SBWire

Slated for May, VoicED will offer students a way to stand out and succeed with public speaking workshops structured to bring out a healthy self-image.

Quartz Construction San Jose, a bathroom remodel San Jose contractor, recently stepped up their efforts to help San Jose residents add rooms to their existing properties in a hassle-free and cost-effective manner. The owners said that they now offer end-to-end room addition solutions to San Jose and Mountain View CA residents. They added that right from structural drawing to carrying out the construction work, they do it all. The general contractor San Jose recently started offering free quotes for room addition services that they offer.

Ultriva Inc., a provider of cloud-based supply chain execution software, was recently featured in Logistics Insight Asia. Narayan Laksham, founder and CEO of Ultriva shared, "When Supply Chain initiatives are undertaken, and they usually involve improving the forecast. However, MRP and ERP systems are data intensive and require timely and stable sales." Not much has changed with supply chain management in the last two decades. MRP and ERP forecasts still rule the roost.

According to Narayan Laksham the closest any manufacturer can get to a magic bullet is supply chain visibility. Supply chain visibility is needed to achieve manufacturers' goal of saving money quickly and inexpensively. All partners get access to data in real-time; visibility to all orders allows suppliers to proactively respond to abnormal fluctuations in demand. Poor visibility often results in parts shortages. Frustrated manufacturers report having no idea they were down to the last box of parts. The result is expensive, using faster shipping methods to get the part back on the shop floor. A real-time view of parts on hand allows a supply chain manager to take action before there is a stock out, eliminating expedited fees.

Ultriva, Inc., who has the largest installed base of electronic Kanban systems in the world, announced that their industry brief titled, "Shift to a Demand-Driven Manufacturing Model" is now available for download from their website. This industry brief contains exclusive research content from Gartner "Key Benefits That Form the Business Case for Pull Replenishment in Consumer Products", authored by Gartner Analyst Jan Kohler, published October 24, 2014.

Ultriva recently reported that most manufacturing companies are not keeping current with technologies to ensure accurate real-time inventory management. When it comes to ordering materials and components, managing inventory levels, or organizing the delivery of finished goods to customers, companies are continually forced to chase business partners – mostly suppliers, logistics companies and retailers (via a messy stream of emails), phone calls, and faxes. Worse still, as much as 80% of the data that could give manufacturers a complete, end-to-end view of their supply chains already resides on the back-end IT systems of these partners, according to some industry estimates.

Emerson is a large corporation that deals in many areas of business. The company provides other businesses with technology, software, and advice as well as providing household consumers with appliance products for their home. Emerson supplies other organizations and are embedded deeply in a supply chain themselves. Emerson gives supply chain advice and expertise to other companies, so naturally their own supply chain is top-notch. Emerson began using a Collaborative Supply Portal system which automates inventory, order, and shipping processes. Each piece of inventory has a barcode so that the system is able to be updated each time any action is taken. The system has helped Emerson run lean business practices.

Modular, web-based tools are designed to complement and extend the value of the businesses systems already in place, such as MRP and/or ERP. Platforms can be deployed quickly in high-impact areas—whether in finished goods, raw materials replenishment, or production management, and get an immediate improvement across the board. An execution platform that facilitates the flow of information and materials across boundaries to give complete visibility while making better use of time and resources.

Forecast Errors, a weekly e-newsletter, sponsored by Ultriva, reported that the world's largest chemical company, BASF faces some unique challenges when it comes to keeping its supply chain managers and employees around the globe well informed and up to speed with the latest knowledge and information. "As the company has expanded, that proposition has become exponentially more difficult," says Dirk Hopmann, BASF's vice president of supply chain strategy. Establishing common supply chain nomenclature across BASF's operations, for example, and particularly in light of the firm's many recent acquisitions of other entities, has been especially challenging. To address that situation, the global manufacturer puts its new and existing employees through APICS' certification process, starting with BASF's supply chain managers.

Thousands of manufacturers struggle with lack of real-time data causing poor decision making. Too often necessary data cannot be shared throughout the supply chain because systems are not integrated, companies will be left with costly forecast errors. Today's supply chain executives should be able to respond to changes in real-time and use up-to-the minute information to drive intelligent decision making. According to Narayan Laksham, founder of Ultriva, the reality is that each aspect of a manufacturer's supply chain, whether its procurement, design engineering or logistics, often operate in very distinct silos and each department rarely collaborates, shares or even communicates with one another. This error can frustrate customers to decline working with them.

Ultriva founder, Narayan Laksham recently shared, "Increased adoption of automation will help manufacturers create new revenue streams and lower costs. Real-time demand fulfillment will require tight integration of supply chain, production, logistics, and marketing. The ability to sense demand in real-time and respond by changing prices or promotions through the utilization of segmented logistics, inventory and performance capacities, will allow for the optimization of integrated responses."

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that Demand Driven MRP (DDMRP) implementation has five components - Strategic inventory positioning: A dramatic improvement proposed by DDMRP.

