues to provide its clients with a significant competitive advantage and long term security. For further information visit: http://www.technologyonecorp.com/ .

Source : http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1108383040

CDC Software’s Vertical CRM Solutions Gain Momentum In Financial Services Industries

CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and a provider of enterprise software applications, announced recently broad customer adoption of its industry-specific Pivotal CRM and Saratoga CRM solutions for the financial services industries.

Second quarter sales for Pivotal CRM for Financial Services increased 71 percent from the same period a year earlier and Saratoga CRM saw a 566 percent increase in the second quarter from the year earlier period.

New customers continued to embrace these industry-specialized solutions, as well as existing customers, who after leveraging the measured success of their Pivotal CRM and Saratoga CRM systems, expanded their deployments to address the needs of additional divisions and business units.

New and existing financial services customers that recently selected CDC Software or expanded their licenses include: Diversified Investment Advisors, a national investment advisory firm specializing in retirement plans; Eaton Vance, a comprehensive wealth manager; Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, a multi-line insurance provider in the state of Michigan; Julius Baer Investment Management, the U.S. subsidiary of the Julius Baer Group, focused on institutional asset management; North Shore Credit Union, a Canadian-based provider of personal and business financial services including banking, investment planning, loans, leasing, and insurance; Pacific Life, a provider of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds; The Principal Financial Group, a provider of 401k plans, mutual funds, retirement plans, investments, and insurance; Solus Alternative Asset Management, a leading provider of alternative investment and hedge funds; UBS Germany AB, a world-leading wealth management company, Union Investment AG, Germany’s largest investment firm for private and institutional investors; and Vantage Credit Union which serves employees of schools throughout Missouri and others.

“We selected CDC Software’s CRM solution because they offer advanced functionality that can be configured for the way we want to do business,” said Jim Robinson, executive vice president, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan. “The strength of these solutions became obvious after we evaluated other providers – both enterprise and industry-specific. The flexibility of this system will allow us to deliver a solution faster while maintaining our focus on business objectives. Ultimately, the system will enable us to deliver world-class customer service, improve our products and services, and identify sales opportunities and target markets for the products we offer.”

Across commercial and private banking, capital markets, institutional asset management and retail asset management industries, a growing number of customers are selecting these industry-specific solutions that enable financial services companies to develop deep insight into their customers' needs and preferences. CDC Software’s solutions for financial services offer comprehensive, integrated, industry-specific capabilities that increase insight into operational performance, streamline processes across the value chain, and improve responsiveness to client demands.

Fred Cook, chief information officer for North Shore Credit Union, who recently expanded his deployment to include additional modules of Pivotal CRM for Financial Services, summed it up this way: “Maintaining exceptional relationships with our clients is our top priority. We use Pivotal as the basis for every interaction with our customers. Pivotal is one of the most important business tools that we have in our arsenal.”

“Progressive firms that know how to provide their account executives and their entire client-facing workforce with the right data at the right time will be more likely to win deals and generate revenues,” said Kathleen Khirallah, managing director and practice leader, Banking Research, TowerGroup. “The benefits of internal integration will also be felt by senior managers, who will have data they need to assign their people according to potential opportunities.”

“Our comprehensive, integrated, industry-specific solutions are gaining momentum in the industry as financial services providers realize that generic CRM solutions do not address their unique business requirements,” said Eric Musser, CEO, CDC Software. “CDC Software’s exceptional growth in this market is reflective of our successful strategy to focus on delivering solutions specifically designed by industry experts for financial services organizations around the world.”

Source : http://www.crmmarketplace.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID=%7B57BBC98A-8DD2-4CD4-8200-14AC471B779E%7D&Bucket=Current+Headlines&VNETCOOKIE=NO

Epicor Announces Leading South East Asian Retailer Selects Epicor|CRS Retail Suite, ERP Applications

Epicor Software Corporation (NASDAQ:EPIC), a leading provider of enterprise business software solutions for the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies, today announced one of the biggest apparel retailers in South East Asia has selected EpicorCRS’ retail store management solutions to provide enhanced operational visibility and efficiency.

In addition to EpicorCRS’ Microsoft .NET-based Point-of-Sale (POS), the retailer plans to implement CRS Inventory Management, and the CRS Promotional Events and Retail Mail applications within its 90 store locations. Additionally, plans call for the deployment of the CRS Merchandising application, which includes the CRS Allocations™, CRS Transfers Plus™, and CRS Retail DataWarehouse™ modules, along with Epicor’s Warehouse Management application. They have also purchased the third party EDI application from TIE Global, which Epicor resells, as well as Epicor’s advanced planning solution. All new functionality will be integrated with Epicor iScala financial management applications, which the retailer has already deployed.

“We are pleased to have completed negotiations on this retail contract, which is the second of the two deals we had expected to close in our 2007 second quarter ended June 30, 2007, as mentioned in our earnings announcement last month,” said George Klaus, chairman and CEO of Epicor. “This deal is very significant for Epicor; it is the first retail CRS system to be selected by a retail organization headquartered outside the U.S., and is representative of the benefits and synergies of our acquisition of CRS Retail Systems in late 2005. As a result of this acquisition, we are now able to bring the value of the EpicorCRS retail suite to customers outside the U.S. due to our international presence and global support. Additionally, this customer’s selection of solutions from across our integrated product lines demonstrates Epicor’s ability to support customers’ needs from point-of-sale to back office.”

About Epicor Software Corporation

Epicor, named one of FORTUNE magazine’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies in 2006, is a global leader dedicated to providing integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM) and professional services automation (PSA) software solutions to the midmarket and divisions of Global 1000 companies. Founded in 1984, Epicor serves over 20,000 customers in more than 140 countries, providing solutions in over 30 languages.

Employing innovative service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services technology, Epicor delivers end-to-end, industry-specific solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail, hospitality and services that enable companies to drive increased efficiency, improve performance and build competitive advantage. Epicor solutions provide the scalability and flexibility to meet today's business challenges, while empowering enterprises for even greater success tomorrow. Epicor offers a comprehensive range of services with its solutions, providing a single point of accountability to promote rapid return on investment and low total cost of ownership. Epicor’s worldwide headquarters are located in Irvine, California with offices and affiliates around the world. For more information, visit www.epicor.com .

