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Quality & Metrics: Page 235

Qualcomm Integrates With TMW Suite; McLeod Software

Qualcomm Inc. has integrated its Services Portal with the TMWSuite of TMW Systems Inc., a provider of transportation-management system (TMS) software.

Can Planned Slacking Make You More Productive?

CFOs make all kinds of investments, but how about investing in more down time for employees? That may sound like a recipe for creating a bunch of slackers, but in fact the idea of optimal slack in a system is as fundamental to talent optimization as it is to engineering. Planned and mindful slacking off may help optimize talent performance.

'Big Data' Can Help Minimize Customer Churn

Your customer service representative answers a call from an irate customer. "This darn thing I bought just doesn't work!" he exclaims. "I've tried and tried to get help from your service folks, but they're always late and they can't fix it either. I've had it with you guys. I want my money back!" Big Data can help you retain that customer.

IBM Unveils New Technologies and Services at Smarter Commerce Summit

IBM introduced several new products at its recent Smarter Commerce Summit in Orlando, Fla.

Armstrong Issues 20th Edition of Who's Who in Logistics

Armstrong + Associates Inc. has released the 20th edition of Who's Who in Logistics, the consultancy's guide to third-party logistics providers.

The Healthy Supply Chain Transformation at Boston Scientific

The business of helping people live longer, healthier lives is not taken lightly in any regard. Suppliers to Boston Scientific must guarantee extremely high quality and delivery, because the smallest imperfection or delay could be life-threatening. For this reason, the entire supply chain depends on efficiency and quality. The global indirect sourcing and procurement (GISP) organization at Boston Scientific is responsible for all strategic and tactical procurement of indirect materials and services, using a center-led operating model to organize sourcing around the world.

Required FDA Food Facility Registration Window Runs from October to December of 2012

Under the provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, any facility that manufactures, processes, packs or holds food within the United States, and foreign food facilities that export to the United States must register with the FDA. Re-registration must be completed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 in even-numbered years.

Unplanned Downtime Is the Greatest Source of Waste

Downtime is the enemy of lean. Downtime is, in fact, waste. Idled lines do not add value. Restarting production after unplanned downtime requires more effort, usually expended with less efficiency and worker productivity. This reintroduces waste, which creates added costs that customers do not pay for, yet must be absorbed into cost of goods sold.

Why Can't We Just Emulate Apple if We Want to Be Successful?

It's no mystery why companies emulate their most successful peers. Tried-and-true approaches often seem preferable to starting from scratch, whether for developing new products or running efficient supply chains. The quest for such methods went global during the 1980s and 1990s as European and U.S. companies sought to retool their operations by transplanting Japanese factory practices, such as kanban and just-in-time production. Management consultants - ourselves included - naturally facilitate the process by extolling successful companies as models from which others can learn proven practices that reduce risks.

Are You Mastering Those Business Processes Outside of the Enterprise? Probably Not.

As work piles up in our in-boxes and on our desks, the question should occur-what important issues am I missing? It is an interesting fact that a high percentage of our critical work and the data we use to make decisions are still outside the operations systems we have-ERP, accounting, modeling and decision support.

Companies Want Innovation When Outsourcing Distribution Operations, Study Finds

More than 40 percent of companies that outsource intend to conduct a bid or rebid for part of their network to a logistics service provider within the next 12 months, according to the Outsourced Distribution Report by Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium.

Manufacturers, Petroleum Interests Spar with California Board Over Greenhouse Gas Credits Auction

Corporate executives and workers from dozens of refineries, glass-makers and other business groups bombarded members of the California Air Resources Board with complaints about an upcoming auction of credits allowing them to release greenhouse gases.

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