Never mind the mantra that the customer is always right, according to the findings of research from IDC Manufacturing Insights into the strategies of the discrete manufacturing sector, the customer is seriously high maintenance. 

If you’re in the manufacturing sector, you’ll be well aware of, and no doubt responsible in part for, the dynamic of living in the ‘now’ society.  We expect products how, when and where we want them, and this trend shows no signs of abating.
 
The knock-on impact of the ‘now’ society is that manufacturers are citing increasingly or rapidly changing customer requirements and demand volatility as serious concerns when it comes to servicing the customer effectively.  Manufacturers were asked how concerned they were about a range of issues on a scale of 1-5 and both demand volatility and changing requirements came in at a ‘very concerned’ 3.41.

Interestingly, despite these concerns, manufacturers believe that their customer fulfillment is excellent and precisely where it needs to be in moving forward.  They are less confident about areas which can add major value in addressing these concerns, most notably demand planning and bid and project management, citing a significant gap between where their current capabilities are and where they need to be over the next two years.   

How concerned are you about servicing an increasingly volatile and demanding customer base?  If our findings serve us right, all manufacturers are feeling the heat to some degree – wherever you are in the world. 

Want to learn more? View the full post on this topic, as well as other posts just like this on the Manufacturing Matters blog, where Infor's manufacturing experts are on hand to share relevant information that matters to Infor manufacturing customers.

When I turn on the news here in the US, it’s economic “doom and gloom.” The economic recovery that most economists believe began in 2009 still hasn’t taken hold in some industries.  But other regions of the world, such as China, are experiencing growth at a rapid pace of 9%, while the US and Europe are plodding along at 3%.

SyteLine User Network (SUN) Conference

April 6-8, 2011
Buena Vista Palace Hotel & Spa, Lake Buena Vista, FL

Infor ERP SyteLine users have banded together through the years to share information and learn how best to maximize your investment in SyteLine, which has been the foundation of success for a multitude of companies and is coming up on its 25-year anniversary.

The SyteLine User Network (SUN) Conference, is the number one conference and expo for the Infor ERP SyteLine user community. Over three days in April, there's the opportunity to hear from Infor experts and fellow users about the latest advances and integrations of the Infor ERP SyteLine solution, including roadmaps, mobile enhancements, and Infor Barcode, for starters.

And, not to mention, there are many educational and break-out sessions, valuable networking with peers, and the Vendor Expo, where Infor and partner solutions—like Infor PM, Infor PLM, and Infor EPAK—will be in action.

Plus, one of the conference highlights, Bruce Richardson’s keynote session is on Thursday.

Click here to learn more about SUN.

Follow the newly refreshed Manufacturing Matters blog for full coverage on this week's event.

As always, we want to hear from you, are you attending?  Leave your questions and comments here.

Posted by Mark Humphlett, Director Product Marketing, ERP

The most important investment a company makes in its enterprise system is not software and implementation services. As important as those are, the biggest impact on a company comes from ongoing customer support. The term raises images of vendors helping users solve problems and that is certainly the most visible piece. But support is much more than phone calls and knowledgebases.

So what prompted me to bring this up? Dennis Howlett of ZDNet wrote a piece recently about Siemens and their threat leave SAP support in favor of a third party provider. In the end the two parties came together and struck a new deal, but there had to be some big beads of sweat on the foreheads in Walldorf.

Now, I don’t know the specifics behind the story, but it started me thinking about what would cause the latter to part ways with the former and seek another. A third party can’t offer the same level of support one gets from the software publisher, nor do they have the same level of subject matter expertise. But the driving factor behind any decision is value: does the service match the dollars spent.

All support has value, but some has more than others because the provider works hard at building in value.

To ensure we are meeting customer expectations for support, we continually assess our programs and measure them against these questions:1. Are customers comfortable engaging us in discussions about product direction
2. Are we innovating or just keeping pace
3. Are we keeping the upgrade and migration paths smooth
4. Do our horizontal products extend and enhance the customer’s core applications

Without a doubt, the answer to number 1 is the driver for numbers two through six and we strive for answers with every customer engagement. I’m not saying we sit down and run through the list one by one, but we do listen, real hard, to what our customers are telling us.