Source : http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070814005457&newsLang=en

Exact Software Announces Release of JobBOSS 10

Exact Software(TM), a leading provider of solutions that connect the people, processes and knowledge essential to an organization, today announced version 10 of Exact JobBOSS®, its industry leading shop floor manufacturing software. JobBOSS 10 provides support for the Microsoft Vista operating system and also includes several usability enhancements and new features designed to improve the ease with which job shops, custom manufacturers and high-tech shops working in the global economy can manage and improve performance.

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Exact JobBOSS is committed to remaining compliant with the latest Microsoft products. With JobBOSS 10, Exact JobBOSS customers will have full compliance with the 32-bit Business Edition versions of Microsoft Windows Vista Business, Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate. JobBOSS 10 is one of the first job shop software solutions to be compliant with Windows Vista. As a result, users can take advantage of Vista's major enhancements, which include a new user interface, an improved search engine and more powerful graphics technology. In addition, JobBOSS v10 will continue to run on Windows 2000 and Windows XP workstations.

In addition to Microsoft Vista compliance, JobBOSS 10 offers a number of usability enhancements and new functionality, including vendor price breaks to ensure more accurate material pricing, as well as greater flexibility for transferring raw materials from a job back to stock. JobBOSS 10 also features improved raw stock look-ups in both Order Processing and Purchasing, making it quicker and easier for users to find materials to place on jobs or purchase orders (POs). As a result, job shops and custom manufacturers now have even more powerful capabilities for materials control and full inventory management for raw stock, hardware, supplies and finished goods.

"JobBOSS 10 provides our customers with significant new functionality and enhancements for improved usability, flexibility and performance," said Steve Massey, general manager for Exact JobBOSS. "By upgrading to version 10, JobBOSS users will have even greater visibility and control over all aspects of their shops, helping them to increase productivity and profitability, and achieve their business goals."

Exact JobBOSS is the leader in shop management software for job shops, small to medium-sized make-to-order, engineer-to-order, contract and mixed-mode manufacturers, and has maintained that leadership standing since it was originally developed in Minneapolis, MN in 1984. Customers worldwide benefit from the control that JobBOSS gives them to easily manage all of the processes and changes their shops experience on a daily basis. For more information, please visit www.exactamerica.com/jobboss.

About Exact Software(TM)

Established in 1984, Exact Software is one of the world's leading providers of business software solutions. Its integrated solutions comprise traditional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as well as related software solutions such as Human Resource Management (HRM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Project Management and Electronic Workflow.

Exact is headquartered in Delft, the Netherlands and has offices in Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, Asia, Australia and Africa. With around 2,600 employees, subsidiaries in more than 40 countries, solutions available in 40 languages, Exact currently serves customers in more than 125 countries across five continents.

Source : http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/526416/2585

IQMS Releases Limited Edition of EnterpriseIQ

IQMS, a leader in the design and development of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, today released a limited edition of EnterpriseIQ, the company's widely-used, single-source ERP software. Packaged to meet the needs of single-site manufacturers and small supply chain environments, EnterpriseIQ LE version provides a real-time foundation for collaborative e-business at a lower cost point than the full version. IQMS achieves the lower price benefit by packaging just the functionality most often used by manufacturers with single-plant operations.

"There's a growing demand for innovative ERP software solutions targeted to small manufacturing enterprises," says Randy Flamm, president and founder of IQMS. "To be competitive and grow, small manufacturers need the same visibility and control over core business data that large-scale manufacturers enjoy, but more often than not small companies cannot afford large ERP investments. With EnterpriseIQ version LE, we are giving small manufacturers a cost-effective means to drive efficient, lean operations throughout their supply chain. Now small manufacturers can operate on a level playing field with their larger competitors."

EnterpriseIQ LE version gives small manufacturers the same set of core capabilities found in the full version. Functionality such manufacturing and inventory management, quality control, sales, distribution, and financial and accounting management are all included in a single database and at an affordable price. Certain functionality used to support larger operations is not included, such as EPlant which is used for multi-plant operations.

Customers who will benefit most from EnterpriseIQ LE are those who operate only one plant and currently have no ERP system in place. By choosing EnterpriseIQ LE these customers will gain a comprehensive, modular, single-source ERP solution that can be tailored to fit their business needs and designed to scale up with optional modules that work seamlessly within the core system. IQMS is also offering a migration path with this LE version for companies that eventually grow into multiple locations.

About IQMS

Since 1989, IQMS has been a pioneer in the design and development of ERP software for repetitive, process and discrete manufacturing industries. Today, IQMS provides leading real-time manufacturing, accounting, machine monitoring, quality control, supply chain, CRM and eBusiness solutions to the automotive, medical, packaging, consumer goods and other manufacturing markets. The only complete, single-source enterprise software solution, EnterpriseIQ offers real-time front office, accounting, manufacturing and supply chain management in a single database. With offices across North America, Europe and Asia, IQMS serves manufacturers around the world. Visit IQMS online at www.iqms.com .

Source : Thomas Publishing Company

SYSPRO Enhances SYSPRO CRM Software to Facilitate FDA Compliance

SYSPRO, a leading provider of enterprise software, has today announced significant enhancements to the SYSPRO CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution. These most recent upgrades are designed to enable manufacturers, such as Medical Device Manufacturers and Food Producers, to more easily comply with FDA regulations in addition to promoting ease-of-use, increased efficiency and added system security.

Among the new CRM enhancements that facilitate FDA compliance are the easier recognition of inactive accounts and contacts and the use of SQL Optimization to speed record search. The integration of SYSPRO CRM with Microsoft MapPoint also allows authorized users to display maps of accounts and contacts located in the United States and Canada, providing at-a-glance visibility of account distribution to pinpoint geographical areas where tainted or defective product may have been shipped and also aid in future marketing and sales strategies. Closer ties between opportunities and service tickets also enable increased traceability and reporting capabilities. Additional triggers to SYSPRO Returned Merchandise Authorization tighten the integration between CRM and ERP to further FDA compliance.

