Supply Chain Management Software (SCMS) and Solutions - iStart.co.nz

Welcome to the SCM / RFID / B2B eCommerce research pavilion. Below you will find information from most of the leading vendors of these solutions and services in New Zealand, including contact details, case studies, articles, demos, web links, brochures and white papers to assist you research and locate the best solution for your organisation. Check also the iStart Diary for local seminars on this subject. All vendors showcased below will be glad to assist with your enquiries.

Solution Providers

EMDA specialises in comprehensive business solutions for manufacturing and distribution companies, providing products and services to customers throughout New Zealand and Australia, and extending into Asia Pacific. As New Zealand agents for Infor’s range of business software, EMDA works closely with Infor to deliver high quality solutions for manufacturing, distribution, e-commerce, financial and sales, as well as the entire spectrum of supply chain management.
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Wired Internet Group has a very long history of solidarity and success. Our team began designing and building websites in 1995 and we have survived and prospered by using common sense and a practical approach to our customers. Wired's decade of online experience will improve the online experience of all your customers. Wired makes internet tools to help you manage your website content and to learn more about your online customers. We also provide a range of services to support these aims.
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Greentree (who were recently recognised as one of 25 global rising stars by MIS magazine) presents a real-time, modular, integrated business management suite, purpose-built to add-value to the midsized enterprise. The result is…empowering performance, underpinned by comprehensive functionality and robustness. With its partners, Greentree delivers rapid implementation services, helping customers with low-cost, low-risk deployment and very responsive ongoing support.
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SATO is the world leader in Data Collection Systems and Labelling Solutions providing numerous supply chain management solutions from healthcare to retail and across manufacturing, supply chain and distribution. SATO distinguishes itself with revolutionary products and innovative solutions that deliver productivity benefits, efficiency & cost savings.
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The ECN Group is New Zealand’s leading Business Process Management, B2B messaging, Application Integration and eMarketing Communications service provider enabling you to electronically manage and exchange information flows across your organisation, suppliers, partners and communities of interest. ECN mobilises information in your organisation to optimise productivity and maximise profit.
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Mobico is NZ's specialist wireless network and rugged handheld mobile computer provider. We have installed and support over 700 wireless networks across NZ and 20,000 handheld mobile computers. For 20 years Mobico (previously known as Provenco Technology) has provided wireless networks, rugged handheld mobile computers, barcode scanners, RFID and Point of Sale solutions to NZ's leading retailers, distribution and transport companies.
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IBM WebSphere Commerce Suite is a once-and-for-all e-business platform that ensures all the pieces of your e-business work together, connect seamlessly, scale perfectly and speed your time to market. It provides multiple easy-to-use features and ensures content management, relationship marketing, order management, and payment management easily integrate with both internal and external systems.
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For over 10 years Tranzsoft has been leading the way in creating efficiencies in organisations and lowering their procurement processing costs. Our simple interfaces have allowed the most complex IT systems to 'talk' to each other – exchanging data, automating administrative tasks, reducing human error and providing a platform for growth. Tranzsoft has grown to offer many other associated services while sticking to our principles of efficiency, simplicity and cost saving.
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Overview

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a catch all phrase that encompasses the technology solutions that allow companies to trade goods – typically through the initiation of a Purchase Order from the buyer to the supplier, and completed with the issue (and payment) of an invoice from the supplier to the buyer – and all the steps in between.

SCM encapsulates manufacturing, inventory, warehouse management, picking, packing, freight tracking and goods receipt and stock processes through to point of sale.  It is a large and complex subject.

The application areas of particular importance to B2B eCommerce are: RFID, B2B information exchange and eProcurement – the multitude of other requirements in SCM are typically delivered through ERP systems or through tracking solutions.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identifiers) - Product Traceability, Warehouse Management, Labelling

In simple terms, RFID tags are the next generation of barcoding. The product details on the RFID tag are transmitted to a reader whenever the product crosses a boundary or “gate” – say when the product leaves the factory dispatch dock or is moved through a warehouse door. Rather than the barcode needing to be manually scanned, the product data is automatically gathered at “gate in” or “gate out”.

RFID provides accurate localised individual product (or package) data that can then be mapped through aggregation points in a supply chain. RFID provides the granular detail needed to provide full supply chain visibility.

RFID tags are also capable of two-way updates – so that supply chain data is carried with the tag as it is delivered – important when it comes to food product traceability.