Every closed support incident is an obvious example of your support dollars at work. What’s less obvious is the value of what goes on behind the scenes: The work being done to ensure your investment long into the future.

Engage your software provider and ask them the hard questions about what they are doing to build value into the support and listen, real hard, to their answers.

When Infor Flex launched in June we knew we had a good idea, but it was up to our customers to make the final decision on just how good. Well, they have spoken and the results are overwhelming:

Since the launch in June, Infor has experienced a 22 percent increase in maintenance revenue from customers returning to its world-class maintenance program. Companies in all industries are re-signing with Infor, recognizing the value Infor offers over other software companies and taking advantage of leading edge functionality and programs that help them reduce costs and improve business performance.

We believe "overwhelming" is a most appropriate word in this case.

Thank you to our customers for confirming what we believed.

You can read the entire release here.

I just returned from a trip to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to support the launch of Infor Process Essentials, a suite of ERP, supply chain, event management, and enterprise asset management solutions, for the Chinese market. China is one of our fastest growing markets and this was an important launch for Infor. China’s domestic process manufacturing industry is massive, and while we already have a number of customers there, the new capabilities and localization features address some needs for manufacturers in the Middle Kingdom.

China’s domestic market reflects some of the same trends that more industrialized countries faced a few decades ago, but at a greatly accelerated pace. There is a huge emerging middle class in China that has discretionary spending power, and they are demanding fresher products and more choices. This growth has led to some problems in food safety, which have shaken confidence for consumers both at home and abroad.

This month China rolled out a new food safety law, which has safety and recall standards and requires producers to list all additives. This is meant to protect consumers and China’s brand as a food producer. I’m no geo-political expert, so I don’t know how effective the government will ultimately prove at enforcement, but it’s undeniably a step in the right direction. Here’s what I do know: Food safety is challenging, and getting more complex every day. With increasing time pressures, regulatory complexity, and consumer requirements, it’s become more important than ever for companies to integrate quality and compliance into all aspects of their business to minimize the total cost of quality and compliance.

In China, this means implementing systems and quality processes that ensure product quality extends all the way to the retail shelf. Things like:

• Material quality—Complete definition and enforcement of non-allowable attributes and required attributes. Processes for supplier audits and supplier enablement.
• Integrated quality and HACCP capabilities—Full lot/sublot track and trace, shelf-life, and “best by” capabilities, and active HACCP monitoring and enterprise critical control point issue mitigation.
• Cold supply chain infrastructure and processes—More investments in cold storage and trucking.
• Forecasting—Producing the right products and reducing unsalables.
• Planning and scheduling—Planning to make more profitable proximity decisions and scheduling to react to disruptive events.

These are just a few of the processes that Chinese companies are coping with. While many of these companies are lagging behind in food safety, they are by no means alone in playing catch-up. The recent salmonella-tainted peanuts issue in the US showed us the importance of vigilance and that every company must take responsibility. The good news is that companies that make these investments in food safety, protect not only their brand and consumer health, but also realize increased profitability.

Posted by Rory Granros, Product Marketing Manager, Process Industries

Congratulations to Mohawk Fine Papers, the number one ranked company on Computerworld’s list of the “Top Green-IT Organizations.”

What sets Mohawk apart is that its IT strategy for sustainability is “pervasive,” to quote Paul Stamas, vice president of IT for Mohawk. Their approach goes well beyond green IT measures like using energy efficient servers, to encompass using IT as an enabler to weave sustainable practices throughout the fiber of their operations.

The company has implemented green processes throughout its manufacturing, distribution, and facilities operations. Mohawk uses Infor ERP, supply chain, and enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions to help with this.