The availability of HTML formatting for activity notes presents SYSPRO CRM users with new presentation options to accommodate required FDA reporting, while the automatic saving upon exit of the last-opened dashboard view for automatic appearance at the next log in speeds traceability.

According to SYSPRO USA President Joey Benadretti, “The ability to customize fields in SYSPRO CRM and the opportunities to automate internal order forms have increased FDA reporting capabilities while still allowing hard copies for FDA audits. The service ticket area of CRM has also greatly increased a company’s ability to report on customer issues, product defects and remedies. These latest enhancements to SYSPRO CRM reflect SYSPRO’s ongoing efforts to enable manufacturers to more easily comply with FDA regulations. Because SYSPRO CRM is fully integrated with SYSPRO enterprise software, there is also availability of up-to-date data for FDA reporting requirements.”

About SYSPRO

Since its inception in 1978, SYSPRO has been delivering state-of-the-art business solutions to some of the world's leading companies. As a global leader in the production of world-class ERP software, the company now caters to the specialized needs of 12,000 licensed companies in more than 60 countries worldwide. SYSPRO is marketed globally through regional territory distribution centers and a global reseller network in the US, Canada, Africa, Asia Pacific, Australia and the UK.

Source : http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070828005320&newsLang=en

CDC Software’s Vertical CRM Solutions Gain Momentum In Financial Services Industries

CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation and a provider of enterprise software applications, announced recently broad customer adoption of its industry-specific Pivotal CRM and Saratoga CRM solutions for the financial services industries.

Second quarter sales for Pivotal CRM for Financial Services increased 71 percent from the same period a year earlier and Saratoga CRM saw a 566 percent increase in the second quarter from the year earlier period.

New customers continued to embrace these industry-specialized solutions, as well as existing customers, who after leveraging the measured success of their Pivotal CRM and Saratoga CRM systems, expanded their deployments to address the needs of additional divisions and business units.

New and existing financial services customers that recently selected CDC Software or expanded their licenses include: Diversified Investment Advisors, a national investment advisory firm specializing in retirement plans; Eaton Vance, a comprehensive wealth manager; Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, a multi-line insurance provider in the state of Michigan; Julius Baer Investment Management, the U.S. subsidiary of the Julius Baer Group, focused on institutional asset management; North Shore Credit Union, a Canadian-based provider of personal and business financial services including banking, investment planning, loans, leasing, and insurance; Pacific Life, a provider of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds; The Principal Financial Group, a provider of 401k plans, mutual funds, retirement plans, investments, and insurance; Solus Alternative Asset Management, a leading provider of alternative investment and hedge funds; UBS Germany AB, a world-leading wealth management company, Union Investment AG, Germany’s largest investment firm for private and institutional investors; and Vantage Credit Union which serves employees of schools throughout Missouri and others.

“We selected CDC Software’s CRM solution because they offer advanced functionality that can be configured for the way we want to do business,” said Jim Robinson, executive vice president, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan. “The strength of these solutions became obvious after we evaluated other providers – both enterprise and industry-specific. The flexibility of this system will allow us to deliver a solution faster while maintaining our focus on business objectives. Ultimately, the system will enable us to deliver world-class customer service, improve our products and services, and identify sales opportunities and target markets for the products we offer.”

Across commercial and private banking, capital markets, institutional asset management and retail asset management industries, a growing number of customers are selecting these industry-specific solutions that enable financial services companies to develop deep insight into their customers' needs and preferences. CDC Software’s solutions for financial services offer comprehensive, integrated, industry-specific capabilities that increase insight into operational performance, streamline processes across the value chain, and improve responsiveness to client demands.

Fred Cook, chief information officer for North Shore Credit Union, who recently expanded his deployment to include additional modules of Pivotal CRM for Financial Services, summed it up this way: “Maintaining exceptional relationships with our clients is our top priority. We use Pivotal as the basis for every interaction with our customers. Pivotal is one of the most important business tools that we have in our arsenal.”

“Progressive firms that know how to provide their account executives and their entire client-facing workforce with the right data at the right time will be more likely to win deals and generate revenues,” said Kathleen Khirallah, managing director and practice leader, Banking Research, TowerGroup. “The benefits of internal integration will also be felt by senior managers, who will have data they need to assign their people according to potential opportunities.”

“Our comprehensive, integrated, industry-specific solutions are gaining momentum in the industry as financial services providers realize that generic CRM solutions do not address their unique business requirements,” said Eric Musser, CEO, CDC Software. “CDC Software’s exceptional growth in this market is reflective of our successful strategy to focus on delivering solutions specifically designed by industry experts for financial services organizations around the world.”

About CDC Corporation

The CDC family of companies includes CDC Software focused on enterprise software applications and services, CDC Mobile focused on mobile applications, CDC Games focused on online games, and China.com focused on portals for the greater China markets. For more information about CDC Corporation , please visit www.cdccorporation.net.

Source : http://www.crmmarketplace.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID=%7B57BBC98A-8DD2-4CD4-8200-14AC471B779E%7D&Bucket=Current+Headlines&VNETCOOKIE=NO

SAP reinforces India strategy

German software firm SAP AG, one of the largest providers of business application software, has doubled the number of customers in India to 2,000 in the past year and reaffirmed plans to invest $1 billion in the country to boost growth.

The company said today that it was the first enterprise software vendor in India to cross the 1,000 customer mark, which reinforced its leadership in India.

The company witnessed a growth of over 25 per cent in revenue from its Indian business in the first half of fiscal 2007.

“The unprecedented growth that we are seeing from India is one of the best examples of how our 2010 strategy translates into action,” Henning Kagermann, SAP CEO and chairman, said after a meeting of the company’s executive board in New Delhi today.