Refer to the iStart / University of Auckland 2007 RFID Survey for more on the current state of the RFID market in NZ which has seen a maturing of the RFID market. After years of hype, the technology has now matured and examples of significant implementation are emerging.

B2B Information Exchange/EDI

Electronic data interchange (EDI) opens the way for significant cost savings and better relationships between companies that regularly trade with each other.

Historically companies have trusted paper or ‘hard copy’ documents when trading with one another such as invoices or purchase orders. This has slowly been overtaken with direct system-to-system messaging. This is particularly the case for suppliers to retail outlets such as supermarkets or large retail chains.  Any business which transacts large numbers of trade documents that are re-keyed into their own system should consider exchanging these documents electronically.  B2B exchanges (or Value Added Networks - VANs) manage the exchange of electronic documents, and more importantly, the translation from the source system to that required by the destination system.

The typical two-way electronic messaging (EDI) exchange that takes place to facilitate the B2B transaction is Purchase Order (PO) > Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) > Goods Receipt (GR) > Invoice – but often only the PO is transacted.

e-Procurement

The ability to purchase all your organisation's needs from a single portal offers logical time and money savings benefits – and when the system is well managed, and includes full integration with both your organisations and the suppliers ERP systems through electronic trade, the business case can become compelling.

Typically, an e-procurement system allows authorised users to purchase products from specific suppliers where supply contracts have been negotiated by their organisation’s procurement team  These systems are designed to streamline a company's purchasing processes by placing and approving orders and arranging delivery thereby eliminating many paper-based procedures and labour-intensive processes.  They also help reduce the issues associated with “Maverick” buyers who ignore the price breaks available from agreed suppliers, and buy from whomever they like.

eMarketplaces have also been established which provide a shared environment where buyers and sellers can offer goods and negotiate price supply arrangements in a competitive market environment – such as through tender or auction.

Articles/Industry Reports

RFID technology investment bears fruit

A growing number of businesses are realising the productivity, efficiency and accuracy benefits to be made by technology to fully integrate their supply chains. But what's holding others back?
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iStart / University of Auckland 2007 RFID Survey results

In some of New Zealand’s major international export markets RFID is starting to be seen as offering a competitive advantage and a significant return on investment. Is it time kiwi companies began taking notice? iStart has been involved in a major University of Auckland survey examining how widely RFID technology is being adopted locally.
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Is RFID making waves in NZ & RFID Buyers Guide

New Zealand businesses have been slow to deploy radio frequency identification (RFID) technology as a supply chain tracking tool, but there are strong signals that might be about to change.
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Reaping the rewards of RFID

RFID technology is beginning to take root in New Zealand’s primary produce and manufacturing sectors but industry experts warn that successful implementations might require some trial and error.
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Report: Are you ready for RFID?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is set to turn the mechanics of supply on its head. By tracking the number, location, and history of items in the supply chain, RFID will deliver internal efficiencies and productivity improvements as well as allowing businesses to be more responsive to market needs.
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RFID - tracking every step you take

Radio frequency identification is the next big thing for inventory management.
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Global state of RFID

Line56.com reports that there is a lot of spending internationally this year, with mainstream adoption expected by 2008. Average budgets are rising, but actual deployment still low.
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RFID: From farm gate to restaurant plate

One of the first areas to take up RFID technology in New Zealand will be primary produce – in particular, the meat industry. Marty Verry explains why RFID makes sense on the farm.
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The nuts and bolts of RFID

How much do RFID tags cost? What types of tags are available? Who controls RFID radio frequencies in New Zealand? Priya Kunthasami of mobile computing specialist Pocket Solutions answers these questions and more.
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All together now

Electronic business-to-business transactions are mushrooming, as the amount of traffic flowing through EDI gateways continues to grow. But there’s no doubt businesses are missing out on the full benefits that would be possible if collaboration in this area was even higher. So what needs to be done for e-procurement to reach its full potential?
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Strategic Procurement: Widening the net

Tapping into the full efficiencies of eprocurement means engaging electronically with as many supply chain partners as possible.
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Greening the supply chain

Product strategy director for Oracle supply chain management, Rich Kroes talks about the benefits of building a greener supply chain.
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Working with both sides of the B2B coin

In the world of electronic business to business (B2B) transactions, buying and selling are increasingly being seen as two sides of the same coin. Whether you are looking at it from the procurement side or the e-commerce angle electronic B2B solutions offer a range of tangible benefits to buyers and sellers alike.
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B2B marketers shift budgets to online

