Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a software system used to manage and coordinate all the resources, information, and functions of a business from shared data stores. It was developed in the year 1990 by a research and analysis firm Gartner. The new technical system attracted mass attention in the year 1990, when companies faced the Y2K problem in their legacy systems. That was the time when m....

A Fortune 100 company in the US has been expanding and ramping up its production capacities aggressively in the last few years to cater to its global demands. To complement these expansion efforts, the company invested strategically and heavily in implementing high-tech manufacturing assembly lines in its facilities. However, the organisation was not able to increase its efficiency on the producti....

Mr Rajneesh Shinde Manufacturers continue to invest heavily in lean manufacturing, quality initiatives and continuous improvement programmes to boost performance and profitability. Yet, they still have to battle manufacturing inefficiencies. Investing millions in front-office operations does not mean that companie....

Small and medium-sizedbusinesses (SMBs) are facing anincreasing number ofchallenges that can impact thesuccess of their productdevelopment efforts. Broadlyspeaking, product developmentcompanies encounter issues that arecaused by:􀂄 The ever-increasing complexitiesof products and product design􀂄 The added time and effort ofworking with geographicallydistributed design andmanufacturing partners􀂄 T....

South Koreas top car maker, Hyundai Motor Co, plans to set up a third plant in China by the end of 2012. The company wants to maintain its position in the fastgrowing Chinese market.The carmakers third plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 3,00,000 vehicles and will help meet the increasing demand for vehicles in China. The company plans to start building the new plant next ye....

Swedish wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson had penned a deal to buy a majority stake in Nortel Networks North American wireless business for $1.13 billion.LM Ericsson purchased it on a cash and debt-free basis. The purchase covers the older CDMA and newer LTE wireless businesses of Nortels Carrier Networks unit. Acquiring Nortels North American CDMA business allows Ericsson to serve this importa....

Welland-based hydraulic system manufacturer Bosch Rexroth announced a $1.5-million investment at its Prince Charles Dr facility, to add the latest manufacturing technology, including a new state-of-the-art computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine and computerassisted manufacturing software.Bosch Rexroth will continue to build the customised hydraulic manifolds, which have made the company an ....

Leading computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP) and major electronics maker Foxconn Technology Group have agreed to jointly invest $3 billion in laptop manufacturing bases in Chongqing.They plan to focus on low-cost computers, including netbooks and PCs to boost its market share in China. The manufacturing hub will have two main facilities, which will together produce 20 million laptops for export eac....

Procter Gamble is going to complete its biggest manufacturing base in the Asia-Pacific region in Chinas northern city of Tianjin.At present, the company has committed RMB198 million for the first phase of the project. When it is completed, the Xiqing project will have a total factory area of 500,000 square metres with the capacity to accommodate 13 production lines.Another RMB50 million will be u....

Wisconsin will receive $28 million to boost clean manufacturing initiatives. The fund will be the first phase of an expected $55 million to be allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the state energy programme.This programme will be administered by the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. The loans will be aimed at reducing fossil fuel use in manufacturing by deploying renewabl....

Avia vehicles were seen at the Capitol in Washington DC as six Smith Newton full electric midi trucks were handed over to the representatives of six top US companies including Coca Cola and ATT in front of the Capitol. The keys for these vehicles were handed over by members of the US Congress, led by Missouri Senator Kit Bond.Built on Czech-made Avia chassis and cabs by Tanfield UK and Smith USA, ....

Rolls-Royce plans to build four new factories and invest in two advanced research programmes in the UK. The company plans to spend more than 300m on the four factories, with the government chipping in with 45m in support. The company is planning a new casting facility for single crystal turbine blades, an advanced discmanufacturing facility, and a civil nuclear facility in the UK, while the groups....

AMD joined Global Foundries and federal, state and local government leaders to mark and celebrate the official start of construction of Fab 2, a state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus (LFTC) in Upstate New York.Representing the largest publicprivate sector industrial investment in New York State history, the project is expected to be the most a....

Vistagy Inc, a leading provider of industry-specific engineering software and services, announced that the ING Renault F1 Team was able to reduce the time it took to design and manufacture a composite diffuser for its R29 race car. The team managed to cut design time from 12 weeks to six weeks using FiberSIM composites software. As a result, the ING Renault Team was able to get the new diffuser ....

Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, has launched Wiser Home Control, a home control solution that interlinks the electrical, multimedia and telecommunications worlds to one user-friendly solution. It enables users to set programmes according to their preferred living patterns and control their home equipment from anywhere and at any time via 3G mobile phones or web-enab....

Rockwell Automation recently introduced its downloadable application development software to allow users to create, modify and monitor application programmes for cost-effective Allen-Bradley MicroLogix controllers.Designed for the Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1000 and MicroLogix 1100 programmable controllers, the Rockwell Software RSLogix Micro Starter Lite software cost-effectively streamlines user....

