Disclaimer: The articles in this blog post are those that I found interesting and relevant to the topic of ERP and broader technology. I have no commercial association with any of the entities mentioned in this article. I may be following a few of these entities on LinkedIn and even some of these entities may be on my LinkedIn or Social Media network. These articles are selected purely based on their relevance to the objective of this blog, to promote ERP.
1. The Supply Chain Trends in 2019: Steve Banker: This is an excellent article that will add significant value no matter what profession you are in. These are the kinds of article that I wish I could write.
Mr.Banker identifies four trends for 2019 and beyond. These are Global trade, tariffs and FTAs, Logistics labour shortage and automation, Digital supply chain and Machine Learning (ML). Global trade challenges including US China tariff war and Brexit will cause significant supply chain disruptions mainly to companies using JIT processes to manage their inventory requirements.
'Amazonization' of retail industry will cause severe shortages in labour supply mainly in transportation (truck drivers) and warehouse personnel. Former is here to stay for some time till driver-less trucks become the norm, however many companies are using Collaborative Robots (Cobots) to replace warehouse labour. Mr.Banker expects 2019 to be a breakout year for Robotics solutions in Supply Chain.
Digital Supply Chain, a conceptual umbrella term used to identify supply chain software, communication and automation efforts that enables collaboration, automation and analysis has been in vogue in the last few years. They will acquire depth in 2019. Organizations will transition from Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) to Warehouse Execution Systems (WES). WES receives sensor inputs from automation cross the system, evaluate these according to pre-defined rules and respond in almost real-time basis to meet the objectives. In addition, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things, author mentions IoT in his article) is another technology that will expand in usage going forward. Finally there is the ‘Digital Control Tower’ concept. This combines extended supply chain visibility, relevant data from the edge (social, weather or IoT data etc) and advanced analytics that provide both broad based and detailed analysis. This will help in taking quick actions.
Final trend will be machine learning. It is useful for large and dynamic data sets with hazy relationships between dependent and independent variables. ML is applicable to wide range of logistics systems including warehouse management systems and robotics vision systems and will improve supply chain planning and visibility.
'Amazonization' of retail industry will cause severe shortages in labour supply mainly in transportation (truck drivers) and warehouse personnel. Former is here to stay for some time till driver-less trucks become the norm, however many companies are using Collaborative Robots (Cobots) to replace warehouse labour. Mr.Banker expects 2019 to be a breakout year for Robotics solutions in Supply Chain.
Digital Supply Chain, a conceptual umbrella term used to identify supply chain software, communication and automation efforts that enables collaboration, automation and analysis has been in vogue in the last few years. They will acquire depth in 2019. Organizations will transition from Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) to Warehouse Execution Systems (WES). WES receives sensor inputs from automation cross the system, evaluate these according to pre-defined rules and respond in almost real-time basis to meet the objectives. In addition, IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things, author mentions IoT in his article) is another technology that will expand in usage going forward. Finally there is the ‘Digital Control Tower’ concept. This combines extended supply chain visibility, relevant data from the edge (social, weather or IoT data etc) and advanced analytics that provide both broad based and detailed analysis. This will help in taking quick actions.
Final trend will be machine learning. It is useful for large and dynamic data sets with hazy relationships between dependent and independent variables. ML is applicable to wide range of logistics systems including warehouse management systems and robotics vision systems and will improve supply chain planning and visibility.
Read on....
2. How I taught Blockchain to my grandmother: Enrico Camerinelli: Blockchain is one of the most confusing jargon of these times. It looks simple to understand, who can't understand a block or links of a chain right? As you get down to the details, you are hit on your head with jargon like 'Peer to peer', 'double spend', 'mining', 'blockchain infrastructure', 'encryption'.. What seemed simple at the outset becomes hazier as you learn more about it.
Can someone make it simple, you plead? Can someone explain blockchain in layman terms, you implore.