It's not a niche anymore. Nearly half of B2B respondents report that they have used online marketing tactics this year.
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Dot Com poster child grows up

Once a poster child for the internet era, e-procurement has matured into an application which can reliably deliver cost savings and process efficiencies.
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Wal-Mart on data synchronisation

Understanding the retail giant's position on data sync; an example of EDI leadership. Now that the shifting sands of the data standards have solidified, nearly all the major retailers globally are providing their suppliers with one or another form of encouragement to get on board.
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E-procurement made easy Misunderstood by many, e-procurement is not an online version of Victoria Park Market where procurement managers shop around for the best deals – line item by line item. Instead, it is simply organisations automating their purchasing processes - and making huge overhead savings by doing so. David McNickel explains how.
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Shape up or ship out! NZ retailers get strict The pressure is on for suppliers to New Zealand’s larger retail chains to lift their game by adopting electronic tools including using mobile sales entry and document exchange to improve accuracy and efficiency.
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Online Catalogue Management

A vanilla web site advertising what your company does with a few links to explain product and where to get it is simply replicating the hard copy world of glossy hand-outs - serious contenders for on-line world pay-back need to move beyond brochureware to electronic catalogues.
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Revisiting the sell-side

Interview: Keith Newman talks to e://volution managing director, James Dale about the renewed focus on getting internal selling sites sorted before getting sidetracked with buying or joining public marketplaces. According to Dale, the e-procurement buzzword of last year is slipping into the background and being supplanted by a renewed emphasis on getting sell sites to work efficiently. 
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What is a Portal And Why You May Need One?

Because time is money. Today, people expect and need to be able to find information and make decisions within minutes instead of weeks or months. Here's a quick overview of how enterprise portals bring information and applications together to make you and your staff more productive and efficient.
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Growing Your Own Internet

Making sense of intranets, extranets, VPNs and corporate portals.  New Zealand businesses must work to ensure information flows freely around their own organisatonal pond before they can expect to benefit from the full impact of any external knowledge wave. 
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B2B Bottlenecks

With many of New Zealand’s leading companies developing electronic document exchange “communities” with trading partners it won’t be long before you’ll be expected to send and receive things like purchase orders and invoices electronically too.
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B2B - Size doesn't matter

Now the Internet has grown up and IP is the pathway to open systems, some very smart message broking systems are making it easier for the business-to-business (B2B) revolution to become a reality in New Zealand. From as little as $20 a week, your company can take advantage of message broking services that can eliminate the need for hours of monthly manual processing. In this Report, we unveil the options now available to various size companies in New Zealand.
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Easy pickings in tough times

For a company enjoying 10 percent profit margins, an overall cost reduction of as little as 5 percent can impact earnings by 20 percent. Sounds good, but where's the easiest place to find a 5 percent cost reduction?
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"Crap timing" and resistance to change scuttles Southfresh

Trying to hook customers into the e-commerce net without the right quota of support from fish suppliers forced the Southfresh pioneering on-line effort to run aground. Founder Toby Warren speaks candidly about the threat e-commerce is to middle management, human nature and "crap timing".
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e-Commerce Extroverts may be Ex-Communicated

Part 1 of a series looking at how New Zealand's largest companies are beginning to dominate their online supply chains. First up, Telecom and Foodstuffs. Two companies outwardly providing the resources required for smaller suppliers to participate online, whilst quietly making it clear that laggards may fall victim to the un-spoken rule developing; "Get e'd or get left out".
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Traditional suppliers become NZ's e-commerce masters In New Zealand e-commerce terms, office products suppliers Boise, Corporate Express and Office Products Depot are online veterans. And as David McNickel discovers they've all taken a different approach yet all have found the e-comm move has paid dividends - both anticipated and unexpected!
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Woolly thinking and harsh realities cost farmers $2-$3 million We wrote off the NZ Wool Board's Woolnet development months ago. So you can imagine our surprise when Woolnet won the category for "Excellence in e-Business: B2B" at the Computerworld Awards in July. The judges claimed Woolnet was "completely transforming" the industry. Wishful thinking, but far from true. All that glitters is not gold and we uncover 13 lessons for eMarketplaces to prove it.
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Other Resources

If researching in Australia, go to the iStart Australia Supply Chain Management Research Pavilion
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