Siemens recently launched the Universal Socket to address the growing concern of consumers who demand a safe and reliable universal socket.As most people use equipment that is manufactured in various countries, they find it difficult to safely use their electronic/electrical appliances. They face problems such as lose sockets, which disrupt work, leadings to sparking and potential short circuits....

The Haryana government has allotted 700 acres of land to Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, for the company to set up a research and development facility and test course, as well as to accommodate its ancillaries. The state is steadily emerging as a global manufacturing hub for the companys global operations.With the development of this new facility, Suzuki is planning to make Haryana its product engineerin....

Essar Steel Limited has entered into a definitive Business Transfer Agreement with Shree Precoated Steels Limited (SPSL) to acquire the entire assets and steel business of the Company, subject to regulatory and other approvals.Under this term, the assets to be transferred include the plant, comprising a colour coating line (annual capacity 400,000 tonne), cold rolling mill (annual capacity of 600,....

The central government launched a Lean Manufacturing Scheme for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to enhance the manufacturing competitiveness of the MSME sector. It aims at enhancing the manufacturing competitiveness of MSMEs by applying lean techniques to identify and eliminate waste in the manufacturing process.It will be initially implemented in 100 MSME clusters on a pilot basis in ....

The demand for medium and heavy commercial vehicles has lessened recently due to the economic downturn. Keeping an eye on the market condition, the Hinduja Group-controlled Ashok Leyland has redrawn its capacity enhancement programmes. This move was announced in the recent annual report published by the company.In 2008, Ashok Leyland and Nissan Motor Co of Japan entered into an agreement to form t....

Sical Logistics Ltd, a provider of multi-modal integrated solutions for the logistics of bulk and containerised cargo, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Japans Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) to operate the automotives management yard at Ennore Port, near Chennai.This proposed JV will combine the MOLs expertise in global automotives transportation and yard management with Sicals competencie....

Texmaco United Group Rail (P) Ltd (TUGRL) is forming a joint venture with a Japanese consortium comprising Kawasaki, Itochu and Toshiba for the manufacture of metro coaches. TUGRL itself is a joint venture between engineering firm Texmaco and United Group of Australia.TUGRL may entail an investment of Rs 200-300 crore and may hold a minority stake of less than 50 percent in the JV with the Japanes....

Engineering services provider Defiance Tech, part of the multibillion-dollar Hinduja Group announced the expansion of its services into the areas of manufacturing and enterprise solutions,with an eye to the markets of India, the US, Europe and Middle-Eastern nations. At present, the company operates in Product Testing and Validation Services and Design and Engineering Services in the automotive in....

Cognizant has entered into a strategic global product research and development alliance with Invensys Operations Management (IOM). Cognizant is a leading technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services provider and Invensys is a global provider of technology systems, solutions and consulting services in the process and manufacturing space.Cognizant has signed a five-year multi-mil....

Ludhiana-based SEL Manufacturing Company Limited has acquired a majority stake in SEL Textiles Pvt Ltd, thereby making it a subsidiary. SEL Manufacturing is engaged in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of yarns, knitted fabrics, and ready-made garments in India and across the globe. The products are also exported to countries like Russia and the Middle East regions.The consolidated man....

Siemens Ltd has recently been awarded two contracts worth Rs 109 crore by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) to construct and upgrade their 400-kV Bachau and 400-kV Maithon substations. The scope of work for these projectsscheduled to be commissioned in the next 12 to 24 monthsincludes designing, engineering, supply and commissioning the substations on a turnkey basis.Siemens energy s....

A nitrogen plant or generator operates on PSA technology. It consists of a twin tower system filled with carbon molecular sieves (CMS) of a special grade. Both towers work simultaneously, with one tower in the production cycle and the other in the regeneration cycle. The molecules of oxygen, moisture and other unwanted gases are adsorbed on surface of the CMS when compressed air is passed throug....

Air compressors are available in air and water-cooled versions from 1-60 HP. They are available as bare compressors, base-plate-mounted and receiver-mounted packages. They are available in single-stage, two-stage, and three-stage packages and are widely used in industries such as PET bottling, road building, textiles, petrochemicals and refineries. ....

Pipe joint systems comprise reusable pipes and joints that can be assembled and modified according to the storage requirements. In this system, the assembly of racks is fast and simple. These systems are ideal for factories with the 5S system. There are no limits to the usage of pipes and joints. These systems maximise utilisation of floor space. Racks can be customised according to requirements....

Gearboxes are used in numerous industrial applications for providing high torque and smooth reductions. They are available in single, double and multi stages. Gearboxes are available in a number of variants: aluminium ground gearboxes, cast iron gearboxes, bronze hardened and ground gearboxes, stainless steel ground gearboxes. These are used in cement mills, fertiliser plants, the aerospace indu....