“Markets like India are at an inflection point when it comes to the adoption of technology by businesses of all shapes and sizes. For instance, it took us nine years in India to reach the 1,000 customer mark, and only one to double it.”

SAP won 498 customers in India last year and has added 600 so far in 2007.

The $1 billion investment underlines India’s growing importance as a global hub for technology outsourcing and research for multinationals such as IBM, Microsoft and Intel Corp.

The firm has identified India as one of eight strategic markets to power its expansion, a prominence underscored by its decision to send its entire executive board to India.

A large part of the investment will go into new e-learning centres and recruitments. It will add five more centres to the 25 it has now.

Globally, the company has set itself a goal of reaching 1,00,000 customers by 2010. The company is planning to expand the addressable market for enterprise software solutions by aggressively targeting small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) and emerging markets.

“SAP Labs India is today the largest research and development hub and support presence for us outside Germany,” Kagermann said. “While the Bangalore centre will continue to play a central global leadership role, we now foresee the Gurgaon centre focusing on global service and support scaling up significantly in the next few years to enable us to meet our goals for India.”

Kagermann also hinted at potential acquisitions for the year reaching a similar number as that last year.

“We are looking at a similar number and similar size of companies to acquire as we did last year, when our largest acquisition was around $200 million,” he said.

SAP began its operations in India in 1996 and had by 2006 garnered a market share of 34.4 per cent in enterprise resource planning (ERP), 10.3 per cent in customer relationship management (CRM), 39.3 per cent in supply chain management (SCM), according to analyst firm IDC. The company is the market leader in the SME space (Frost and Sullivan).

SAP also said that Wipro, the country’s number three software services exporter would be a global services partner and establish a solutions laboratory in Bangalore.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu9&subLeft=1&autono=296184&tab=r

Service Oriented Architecture Expands Xytech Software to Support Enterprise-wide Media Operations, Allowing Further Integration with Media Production

Xytech Systems Corporation – a leading provider of business software for media operations including workflow management, resource scheduling, and media asset management – announced its support today for a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) through the integration of Xytech Enterprise software with the IBM Media Hub Solution Framework.

Media Hub is IBM’s services oriented architecture (SOA)-based solution for the media and entertainment industry that is designed to manage the increasing complexity of running a content-focused business from the point of creation to the distribution of digital content.

Many film studios are already Xytech customers and use the Xytech software to manage their business workflows, schedule resources, manage media asset libraries, and prepare content for distribution or broadcast. Several of these film studios have enlisted IBM and Xytech to work together to further automate enterprise-wide business processes. Through the use of the IBM Media Hub, a flexible SOA can be established that is agile in supporting not only new distribution channels and revenue opportunities but also the further integration of business and production systems. IBM and Xytech are also developing an adapter between Media Hub and Xytech Enterprise software that can be used by other production, broadcasting, and large post production facilities around the world.

Dick Anderson, general manager for Media and Entertainment at IBM, said, “Our broadcast and studio clients have a strong focus on automating their digital workflows and media operations. SOA and the IBM Media Hub Solution Framework are seeing real traction in meeting this market need, and we are delighted that Xytech is now bringing their substantial software capability into our clients’ integrated workflow.”

“IBM Media Hub and Xytech Enterprise software are prominent solutions in the Media & Entertainment industry,” said Ron Peeters, Executive Vice President, Xytech Systems Corporation. “Xytech’s media business software combined with IBM’s deep expertise in automating digital workflows and complex business processes with SOA will greatly benefit our customers.”

About Xytech Systems Corporation:

Xytech Systems Corporation is a leading provider of media business software and services for workflow management, resource scheduling, facilities management, and media asset management for the media and entertainment industries.

Customers include most film studios, many broadcasting companies, postproduction facilities, television networks, rental houses, media content providers, and the media departments of numerous Fortune-1000 corporations. There are over 350 Xytech Systems software installations worldwide supported by a global professional services team with extensive experience in studio, postproduction, and broadcasting.

Xytech Systems is headquartered in Burbank, California, and has regional offices in New York and London, UK. For more information about Xytech Systems, please visit http://www.xytechsystems.com/ or call +1-818-303-7800 USA / +44 (0)20-7903-5170 UK.

Source: http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070829006080&newsLang=en

Application-Specific RFID Software Integrated with Best-in-Class RFID Hardware Products for Comprehensive Solutions

Leading UHF Gen 2 radio frequency identification (RFID) tag chip and reader supplier Impinj, Inc. today announced alliances with a growing group of independent software vendors (ISVs) to deliver comprehensive, quickly deployed RFID solutions.

In addition to improving overall supply chain efficiency, Impinj’s ISV alliances provide optimized solutions for pharmaceutical, media/entertainment, apparel, food safety and other vertical market applications. Supporting companies include epcSolutions, GlobeRanger, InSync Software, OATSystems, Omnitrol Networks, Scout Software, Systech International, Tacit Solutions, Vue Technology and RFID network infrastructure provider, Reva Systems. Products from alliance members integrate seamlessly with Impinj’s GrandPrix™ solution, providing application-specific RFID functionality.

“The growing support for Impinj’s RFID products from well-respected software companies is an important development in the widespread adoption of RFID solutions,” said Dimitri Desmons, vice president of RFID marketing at Impinj. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ RFID deployment. Each vertical application requires customization that marries the best hardware and software products. Impinj's GrandPrix solution gives customers interoperable RFID products to meet their specific needs. As most recently demonstrated by the adoption of Impinj’s UHF Gen 2 technology by major suppliers in the pharmaceutical industry, the result is quick deployments to accelerate ROI and meet mandate deadlines.”

More information about Impinj’s network of RFID solution providers is available at www.impinj.com/RFID/where-to-buy.aspx.