Here comes Mr.Camerinelli who wants to explain Blockchain to his grandmother in terms that she can understand the best, shopping. All the esoteric terms are delightfully explained through a simple transaction of checking out at a supermarket. His smart grandma understands everything except....
I can't guarantee that after reading this article, blockchain will become suddenly clear to you.
Nice read....
3. Oracle is the only leader in Gartner's magic quadrant for Cloud Services providers for Product Centric Midsize companies: Oracle ERP Cloud has be declared as the only leader in Gartner's magic quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product Centric Mid-size Enterprises. Gartner defines Product Centric Enterprises as those which 'Physically manufacture, sell and / or distribute products'. Some of them may also sell services like installation or maintenance'. As per Gartner, market for ERP suites for prouct-centric enterprises is shifting from On Premise deployment to cloud services
To be recognize as 'Leaders' in the magic quadrant, the companies have to demonstrate a viable cloud vision coupled with a clear ability to execute this vision through products and strategies. In addition they should have strong market presence and growing market share. Leaders show a consistent ability to win deals, have a good depth of functionality across all business areas and should have multiple proofs of deployment across geographies.
Do read on...
Congratulations Oracle. I am fortunate and proud to be a part of your cloud initiatives....
This article also embeds a link to the Original Gartner report. Do download and read. It is a storehouse of information.
4. What is the difference between ERP and #DigitalTransformation: Eric Kimberling: ERP and #DigitalTransformation are two terminologies that you see regularly these days. What is the difference between these two, you might be wondering. Is ERP a part of #DigitalTransformation or you can have the latter without the former? As a CIO, a clarity on the difference between these terminologies will help you plan your Digital Strategy much more effectively.
This article by Mr.Kimberling differentiates these two terminologies based on 6 different parameters. At the outset the author lays out the main difference, ERP is a 'back office' technology with Organization as the key stakeholder, while #DigitalTransformation is much broader in scope, covers multiple technologies - ERP being one of them and caters to a broader vision and broader set of stakeholders. The six parameters that differentiate them are: Technology, Business Process Management / Re-engineering, Organizational Change Management, Business Value, Transformation Lead Time and Risk.
I feel the author misses one more key difference. The medium term and rigid planning of ERP Implementation and the long-term, fluid and flexible planning required for #DigitalTransformation.
I feel the author misses one more key difference. The medium term and rigid planning of ERP Implementation and the long-term, fluid and flexible planning required for #DigitalTransformation.
There are two key takeaways for me. One, #DigitalTransformation involves significant changes to business, new business models even products may be introduced and two, identifying business value in ERP is much more easier, while that in #DigitalTransformation it is much more diffused and intangible.
5. Infor announces the latest Infor CloudSuite ERP release for Manufacturing Industry: On 31 January 2019, Infor announced speed, flexibility and agility based enhancements to four of its ERP systems, Infor LN, Infor CloudSuite Automotive, Infor CloudSuite Aerospace and Defense (A&D) and Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise.
These enhancements will help customers better align their business objectives with business processes without the need for costly customizations.
The improvements include functional enhancements for production planning, mobile service and resource management, including,
a. Improved UX
b. Multi site capabilities
c. Extensibility tooling that enables solution personalization, report modification and business logic additions.
Read on...
That is it. That is my list for the week. What do you think?
5. Infor announces the latest Infor CloudSuite ERP release for Manufacturing Industry: On 31 January 2019, Infor announced speed, flexibility and agility based enhancements to four of its ERP systems, Infor LN, Infor CloudSuite Automotive, Infor CloudSuite Aerospace and Defense (A&D) and Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise.
These enhancements will help customers better align their business objectives with business processes without the need for costly customizations.
The improvements include functional enhancements for production planning, mobile service and resource management, including,
a. Improved UX
b. Multi site capabilities
c. Extensibility tooling that enables solution personalization, report modification and business logic additions.
Read on...
That is it. That is my list for the week. What do you think?
Additional Readings
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