Lodestone Consulting Services, LLC, published a pair of unique new guides to advertising on the Facebook online social networking service. Taken together, the two guides provide a helpful, comprehensive introduction to the subject that aims at helping business owners and decision-makers realize the potential to be found in Facebook advertising. The first guide takes readers through a step-by-step analysis of whether and in which ways Facebook advertising is likely to benefit a given business, while the second guide conveys five powerful, proven tips for making the most of Facebook ads. Lodestone Consulting Services is a leading digital marketing consultancy, with a special focus on helping technology companies improve their lead generation, conversion rates, and sales.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that, El Exito, the largest retailer of Colombia, awarded MIC "Best Supplier of the Year" in the category of textiles/clothing. MIC was selected amongst 500 companies, some of them extremely successful and that are known for their good practices in design, manufacturing, and distribution. While that is a significant accomplishment in and of itself, what is even more significant is how far MIC came along in total performance in just 18 months. MIC produces children's garments under licenses from companies like Disney and Mattel. When walking through the plant, one sees an amazing range of child favorites like Barbie, Mickey, Minnie, Hello Kitty, and Spiderman.

Increased adoption of automation will help manufacturers create new revenue streams and lower costs. Real-time demand fulfillment will require tight integration of supply chain, production, logistics, and marketing. The ability to sense demand in real-time and respond by changing prices or promotions through the utilization of segmented logistics, inventory, and performance capacities, will allow for the optimization of integrated responses. While re-shoring will continue but supply chains will remain global, large and complex. Re-shoring will continue, but supply chains will remain global, large and complex. Forecast Errors newsletter is reporting weekly how these trends are changing the growth of various inventory automation efficiencies.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported Chad Smith, a leader in the Demand Driven institute and author of a blog, focused primarily on the Theory of Constraints and how to use it to maximize the profitability of any company. Smith discussed why integrating TOC with Lean and Six Sigma is the most dynamic improvement methodology available today. Recently he shared how David Proveda, Director of Demand Driven Institute, LATAM, posted a sensational improvement project entitled Reversal of Fortune - From Crisis to "Supplier of the Year" in 18 months. Proveda will be presenting the full case study at the 2015 Demand Driven World Conference in Houston, Texas in March 2015.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that in today's omni-channel environment, calculating demand is more challenging than ever. The huge growth in online shopping (and expensive delivery costs) has forced retailers to rethink fulfillment strategy. Retailers are trying to deliver items to online shoppers as quickly as possible, and to do this efficiently, they are beginning to turn stores into mini-fulfillment centers. Often, it is faster and less expensive to fulfill an order from a local store, rather than from the distribution center located across the county.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that sales forecasts are not just toting numbers and planning for a peak retail season has been fine-tuned to the last detail.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported sales forecasting is an activity that consumes an enormous amount of management's time, yet few organizations are happy with the accuracy of their collective forecasting efforts. So how is it that sales forces can expend so much effort on forecasting and still produce revenue predictions that are lower than expected? Vantage Point recently turned its research engine toward sales forecasting in an effort to identify the sources of forecasting failure as well as the best practices that can make sales forecasting more accurate. Many sales forces are using forecasting models that do not reflect the way their sales forces actually sell. The predominant forecasting approach is to build the sales forecast from a pipeline of opportunities that are being actively pursued by the sales force. Each opportunity is slotted into a stage of the company's sales process, and a percentage is then applied to the deals in each stage to generate a probability-adjusted revenue prediction.

ToLocal, on the back of the success of International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas has gone ahead and registered for 17 noteworthy events in the year and there's more to come for the benefit of its members.

On January 30th, Desi Hip Hop artist Haji Springer released his first studio album. Entitled Survivor, the album has created an unbelievable response from hip hop fans that can be likened to the heat created by Dr Dre's Chronic album. Desi Hip Hop were the first to make this comparison, and believe the album will go down in history as one of the first definitive DesiHipHop Classics.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that understanding customer demand is key to any manufacturer to make and keep sufficient long-lead inventory so that customer orders can be correctly met. Forecasts are never perfect but are valuable in better preparedness for the actual demand. Accurate and timely demand plans are a vital component of an effective Value Chain.

Manufacturing companies often use a Material Requirements Planning (MRP) forecast as a basis for Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). Cynthia Leonard, Ultriva's marketing executive discussed on the company blog that MRP and supplier forecasting produce more problems in the supply chain than they solve.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that the Institute of Business Forecasting & Planning – IBF Blog, recently had Tom Savage discuss the IBF Best Practices Conference and Leadership Forum. Big Data was an underlying commonality between speakers and had to address at some point in their company's journey in forecasting as well. There were consummate professionals and experts in the field from companies such as L'Oreal, Coca-Cola, Motorola Mobility, Tastykake, Hershey's, and Tempur Sealy International just to name a few. Collectively there were hundreds of years of experience all in one place and very willing to share their experiences and expertise. During the Executive Leadership Forum on the first day, it became clear that this conference was going to be a bit different than those of the past.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that IMPO magazine reported, employee theft is not the only potential problem manufacturers face. Complex production processes and the sheer volume of products and materials in the warehouse can make it hard to get a handle on inventory. That can result inventory shrinkage, where the actual number of items on shelves is lower than the number of recorded items. In the manufacturing world, shrinkage can also refer to the loss of raw materials, such as metal or food ingredients, during the production process. Regardless of what went missing or how it went astray, even small amounts of inventory shrinkage have a big effect on the bottom line. A loss of $100 worth of products and a business which operates on a 10 percent profit margin requires an extra $1,000 worth of items to make up for the loss.

Forecast Errors newsletter reported that Heather Grossmuller noted when an executive thinks of procurement management, he or she most often considers management of direct product or service purchases. Yet, in many ways, corporations are themselves consumers, obtaining whatever necessary assets required for operations to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Whether office supplies, fittings and fasteners, or disposable tools, indirect materials can present a large potential for cost savings.

ToLocal recently made its presence felt at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada drawing attention to several products and services.