Managing Automation - April 2008 - (Page 13)

news managingautomation.com maonline Go online for daily news updates in perspective SUPPLY CHAIN COMPANY TAKES NEXT STEP IN THE U.S. uintiq, a Netherlands-based advanced planning and scheduling (APS) and supply chain optimization technology provider, has opened a North American headquarters office based in Wayne, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. The office will handle operational, business development, and marketing activities as Quintiq works to expand its North American presence. It will also provide a local point of contact for project implementation and support for the company’s existing U.S., Canadian, and Mexican customers, including metals manufacturers Alcoa, Novelis, Logan Aluminum, and Dofasco. Following a strong year in which the privately held Quintiq said it saw 84% year-over-year revenue growth, the company felt the time was right to establish the North American headquarters, said Joachim Arts, Quintiq’s North American business director. “We hope to become the North American market leader over time, enjoying the same success we have had in other countries,” he said. Until now, the company maintained a U.S. business development office; it has supplied North American customers since 2005. Quintiq serves a broad range of markets, including general manufacturing, metals, aviation, field services, logistics, rail freight, security, and workforce optimization, with approximately 200 implementations in 22 countries, including Australia, China, Finland, Germany, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, Arts said. Founded in 1997, the company claims average annual revenue growth of 40% and competes mainly with i2 and Manugistics, Arts said. Quintiq sells directly to end users as well as through a network of strategic alliance partners, including Accenture, Capgemini, IBM, and SAP. The company is rolling out in North America what it calls a Planning-for-Profit methodology, a best practices technology implementation approach aimed at identifying the business process areas with the greatest potential for return, lowest implementation effort, and fastest deployment. “All Quintiq customers face the same challenge,” Arts said. “Planning decisions have to be made while taking many variables into account in a world that’s becoming more and more dynamic.” — Diane Himes Alliances, Executive Appointments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products and subsequently make payments to that vendor. “If someone has authorization to do both, there’s a potential for fraud there,” said John Hagerty, a research vice president at AMR Research, who covers the GRC space. Companies can monitor the segregation of duties manually, but the task can quickly become unwieldy, he said. “Depending on the complexity of the environment, this could be a Herculean task to be handled manually,” Hagerty explained. Most companies think the expense and exposure of manual management create too high a risk, he said. For Siemens, the answer was to implement Security Weaver for its backbone SAP enterprise system, Security Weaver’s specialty. That represented phase one of the rollout, said Security Weaver’s CEO, Terry Hirsch. Like most global companies, Siemens’ ERP environment comprises more than a single application, and applying SoD automation to one without applying it to all is essentially useless. In phase two, Security Weaver is building an integration layer to Siemens’ 10 or 11 other ERP systems, including JD Edwards, Baan, Lawson, PeopleSoft, and others, Hirsch said. “Based on the organization’s capabilities, we want an embedded Terry Hirsch solution that allows them to manage cross-platform initiatives,” Hirsch explained. Next up for Security Weaver is a release that enables cross-platform integration out of the box. That should appear in the second or early third quarter of 2008. Longer term, the company wants to create an Oracle analog to its flagship SAP-based SoD application. That work is in its early stages, and Hirsch wouldn’t predict when it would appear commercially. Meanwhile, companies such as Siemens, with its massive, globally dispersed workforce, might just rest easier knowing that segregation of duties has a high priority in its IT department. AMR’s Hagerty said Siemens’ peers have similar motivations. “I think that this has really turned very much into a discussion now on managing risk as opposed to addressing compliance.” — Chris Chiappinelli Q Track and trace from distribution back to supply. It helps ensure operating processes and procedures meet standards and specifications. RockwellAutomation.com/ Think/Track. The FactoryTalk® Software Suite. Copyright © 2008 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. AD RS2069-R1TP http://managingautomation.com http://RockwellAutomation.com/Think/Track http://RockwellAutomation.com/Think/Track http://RockwellAutomation.com/Think/Track

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - April 2008

Managing Automation - April 2008 Contents Take 1 Camstar to Introduce Software that Combines Quality, MES, and Intelligence SAP Revamps Maintenance, Raises Fees 29% New TAGSYS Chief Sees Opportunity in Broader Approach Siemens Turns to Security Weaver for Compliance Supply Chain Company Takes Next Step in U.S. Notes Cover Story: The Long Climb Special Report - Undertanding Enterprise Performance Management Caught Between Supply and Demand Taking Off the Blindfold No Room for Error Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - April 2008

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