CNC turning machines are used for fine turning and finishing applications. They are used to manufacture small and medium dimension workpieces requiring high precession.They are manufactured from a spheroid iron inclined machinery base fixed on a rigid steel fabricated structure that offers a torsion-proof system. Furthermore, high-precision ground LM guides offer an excellent prolonged life for ....

Axial flow fans are designed and fabricated to suit large quantities of air at low pressure. They can easily be installed in round ducts, reducing the space requirement and lowering the cost of the system. In this, the impeller has an adjustable blade that can be supplied in polypropylene, aluminium, mild steel or stainless steel, which makes it possible to adapt the fan to the required changes.....

Hydraulic lathe tracers are the ideal replacement for manually operated production on any lathe. They can be mounted at the rear or front of a lathe and can be operated by semiskilled personnel. Tracers reduce inspection time to a considerable extent and increase production by 300 percent or more within an accuracy of 0.025mm on good lathes. It has an in-built lubrication system for tracing slid....

Self-priming centrifugal pumps are available in both close-coupled and back pull-out designs. To assure fast and reliable priming, repriming and air-handling capabilities, a nonreturn valve acts to retain sufficient liquid in the casing. It comes with the facility of repriming automatically once the pump is initially primed. The impellers are in a semi-open design for maximum efficiency and repr....

Pneumatic clutches/brakes consist of a clutch and spring-applied disc brake which is air-actuated. They are designed elaborately and share the twin attributes of high thermal capacity and low air consumption, which make them ideal for highspeed, high-cyclic, heavy-duty industrial applications. The piston clamps the clutch disc to the hub which transmits the torque to the shaft when the cylinder ....

It is a highly efficient tool for shaping metal and solid materials and comes in both manual and CNC variants. Unlike drilling, where the workpiece is stationary and the drill moves, milling involves movement of the workpiece against the milling cutter. According to the orientation of the cutting tool spindle, milling machines have been classified as vertical milling machines and horizontal mill....

Product testing often involves physically assessing the item to find the point at which it fails. For instance, the safety test of a toaster might involve overheating it to find out what happens if it burns or fails; however, if it stays intact, it passes.Testing or auditing a management system is no different. During a management system audit, the auditor is testing the processes of the organisat....

The market is changing rapidly. A new product is being launched practically every minute somewhere in the world. To sustain its business, every company needs to progress with the samepace or they will be left behind. The company that is rapid and agile enough to introduce the necessary changes to adapt to the changing scenario will be the one to survive, sustain and succeed in the market.The life ....

Device Level Ring (DLR) is a network technology for industrial applications that takes advantage of embedded switch functionality in automation end devices such as I/O modules and programmable automation controllers. This enables Ethernet ring network topologies at the device level. Unlike a network- or switch-level ring topology that provides resilience to the network infrastructure.DLR technolog....

In the 1960s, a major OEM in the aerospace industry created a successful line of jets. Back then, all the design and documentation required to perform assembly and service activities on the aircraft was purely paper-based. In recent years, the demand for new builds of this aircraft has been on the rise. The OEM has faced increased production rates and the corresponding need to increase manufacturi....

Product data management (PDM) systems perform a variety of tasks to help collaborate, control, connect and transmit information throughout an engineering organisation. One can store the design and manufacturing data on a network drive for all to use. However, since there is a need for an administrator to control access while offering the rest of the staff ease of use, one adopts a centralised appr....

Gujarat is fast emerging as one of the sunrise states in the country, with a number of major industries establishing a presence here, even as Gujarati firms thrive and expand.The state is gaining prominence in the infrastructure sector, with both government and private projects in the offing.As the doors open for India to receive state-of-the-art technology and uninterrupted nuclear fuel supply fo....

Aquatech, an equipment manufacturer for industrial water and wastewater treatment systems, has been awarded a contact to Design, Build, and Operate a seawater desalination plant for Indias first Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Mundra in coastal Gujarat. The 4,000-MW coalfired plant is owned by Coastal Gujarat Power Limited (CGPL), a Tata Power group company. The CGPL UMPP, awarded on a 20-year ....

Mjunction Services Limited(MJ), founded in February2001, offers a wide range ofeSelling, eSourcing, eFinance andknowledge services that empowerbusinesses across diverse industryverticals with greater processefficiencies. It is not only Indiaslargest eCommerce company butalso runs the worlds largesteMarketplace for steel.What is EPS? How does it function?An EPS or Enterprise ProcurementSystem is a ....

Mr Surya Bhardwaj, Vice President, Applications, Oracle India



For almost 30 years, Oracle has been helping customers to manage their business systems and information with reliable, secure, and integrated technologies. In this conversation, lets have a look at the ERP systems provided by the company.How can ERP imp....