Maturity Model May Aid Product Data Accessibility
January 10, 2012
Finding product data is not always efficient, but it is essential to manufacturers. Productivity and innovation are stunted when data is lost or not easily found. Jim Brown from Tech-Clarity tackles the issue by offering his “Maturity Model for Product Data Accessibility.”
He classifies product data accessibility into five levels – The Wild, Wild West, Basic Search, Advanced Search, Access and Aggregate and Search Based Applications. Each level describes a specific way to search for product information. Brown says his model:
Needs some work in order to really be robust. And no maturity model should really include a level called ‘the Wild, Wild West.’ But I hope it serves as a way to get people thinking about the different ways companies can access, aggregate and use their product data to drive more business value.
Brown’s Access and Aggregate level may be the most important for manufacturing growth. This level pulls disparate data together to get a more full view of the product. He mentions that Inforbix uses semantics to intelligently discover relationships between data. A company like Inforbix who finds, re-uses and shares product data could certainly boost innovation and productivity. Though Brown’s maturity model has several strong points, his view on disparate data is vital to manufacturing future.
Jennifer Wensink, January 10, 2012
Protected: PowerShell Packs a Mighty Punch for SharePoint
January 10, 2012
Migration Solutions for SharePoint and Office 365 Users
January 10, 2012
The New Year always brings about an avalanche of resolutions, some reasonable and some completely unattainable, as people strive to become a better, slimmer, more productive, smarter, funnier, happier, and/or healthier selves.
Maybe your New Year’s goals are to cut back on coffee, quit smoking, save more money, lose weight, or be better organized? Or maybe your resolution is to figure out a solution for converting those pesky Google Docs to your fancy new enterprise system. If the latter is the case, then Google-users have one more reason to celebrate in 2012, as MetaVis Technologies recently announced in “MetaVis Now Offers Google to SharePoint Migration” that they have created a solution that allows Microsoft SharePoint or Office 365 users to migrate their Google Apps and Google Docs.
According to the MetaVis announcement:
“MetaVis Migrator for Google Apps [http://www.metavistech.com/product/metavis-migrator-google-apps] allows customers to migrate Google content to either a hosted or on-premise-based SharePoint solution while preserving valuable metadata required for compliance and governance policies….With the MetaVis Migrator product line up, customers can migrate content from multiple sources including SharePoint 2010, 2007, 2003, file shares, Exchange Public Folders, Outlook Folders and now Google.”
We know that SharePoint has become the magnet for third-party enhancements. With more than 100 million SharePoint licenses deployed, the demand for SharePoint functionality is rising sharply. Growth in SharePoint was robust in 2011, and 2012 may be another banner year for Microsoft’s most popular enterprise solution.
At Search Technologies, we put the customer first. If a solution requires a third-party component such as MataVis’ or original programming, our engineers have the deep technical know how and engineering expertise to make next-generation information access a reality. To learn more about Search Technologies, point your browser at http://www.searchtechnologies.com.
Iain Fletcher, January 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Language Functionality of SharePoint 2010
January 9, 2012
SharePoint 2010 offers language packs that when installed allow for site and site collection creation in various languages without separate SharePoint installations. However, there are reported errors when trying to make the language packs work on top of Windows 7. A workaround is provided here in, “How to install SharePoint Server 2010 Language Packs on Windows 7.”
The blogger suggests:
When trying to install SharePoint Server 2010 Language Packs on top of Windows 7 you might receive the following error – ‘Setup is enable to proceed due to the following errors: this product requires Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 …’ – to work around this you can use the same procedure with the language pack installation files as the one outlined for the normal SharePoint installation on Windows 7.
Instead of struggling through language packs and error messages, we wondered if there were easier multi-national alternatives available in the world of third party enterprise. One solution that seems like a great alternative is Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Based in Austria, Fabasoft caters to a multi-national and international audience, which has created a product line devoted to quality, usability, and style.
Note the following from the Mindbreeze product description:
Mindbreeze has a user interface that is available in 18 languages. We want all users to be able to enjoy the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise interface in their native language. Whether Bulgarian, German, English, French, Croatian, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Czech or Hungarian – Mindbreeze is as international as your business partners.
Instead of adapting an English solution to meet additional language needs, users might save time and anguish by adopting a solution that is created to meet a variety of language needs. If your organization is in the market for a multi-national enterprise solution, give Mindbreeze a second look and see if it might meet your needs.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
iPad Apps Offer Manufacturing On-The-Go
January 9, 2012
Product life cycle (PLM) apps are on the rise and it is paying off for manufacturers. Last spring, Teamcenter Mobility from Siemens developed an iPad application that offers engineers product data and more at the touch of a fingertip. Automation World highlighted this new technology in its article “iPad App Empowers the Mobile Manufacturing Workforce.”
This iPad application is very practical. It allows people to “digitally review the most current version of information immediately, rather than working with cumbersome paper documents or trying to find a computer.” It benefits a wide range of employees – from an executive on plane to field personnel walking the shop floor. Siemens Teamcenter software President, Chuck Grindstaff says:
“By making up-to-the-minute Teamcenter data available at the necessary point of activity, our customers can act immediately on accurate information and further reduce the design and production cycle times.”