About Impinj, Inc.
Impinj, Inc. is a semiconductor and RFID company whose patented Self-Adaptive Silicon® technology enables two synergistic business lines: high-performance RFID products and semiconductor intellectual property (IP). A leading contributor to the RFID standards for high-volume supply-chain applications worldwide, Impinj leverages technical expertise and industry partnerships to deliver the GrandPrix™ solution, comprising tags, readers, software, and systems integration. Impinj licenses innovative IP products, core to the company's RFID tags, to leading semiconductor companies worldwide, allowing them to seamlessly integrate crucial nonvolatile memory (NVM) alongside analog and digital functionality on a single chip. Impinj's IP products include the popular AEON® family of embeddable cores, which provide rewriteable NVM technology in logic CMOS manufacturing. For more information, visit http://www.impinj.com/ .

Source : http://www.impinj.com/news-events/release.aspx?id=1704

DiaVision users to gain from STG diamond software

The new Sarin To Go (STG) diamond presentation software gives users of Sarin’s DiaVision Professional Edition an edge above their competitors by enabling them to burn photo images.

The new Sarin To Go (STG) diamond presentation software gives users of Sarin’s DiaVision Professional Edition an edge above their competitors by enabling them to burn photo images, Hearts & Arrows images, scanned certificates, and grading reports of a diamond (or diamonds) onto a CD for their customers to view before purchasing – be it a wholesaler, retailer, or a customer wanting to show it to his wife at home, without the diamonds having to leave the office or store.

• Available to all users of DiaVision Professional Edition.
• Multiple diamonds can be burnt onto a single CD for the customer.
• When inserted into the CD drive, the CD opens an attractive web-like window with diamond’s image, details, grading certificate, and a special educational section from The Sarin Diamond Academy.
• Using the Configuration Wizard, you can include your company’s name and contact details on each CD.
• No installation is needed by your customer. Everything she needs is on the CD you give her.

Source : http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsDetails.aspx?news_id=40002

Sage Upgrades Abra Human Resources

Sage Software has unveiled its latest versions (7.6 and 8.3) of Sage Abra HRMS, the company’s human resource management system for small and midsized businesses and organizations in North America, featuring Employer Information Report EEO-1 and compatibility with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system.

Sage Abra has been updated in an effort to make it easy for customers to collect and report on necessary job categories and employee ethnicity to comply with the 2007 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission category changes, effective Sept. 30, 2007.

“One major reason companies implement an HR management system is to help them accurately manage requirements for government compliance,” said Jessica Simmons, vice president and general manager for Sage Abra HRMS at Sage Software via e-mail. “With these latest versions, Sage Abra HRMS includes the code table and report changes necessary to comply with the new EEO-1 requirements which employers must begin reporting Sept. 30.”

Sage Abra is Sage Software’s flagship HR/payroll offering from its portfolio of complementary front- and back-office systems, including accounting, fixed asset management, customer relationship management and software for specific vertical industries.

In addition, Sage Abra integrates with Sage Software’s Sage MAS 90 ERP, Sage MAS 200 ERP, Sage MAS 500 ERP, Sage MIP Fund Accounting, Sage Accpac ERP, and Sage Timberline Office, plus its Sage Payroll Services and Sage Compliance Services offerings, as well as third-party solutions for midsized businesses.

Source : WebCPA and SourceMedia, Inc.

Cult Clothing reaps benefits from retail software

Cult Clothing has upgraded its WinRMIS retail management system supplied by Eurostop, a leading supplier of retail systems to the Fashion, Footwear and General Merchandise sector. The company invested in Eurostop’s WinRMIS to manage stock across it stores.

The clothing retailer also uses WinPOS at till point to capture and analyse data, maximising sales across its stores. Recent enhancements include integration with the company’s account system and customer details captured at till point.

Cult claims increased profitability as a result of improved stock management and being able to respond to customer buying trends, has enabled it to grow even in the current tough market conditions. Cult clothing chose Eurostop’s solution having evaluated competitive market offerings against core functionality criteria and for the company’s proven record in the retail fashion industry.

Head office users can view sales figures from branches in real time, without the need to contact sales staff. Stock is now fully integrated across the branch network, enabling each store to view on touch screens what is available and request items to be delivered to respond to specific customer requests, rather than stock being ordered from the central warehouse.

Cult Clothing has also set threshold levels on stock that automatically flag which items are running low. Individual reports for each store can be run at the click of a button to ensure the right colours and sizes are supplied to the stores. OLAP analysis techniques allow data to be viewed in multiple dimensions, with graphic reporting and personalised views.

The reduced reporting time ensures that stock is supplied to the stores earlier. In some instances the replenishments are run twice in the week, to meet demand.

Additional enhancements on the till software capture customer account information at point of sale, enabling Cult to have a better view on customer preferences. Integration of Eurostop’s solution with the company accounts package and website have also streamlined online transactions and reduced the need to manually input sales data from the individual stores.

“Many independent retailers are tightening the belts in the current market,”said Ian Munday, Logistics Manager at Cult Clothing. “At Cult we are bucking the trend, expanding the number of stores that we have and promoting and developing our own brand, Superdry.”

“With Eurostop’s retail management system we have been able to reduce our stock holding, revise our purchasing strategy to meet buying trends and operate more profitably. The business benefits that Eurostop’s solution has brought to Cult have already paid for the cost of the system.”

Denise Basquil, Sales Executive at Eurostop commented, “For specialist retailers like Cult Clothing it is important to react quickly to customer trends. Having a clear view on stock levels and being able to meet specific store requirements has a direct impact on the bottom line. Eurostop’s retail management systems have been designed to assist retailers get the information they need to make fast decisions, streamline operations and capitalise on sales opportunities.”

Established in Cheltenham in 1985 by Julian Dunkerton, Cult has built on its success year on year, as a result of its founder’s unique understanding of the youth fashion market.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsDetails.aspx?news_id=2980

NextHop Announces Support for 802.11n

NextHop Technologies® Inc., the leader in enterprise mobility and networking solutions, today announced support for 802.11n, the next and fourth generation standard for wireless local area networking. By taking advantage of 802.11n technology, enterprise wireless equipment will deliver data rates up to six or seven times faster, double their range of communication and improve the quality of signal coverage when compared with legacy 802.11a/b/g devices.

