Managing Automation - March 2009 - (Page 8)

INDUSTRY NEWS FULL COVERAGE MA NEWSLETTER TO SUBSCRIBE GO TO OF EVENTS AND ANALYSIS WWW.MANAGINGAUTOMATION.COM managingautomation.com Alliances, Executive Appointments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products news For the maonline in perspective BY STEPHANIE NEIL Record APPOINTMENTS Sober Outlook, Cost-Cutting Techniques Dominate at Automation Conference t’s never a good sign when a conference Orlando heard practical advice on how to surkeynoter starts his discussion by alerting the vive the economic storm, including outsourcing audience that U.S. manufacturing is in a crisis. non-core operations, improving asset lifecycle But it is a reality the industry must face, said performance with better information manageAndy Chatha, president of ARC Advisory Group, ment, using wireless across the network infraduring his opening presentation structure, standardizing at ARC’s 13th annual conference processes across plants, simpliheld last month in Orlando, FL. fying automation architectures, The current environment — and adopting virtual technology. burdened by a credit deficit, “Learn as much as you can rising unemployment, global reabout the virtual world,” Chatha cession, and lack of trust — is said, mentioning virtual servers exacerbated by a shortage of (cloud computing), virtual comskilled human resources, as well missioning (digital factory), and as political and social pressure virtual asset information manto develop alternative fuels and agement (virtual plant). “The “go green,” Chatha said. Now, technology is here. Innovate out Andy Chatha however, is not the time to sit of the downturn.” still. Rather, he said, there are actions compaMost manufacturers, however, are just trying nies can take to save themselves and manufacto stay afloat, which is why the vendors at last turing as a whole. month’s ARC forum introduced what seemed to The conference, titled “Winning Strategies be sensible, short-term solutions, many of which and Best Practices for Sustainable Manufacturfit perfectly with Chatha’s sustainability views. ing,” was itself a reflection of the times. AttenEnhancing and optimizing operations is what’s dance at the forum was down dramatically, to most important to manufacturers. With that in 450 people, from 650 last year. And those in mind, Yokogawa Electric Corp. unveiled its Real- ABB hired Luis Duran as business development manager for safety systems in the Americas region. Infor appointed John Flavin to the new position of senior vice president, Global Professional Services. The Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) elected Raymond Payne as the 2009 president of the OAUG and the OAUG executive committee. Performix Inc. hired SAP and SAIC veteran Fred Ungerer as COO. I CONTRACTS Baseball equipment maker Rawlings implemented AtTask software to accelerate product introductions. Pet care products manufacturer Petmate chose ClearOrbit’s Xtended Process Control (X.PC) software to improve order fulfillment and customer service. J. Barbour & Sons Ltd., a U.K. clothing maker, implemented Lawson Quickstep Fashion. Frontier Wind selected MSC.Software’s enterprise simulation software and services to help meet Department of Energy goals for wind energy. Continued on page 10 Supply Chain Market Set for Growth in Troubled Economy NUMBERS The outlook for the supply chain management applications market remains positive, despite — or possibly because of — current economic challenges, according to an AMR Research report. The SCM segment maintained its growth rate of 7% in 2007, and the research firm forecasts steady growth to $9.2 billion in 2012. AMR predicts a “high likelihood the economic challenges of the coming years will offer greater opportunities for supply chain technology adoption.” Supply chain and related technologies will play a key role in helping companies “deal and thrive in an economy that is going to be quite unlike anything we’ve seen in the post-war era,” AMR says. Among the growth drivers will be a strong replacement market for legacy applications and as yet lightly penetrated geographical regions, such as Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Asia-Pacific market. Also, AMR notes, Brazil is ripe for supply chain investment. In addition, more mid-market companies will invest in SCM. AMR further notes that a global recession, which appears to be upon us, will slow decision making and will be felt 12 to 18 months out. SCM Application Revenue Estimates 2007-2012 $9.2B $7.4B $7.9B $8.5B $6.9B $6.5B THE 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 ma 8 2009 March Source: AMR Research, 2008 BY http://WWW.MANAGINGAUTOMATION.COM http://www.managingautomation.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - March 2009

Managing Automation - March 2009 Contents Take 1 Sober Outlook, Cost-Cutting Techniques Dominate at Automation Conference Sale Canceled, i2 Searches for Its Focus Accenture Unveils a Service for the Factory Floor Solar Is Bright Spot for MES Player Eyelit Other Industries Outspent Auto on Robots in 2008 Integrators to Play a Bigger Role at ILS Technology Notes Deep Dive Supply Chains Reader Poll Technology Directions Expert Q&A User Resources Special Report Transformation Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - March 2009

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.