Several companies are developing manufacturing apps. Inforbix is previewing their new iPad app on their web site. (see: Inforbix iPad App – First Preview). Their customers requested “a mobile solution that gives them access to their product data while out of the office or away from their computers” and they developed a fantastic new app. Though it is not available yet, it is coming soon to the Apple store. Keep an eye out for its release because we believe it will be everything that their customers wanted and more!
Jennifer Wensink, January 9, 2012
Protected: Reference Older and Wiser SharePoint Information
January 9, 2012
Rethink Cost-Cutting at Every Level of Manufacturing
January 8, 2012
Thanks to failing economies around the world companies located in the United States are reevaluating costs in every department across the board. Manufacturing is a common place to start in the cost-cutting mission and one company, Phillips, who prides themselves on advanced molding and automated assembly, appeals to this new fashion of frugality on their website.
Not only do they appeal to frugality but also American pride touting that their automated production facilities are able to keep costs low enough to keep the work in the United States enabling companies to save money and employ hard-working Americans – a win-win.
As the website explains,
“To provide you with service excellence, each of our facilities features automated processes designed to reduce labor costs and save you money and time. In fact, with automation in place, you may find your program is more competitively priced if manufactured in the U.S. than your offshore alternatives. Of course, you also benefit from access to Phillips’ overseas partners to meet your unique consumer product manufacturing needs.”
While we applaud companies for streamlining productions expenses we do not believe the frugality should end there. By eliminating unnecessary waste created in information processes companies can create even more savings, something vital to survival in this economic hard-time. Since data is the basic building block or any company or organization adopting new data management solutions is the place to begin the information processes reconstruction.
Catherine Lamsfuss, January 8, 2012
Don’t Let Innovation Cloud Data Management Needs
January 7, 2012
Cutting costs seems to be an on-going theme for businesses everywhere. Consultants are being hired like crazy to do the near impossible and keep many businesses in the black. One popular consulting firm is PA Consulting Group specializing in lowering costs through streamlining innovation.
There website purports,
“Creating innovative ideas effectively whilst removing cost from innovation activities presents a major challenge to most organisations. PA Consulting Group’s consumer products experts create breakout thoughts across the entire supply chain whilst at the same time increasing innovation efficiency through consumer focus as well as building the right capabilities and assuring agile delivery. PA helps fast moving consumer goods companies deliver innovation by removing roadblocks to speed and flexibility, creating an effective organisation as well as ensuring focus on customer and cost.”
We couldn’t help but notices a lack of mention of the power of cutting costs in the information processes within companies. Innovation efficiency is a grand idea and noble goal but if a company’s data management structure is a relic innovative engineering designs will be replicated and data mismanaged raising the cost of information access.
To truly begin cutting cost companies must start with their data management. Inforbix, a company specializing in enterprise search and data management, provides a solution which enhances cost management and permits elimination of expensive duplicate engineering cycles.
Catherine Lamsfuss, January 7, 2012
SharePoint Q & A With Worldwide Community Experts
January 6, 2012
The FUMSI Forum picked up the SharePoint StackExchange, a Q & A site directed at SharePoint users and enthusiasts.
The discussion pointed out:
One of a network of user-driven Q&A sites, the SharePoint edition of the StackExchange help forum allows you to ask, answer and search for previous questions about customising your implementation of the software.
The StackExchange serves as an innovative message board, allowing SharePoint users to discuss common pains and solutions alike. With a broad and highly customizable enterprise infrastructure like SharePoint, attention to detail is likely to come from other users instead of from Microsoft.
This is a collaboratively edited question and answer site for SharePoint enthusiasts. It’s 100% free, no registration required.
While message board and forums like this are a lifeline for SharePoint users, we think third party solutions might offer an opportunity to avoid some of the pitfalls of SharePoint in the first place. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers an enterprise implementation that either stands alone or supports an existing SharePoint infrastructure.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise finds every scrap of information within a very short time, whether document, contract, note, e-mail or calendar entry, in intranet or internet, person- or text-related. The software solution finds all required information, regardless of source, for its users. Get a comprehensive overview of corporate knowledge in seconds without redundancy or loss of data. But an all-inclusive search is not everything. Creating relevant knowledge means processing data in a comprehensible form and utilizing relations between information objects. Data is sorted according to type and relevance.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze is widely touted for its intuitive solution, one that keeps the user from worrying about customization. Updates are seamlessly and automatically rolled out on a regular basis. So while SharePoint is fast becoming an essential tool for organizations, we think a third party solution is just as essential for ensuring that SharePoint users get the efficiency and relevancy they are seeking.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
PLM Eases Cost of Change Complexity
January 6, 2012
No one likes change and for manufacturers it can be costly. So how do companies manage and budget for change processes? The article “PLM, ECO and Cost of Change” analyzes that question and how PLM systems support them.
For PLM implementation, it is important to know “how you are able to automate cost of change calculation and embed it in the overall change process.” Changes are classified into four categories which are cost reduction, product maturity, product development and other and the change cost calculation will be different for each category.
“If you estimating change that marked to save cost or time, you absolutely need to calculate the cost. However, if you making a change that related to product maturity, you probably can skip some cost of change calculation. Taking right assumption can significantly improve the speed of change processes, which is an essential part of every manufacturing organization.”
Change cost analysis is complicated. PLM systems certainly help, but companies like Inforbix simplify the process. Inforbix focuses on product data and they find and infer relationships between disparate sources of structured and unstructured product data. So do not be afraid of change. Sometimes change is good.
Jennifer Wensink, January 6, 2012
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