With these enhancements, 802.11n promises the opportunity for entirely wireless office environments where the wireless medium is robust and will not limit application performance. It offers enterprises a new point of inflection to enhance business productivity. By 2011, Dell ‘Oro Group predicts that 100 percent of access points used in enterprise deployments will be based on 802.11n. As a wireless industry leader, NextHop will be at the forefront of making 802.11n available to businesses that plan to make mobility pervasive in the enterprise.

According to Craig Mathias, a principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm Farpoint Group, “802.11n is the most important development in the history of 802.11, after the creation of the original standard, of course. With the Wi-Fi Alliance providing certification based on Draft 2.0 of the standard, the time to plan for 802.11n is now. Users and network managers alike are going to be amazed and delighted with the performance they see.”

802.11n feature benefits:

• High throughput 40 MHz channels offering 300 Mbps raw data rates with 2 spatial streams, scaling to 600Mbps with 4 spatial streams.
• Enabling MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) operation, leverages multi-path propagation for clearer, more robust, signaling.
• Dual band 2.4 and 5 GHz operation for mixed or parallel deployment.
• Packet aggregation and block acknowledgement protocols to reduce power consumption and data collisions. Wi-Fi Alliance estimates a 15 percent to 40 percent improvement in battery life depending on the application characteristics.
• Backward compatibility with 802.11a/b/g for support of legacy devices.

“The mobile world is becoming hyper-connected,” said PG Menon, vice president of marketing for NextHop Technologies. “802.11n is going to give a tremendous boost to the way people use applications on enterprise networks. The industry has rarely faced a more profound opportunity for transformation.”

NextHop’s 802.11n support will be available as part of CompleteMobilityTM, NextHop’s industry leading enterprise Wi-Fi solution, in the first quarter 2008.

Source : NextHop Technologies

NextHop’s CompleteMobility™, Software-Only Enterprise Wi-Fi Solution

NextHop Technologies® Inc., the leader in Enterprise Mobility and Networking solutions, today announced NextHop CompleteMobility™, the world’s first secure, enterprise-class software solution available for integration into existing and future platforms. CompleteMobility enables a broad spectrum of OEM suppliers to integrate 802.11 Wi-Fi networking and access point control into existing systems without having to purchase dedicated Wi-Fi hardware equipment, enabling seamless management and improved security throughout the enterprise network at a much lower cost point.

"Convergence is almost an over-used word,” said Aaron Vance, senior analyst with Synergy Research Group. “Yet networking equipment suppliers are integrating wireless into their systems, which enables Voice over Wi-Fi on the network side. And IP-PBX suppliers are simultaneously integrating wireless into their systems for the same purpose. IP (internet protocol) is everywhere and both the voice and data communities are merging to meet the same requirement. NextHop’s CompleteMobility solution is right on target for being integrated by any of these suppliers to meet market demand.“

NextHop’s CompleteMobility-Enterprise solution creates the industry’s first full enterprise-class wireless control, software-only solution. The solution enables domains of multiple controllers that share ‘state’ information, causing multiple controllers to behave as one. This provides enterprise-class manageability, large scalability and robust resiliency. Should a controller or access point (AP) fail, another will take its place. CompleteMobility-Express is an enhanced, easy-to-use plug-and-play version for the SMB (small and medium business).

Demand for wireless is becoming ubiquitous across all platforms and applications within the enterprise. Innovative network suppliers such as D-Link, and 3Com are already supplying NextHop provisioned, integrated wired and wireless solutions. CompleteMobility will satisfy new demands in manufacturing for RFID (radio frequency identification) tracking, in the branch office for OIB (office in a box) solutions, and in hospitals requiring location-based services.

“Mobile environments, as in hospitals and on the manufacturing floor, have been strong markets for wireless growth,” said Craig Mathias, principal and founder of the Farpoint Group. “I’ve been predicting that Voice over Wi-Fi would be the next large growth area. With IP-PBX shipments now surpassing traditional analog PBXs, Voice over IP, and its natural follow-on, Voice over Wi-Fi, stands to be the next killer application for wireless in the enterprise. As a software-only solution, NextHop is ideally suited to serve the vast arrays of ensuing markets.”

“All industry experts recognize the value of mobility. It has pervaded every aspect of our daily life and now it’s transforming the enterprise. This next generation mobility and convergence presents tremendous opportunities for vendors who quickly adapt to the new dynamics,” said Ed Cluss president and CEO of NextHop. “NextHop CompleteMobility streamlines innovation for these vendors, enabling them to bring Wi-Fi into their platforms to extend their customer base with next generation requirements for wireless broadband communication without having to purchase separate and expensive pre-defined proprietary hardware.”

About NextHop CompleteMobility
CompleteMobility- Enterprise

• Enterprise-class scalability: 400 APs (access points); 10,000 clients. Multiple controllers within one domain.
• Enterprise-class integrated management: From any one controller, a management station will have full view and control over the entire wireless domain. No need for a separate appliance.
• Resiliency: If a controller or AP fails, another within the same domain takes its place.
• Enhanced security: Policy based rogue detection. Advance policy language enabling rule base detection and reporting of rogue APs.

CompleteMobility-Express offers SMBs easy-to-use plug-and-play enabling automatic configuration and set-up in just 15 minutes, plus new mobility features enabling ‘Toll Quality’ voice.

Source : NextHop Technologies

InSiteShip Demonstrates Shipping Made Easy at Infor User Conference

InSite Software Solutions, Inc. a strategic publisher of shipping software solutions, and an Infor Complmentary Partner, today announced it will be a Bronze Sponsor while exhibiting and demonstrating its solutions at Inforum 2007, Infor's annual user conference being held September 9-12, at Las Vegas' Sands Expo and Convention Center. The company will showcase the latest version of its solution, InSiteShip, in Inforum's Solutions Expo, at Booths 501 and 503.

We are thrilled with the opportunity to meet with more than 6000 of Infor's customers in a single setting," said Kevin Cooper, Manager of Business Development for InSite Software. "Inforum allows us to thank the many InSiteShip customers, Infor Affiliates and Infor employees for their continued support in helping us significantly grow our installed base of shipping software solutions for the Infor ERP SyteLine and Infor ERP Visual software solutions."