On Earth Day, I can’t think of a better sustainability role model than Mohawk Fine Papers.  As a company that is so dependent of natural resources, it’s taken a leadership role to make sure those resources will continue to be available for the next generation.

Read more about Mohawk’s commitment to sustainability, and view a video testimonial on how they are using Infor’s EAM software to reduce their energy consumption.

Posted by Rod Ellsworth, Vice President, Global Asset Sustainability

Shaklee Corporation knows how to leverage its software for maximum impact.

The company, a manufacturer and distributor of nutritional supplements as well as products for skin care, cleaning, and filtration, has operations in the US, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Mexico.

It was the first company in the world to obtain Climate Neutral™ certification and completely offset its carbon dioxide emissions, resulting in a net zero impact on the environment.

And after using Infor ERP BPCS for 10 years, Shaklee upgraded to Infor ERP LX to unify its operations and enable real-time reporting in multiple languages and time zones from one centralized database..

According to Shaklee’s IT technical lead: “We found that we can run our business at 100% efficiency without customizing the code.” Now that’s the way to spend less time on non-productive activities…and more time on growing your business.

Hear what else Shaklee had to say. Watch their video and download the case study.

Posted by Julie Brown, Customer Testimonials Manager

Last week, the world’s best-in-class manufacturers were recognized in Managing Automation’s 2009 Progressive Manufacturing 100 (PM100) Awards. The PM 100 recognizes the top manufacturers demonstrating mastery of the Progressive Manufacturing concept—which advocates manufacturing transformation supported by advanced technology.

Several Infor customers were among those recognized as superior technology-driven businesses in 2008. They include: Mohawk Fine Papers, Organic Valley Family of Farms, Rodgers Instruments, Weston Bakeries, and Graphicast.

The award winners will be acknowledged in the June 2009 issue of Managing Automation magazine and during the Progressive Manufacturing Summit & Awards ceremony that month.

Infor customers are a mainstay on the annual PM100 list. This year’s winners used Infor ERP, CRM and PLM solutions, as well as the Infor Open SOA framework, to reach their business goals and bring home the award hardware. 

Congratulations to these innovative customers, who demonstrate excellence in manufacturing.

Posted by Lauren Banks, Public Relations Specialist

If you are a small- or medium-sized company (SMB) and you’re looking for an ERP solution, does size matter? Is a “Tier I” solution from SAP or Oracle better than a “Tier II” solution designed for your specific business?

If you like spending millions of dollars more, waiting longer for the implementation to be finished, and not being any more satisfied with your decision—then bigger is most definitely better.

This is according to a new survey from Panorama Consulting, highlighted by Thomas Wailgum in this CIO Magazine article.

First, a caveat—I take issue with classifying Infor as Tier II, and lumping it in with some of the smaller niche vendors. Infor has over 70,000 customers. The major analyst firms position Infor as one of the largest ERP providers in terms of market share. Our solutions are business-specific, rather than generic horizontal solutions that require customization; in that respect Infor solutions are Tier II. But, that’s a compliment, especially in light of these results.

Despite that disagreement, this survey does seem to be an apples-to-apples comparison of ERP for the midmarket. It does not include respondents from large multinational companies.

The survey found that SAP on average cost over $13 million more than a comparable Tier II solution. The major difference in SAP vs. Tier II solutions was in cost; both implementation times and satisfaction were in close approximation.

Why did Tier II solutions perform on par, or even better, but cost so much less? I believe it has a lot to do with simplicity and less need for customization, not to mention pedigree. (Infor has nearly three times more SMB customers than Oracle, for example.) These are important distinctions for companies in the midmarket—companies that need a vendor who can deliver a solution that has built-in functionality for their business. 

ERP selection should take into account a number of factors— functionality, cost-of-ownership, stability of the vendor, and support quality, among others. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all.

One of the most important decisions your company will make is the software that will run your business. Don’t make that based on who runs the nicest TV commercials; make it based on who makes software that’s right for your business.

Posted by Jeff Abbott, Vice President, Solutions Marketing