Manufacturing And Warehousing IT News For VARs — November 11, 2014
By Trisha Leon, contributing writer
In the news, Siemens is set to acquire Camstar, a manufacturer of MES (manufacturing execution systems), and the Southeast’s Purchasing Managers Index shows increased manufacturing activity across the region in October. Also an article explores the advantages of functional programming.
Siemens To Acquire Camstar
Siemens is set to acquire Camstar, a NC-based enterprise and long-time manufacturing execution systems (MES) player, aiming for further innovation for three vertical industries. LNS Research reports that with this acquisition, “Siemens is extending its MES footprint” into the electronics, semiconductor, and medical device industries. The blogpost goes on to give LNS’s take on what this merger will mean for current and potential customers, concluding that “Siemens is executing on a broad and exciting vision for the future of manufacturing industries and the acquisition of Camstar is another example of how it is putting its investments in place to execute.” Though this is an exciting move by Siemens, vertical industry solution integration is a slow process, so patience is required for companies who plan to partner with Siemens to full realize innovative progress.
Manufacturing In The Southeast Improves In October
Manufacturers’ Monthly reports that according to the Southeast’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report by Kennesaw State University’s Econometric Center, “Manufacturing activity across the Southeast improved in October due to increases in new orders and production.” The Southeast PMI reading is a composite of five components — new orders, production, employment, supply deliveries, and finished inventory. Of all these components, production saw the highest spike, increasing 8.3 points to 67.3. New orders also increased, growing 3.4 points to 64.4, which will, in time, lead to an increase in finished inventory as well.
The Benefits Of Functional Programming
Paul Krill writes in the InfoWorld TechWatch, “Functional Programming’s High Efficiency Comes at a Cost,” explaining what functional programming is — computation treated like mathematical functions, which avoids changing state and mutable data — gives current examples, and weighs its costs and benefits. He quotes Logan Linn, software engineer at Prismatic, who says, “Really, the goal of functional programming is that you have to hire less people.” Stew O'Connor, software architect at Verizon adds, “One of the beauties of functional programming is that when you're doing it right, the way you build small systems and the way you build large systems should be roughly the same.” Though functional programming can be difficult to define, the potential it offers is worth investigation.
Manufacturing And Warehousing IT Talking Points
Paul Myerson writes in the Industry Week article, “Supply Chain Technology: Haste Makes Waste,” that when shopping for new supply chain technology, enterprises should not “fall so fast for ‘hype’ on a new technology.” Investments in supply chain technology can sometimes be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and, therefore, enterprises must use due diligence, according to Myerson, in order to “make sure supply chain technology is a good fit for your company’s needs and its competitive strategy before jumping in completely.” He cites Alex Niemeyer, of consultant group McKinsey, who gives examples of supply chain technology with potential to grow businesses — like 3-D printing — and collaborative forecasting technologies to level inventory and shorten lead times. VARs should look to provide supply chain technology solutions that are more than just “hype” and allow clients to see return from their investment.
An article in IT World reports that the FBI has captured one of its top most wanted cyber criminals, John Gordon Baden, who is charged with stealing the personal identity information of 40,000 people and using it to take millions of dollars from bank and brokerage accounts. Baden and conspirators obtained and shared login information that enabled them to access a U.S. mortgage broker company’s customer records and the system used to manage these records. Once logged into this system Baden and his co-conspirators stole customer information and used to defraud merchants and financial institutions. Baden was indicted on federal charges in July 2014: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and computer hacking. According to the article, “The FBI had only last month offered a $5,000 reward for information that would lead to Baden’s apprehension. The FBI said that information from the public that ultimately contributed to his arrest.”
For more news and insights, visit BSMinfo’s Manufacturing And Warehousing Tech Center.