InSiteShip is a shipping software solution designed to optimize and enhance the shipping processes of the ERP SyteLine and Infor ERP Visual software solutionsfor mid-sized manufacturers and is a part of the Infor Complementary Partner Program. Inforum attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about InSiteShip software shipping solutions at the session titled "Shipping Made Easy for SyteLine and Visual" on Monday September 10th at 1:00 PM.

"InSite Software Solutions is a valued Infor partner that helps us offer industry-leading shipping solutions that ensure our customers' continued success and growth," said Scott Williams, senior director of global alliance and partner management, Infor. "Inforum 2007 provides a world-class platform for our partners and customers to share ideas and learn more about the global Infor community."

Inforum 2007 is expected to attract customers, partners from around the world who come to learn about new business opportunities, collaborate on Infor's business-specific solutions, and get the latest news on the product roadmaps for their solutions. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in hundreds of educational sessions on topics such as best practices, tips and techniques, product seminars, business strategy, and industry trends.

Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/shipping/software/prweb548650.htm

Deacom to Showcase its Integrated Accounting and ERP Software Solution at the 2007 International Coatings Expo

Deacom, Inc. will showcase its DEACOM Integrated Accounting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software solution at the 2007 International Coatings Expo (ICE) from October 3-5 in Toronto, Canada.

Deacom, Inc. helps mid-to-large-sized paint and coatings manufacturers streamline business processes, such as inventory control, lab and formula management, accounting, production, environmental reporting, retail Point-of-Sale (POS), purchasing, and order entry, with one, integrated system.

ICE, a coatings industry tradition since 1932, encompasses the spectrum of formulation, manufacturing, testing, and application for the coatings and related industries. ICE combines valuable PreShow Short Courses and the industry's state-of-the-art, technical conference, FutureCoat!, with the largest North American exhibition of raw materials, equipment, and services for the coatings manufacturing and construction chemicals industry. During the exhibition, Deacom booth #1605 will provide ICE attendees full demonstrations of the benefits of business integration through a single software system.

Deacom President Jay Deakins says, "Completely integrating business operations is a struggle for most coatings manufacturers. Using one ERP system, however, makes it easy to integrate business processes as it handles all aspects of a coatings company, from formulation to accounting, in a single system. The visibility gained from using a single integrated software system gives coatings manufacturers the ability to manage their business better, and delivers a huge competitive edge in the ever-changing marketplace."

Source : http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/22705/

SewEasy software ventures into newer arena

SewEasy Pvt Ltd implemented a garment costing and production planning system at prestigious shirt manufacturer Gerboy Tekstil in Istanbul, Turkey recently.

The MTM based SewEasy software is well known in Asia, Middle-East and Africa with top manufacturers like Hirdaramani using it over a decade.

It uses the dot-net platform, with multi language support, covering all major languages of the world. The Turkish users found it easy since their local language was built into the system, minimizing the training cost. Keerthi Abeywickrama of Sri Lanka provided on-site training.

The penetration into European territory by Asian apparel software was an outcome of the newly formed Fashion and Textile Cluster (FTC) project, which is financed by the European Union.

The FTC project is intended to contribute to the fulfilment of Turkey’s ambitious targets for the apparel sector by year 2010.

The overall objective is to increase international competitiveness of SMEs in the textile and clothing sectors in Turkey.

Source : http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsDetails.aspx?news_id=38719

Steve & Barry’s to employ SAP Workforce Management application

Strengthening its position as one of the leading solutions providers to retailers of all sizes around the world, SAP AG announced that Steve & Barry’s has selected SAP software to support its global growth objectives.

Known for re-writing the rules of retail by offering affordably priced, high-quality apparel for the entire family, Steve & Barry’s will implement SAP for Retail solutions to support the company’s operations and its expansion as one of the fastest-growing retailers in the United States.

With more than 200 stores in more than 30 states, the move to SAP will benefit Steve and Barry’s employees at the corporate level as well as in its distribution center and stores.

After a comprehensive evaluation of competing vendor solutions, Steve & Barry’s selected SAP for its ability to provide an integrated, end-to-end solution across retail, financial, real estate and human resource operations to automate manual processes, streamline operations and control costs.

In keeping with its promise to deliver high-quality merchandise to its customers at astonishingly low prices, Steve & Barry’s also selected SAP software for its multi-language and multi-currency capabilities to support the company’s current and future international operations, allowing the company to share real-time information quickly and efficiently on a global scale.

To remain flexible and responsive to fashion trends, consumer demands and market needs, Steve & Barry’s will employ the SAP Workforce Management application to ensure that it effectively attends to staffing needs, employee skill levels, payroll requirements, employee availabilities and workplace rules to increase overall productivity.

Furthermore, by putting the right employees in the right place at the right time, Steve & Barry’s will not only reduce critical time-to-market for product design, development and purchasing, but also guarantee that its employees will continue to thrive in their roles and be motivated to initiate the type of cutting-edge, out-of-the-box thinking that separates Steve & Barry’s from its competition.

In an effort to gain further insight into the needs of its target consumers, Steve & Barry’s will leverage the SAP Merchandise and Assortment Planning application to anticipate consumer demand and build and analyze assortments based on local customer preferences to increase margins and maximize sales for each product line.

Steve & Barry’s will also leverage the next wave of enhancements to SAP Best Practices offerings a global portfolio of proven industry and cross-industry business processes, methodologies and documentation.

SAP Best Practices offerings are based on the experience of SAP and its partners, gained from decades of serving industry-leading companies of all sizes.

The enhancements range from new, preconfigured industry best practices to new and improved deployment tools for faster implementation and additional coverage for countries and industries.

“Our relationship with Steve & Barry’s is further proof that SAP is committed to providing award-winning solutions with new levels of adaptability and simplicity in businessmanagement to retailers of all sizes,” said Jim Mattecheck, senior vice president/general manager, Retail, SAP America Inc.

“SAP retail solutions are the best way for companies like Steve & Barry’s to achieve greater efficiencies and focus on their tremendous growth potential. We are proud to have such an exciting company like Steve & Barry’s join our ever-growing family of the best-run retailers in the world.”

Source : http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textiles-technology-news/newsDetails.aspx?news_id=38989

Oracle Education Foundation Invites Students And Teachers To Take Part In ThinkQuest International 2008

The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) today announced the opening of ThinkQuest International 2008, inviting students and teachers from around the globe to take part in one of the most well-known project learning competitions in the world today.
ThinkQuest is open to students between the ages of 9 and 19 and their teacher-coaches worldwide. Students are encouraged to team with peers in other regions to develop websites on educational topics. As they create their sites, the participants develop important 21st century skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, self-direction, problem solving, and technology skills. Additionally, the students become published web-authors in the popular ThinkQuest Library, sharing their work with 30 million web learners each year.

"Participating in ThinkQuest has empowered me to collaborate and compete with students from around the world. I have an opportunity to work with other kids my age on global issues that wefind interesting," said Dylan, a 2007 first place winning-student from the "Living on the Brink" team, whose site addresses endangered animal issues. "While working on our website, we found it tremendously enriching to interact and exchange ideas with more than 800 children from 31 countries. ThinkQuest taught us to effectively use technology to thrive in this digital age, and offered a platform for us to share our work and knowledge with other children globallly. We did not just create a website - we actually involved 800 kids from around the world to contribute to our project."

"ThinkQuest is a unique educational program. Itbrings together students and technology in ways that positively impact kids' lives and the communities in which they live," said Clare Dolan, Vice President, Oracle Education Initiatives. "More than 280,000 students benefit each year from the Oracle Education Foundation's technology programs, which help kids develop vital skills for life and work in the 21st century."

Professional educators will judge all submitted websites for ThinkQuest International 2008. Entries are due on April 2, 2008, allowing teams up to eight months to build their websites. Qualifying entries will be published in the ThinkQuest Library. Winners will receive prizes from the Oracle Education Foundation, including laptops and $1,000 USD school grants for the top five teams in each age division, travel to the annual ThinkQuest Live event for the top three teams in each division, and digital cameras for the team that receives the Global Perspectives Award.

Students and educators interested in participating can find out more details at: http://www.thinkquest.org.

Source : Oracle

Eyewear Company SPY Optic selects Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Corp. today announced that SPY Optic Inc., a Carlsbad, Calif.-based designer and manufacturer of action sports and fashion eyewear and accessories, has selected Microsoft Dynamics GP for its new, overall enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution and Microsoft Dynamics CRM to manage its customer and vendor relations. The company, which has 125 employees, will also leverage the technology to streamline interactions with its European headquarters in Lombardo, Italy. SPY Optic distributes to more than 5,000 retail locations in the U.S., with plans to expand to markets in Australia and Europe.

The combination of a recent public offering and the welcoming of a new chief information officer (CIO) provided SPY Optic with an ideal opportunity to re-evaluate its approach to production, inventory, sales and customer data management, all of which were previously distributed throughout various nonintegrated IT systems. The new combined Microsoft Dynamics solution will work in tandem with Microsoft® SQL Server™, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Office and other key, familiar products on the Microsoft platform.

"We expect the adoption of a holistic solution based upon Microsoft Dynamics to be a day-and-night change for this company," said Erik Quade, CIO for SPY Optic. "Our goal is growth. From increasing the effectiveness of our sales and customer relations efforts to drastically improving order fulfillment and business analytics on the back end, a mix of Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM was unquestionably the right choice to take us to the next level."

The company will leverage the full functionality of Microsoft Dynamics GP's data management solutions to move to a paperless model, which it projects may reduce order processing and SKU setup time by up to 50 percent. In addition, the company anticipates that new credit card automation functionality may potentially save up to 30 labor hours per month by reducing data entry of cash receipts by approximately 30 percent. SPY Optic will also leverage the new solution in its warehouse facility, where integration with handheld scanning technology may increase inventory management and distribution time proficiency as much as 90 percent.

SPY Optic chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM for its customer and vendor relationship management functionality, as well as the way in which the solution provides a natural way to add these capabilities for employees already familiar with Microsoft Office Outlook® and other programs. Sitting alongside these familiar products, the solution will provide every customer-facing employee with the information they need to provide the best service, while also capturing the greatest depth of transaction data for reference in subsequent interactions. Spy Optic expects this to further empower its employees to make sales decisions, market products, solve problems and get strategic views of the business.

"While Microsoft Dynamics provides the flexibility to integrate with a variety of products, users see the full power of the solution when it's in a comprehensive Microsoft product suite," said Jon Pratt, senior director of product marketing for Microsoft Dynamics GP at Microsoft. "Each component seamlessly interacts to process real-time information, providing a dramatically deeper level of strategic insight across a business and enabling smarter decision-making. Having Microsoft Dynamics GP as the cornerstone - especially combined with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and other key Microsoft products - could play a significant role in helping SPY Optic reach its aggressive growth goals in the coming years."

The Carlsbad, Calif., office of FMT Consultants, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, will work to design and implement SPY Optic's new solution. The company, which was awarded the Great Plains® Excellence Award during the 2005 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, will apply its deep knowledge of both products to best tailor the implementation to SPY Optic's unique needs. SPY Optic evaluated other vendors' products, including SAP Business One, but FMT Consultants worked closely with the eyewear designer to demonstrate the value of building a solution on the Microsoft platform.

"In our view, the value of Microsoft Dynamics solutions centers around two key advantages: empowering people within a company to function at their best and allowing businesses to turn information into actionable insight," said Felipe Jara, senior account executive for FMT Consultants. "When we are able to demonstrate through our proposal process how this can potentially translate into real-world savings and efficiencies, Microsoft Dynamics often becomes the obvious choice - which results in FMT Consultants winning new business and delighting our clients with the results of our implementations."

Source : http://news.merph.com/vendors/microsoft/20060811/