CareWare Systems Selected to implement Sage ERP system for MEGA PRINTING & PACKAGING SDN BHD

MEGA PRINTING & PACKAGING SDN BHD Improves Order Management and Accounting Processes with SAGE 300 ERP.

Petaling Jaya, June 12, 2012. As a family runs business operation in the Sothern state of Melaka Mega Printing & Packaging Sdn Bhd has established herself as one of the leading manufacturer of a wide range of sophisticated flexible packaging materials catering to the high ends of the domestic and foreign market. The company also engages in consultation works on packaging from design stage to final production catering mainly for leading food manufacturers and confectioners both on the local front and overseas. Today, her modern set-up boasts of 179 staff and workers operating on three shifts.

Business Challenge
Specialty printing & packaging is a very challenging business that is facing tremendous margin erosions over the year as competition heats up both locally and abroad. With waffle thin margins it is imperative to manage the Sales Order process, Material Inventory and Manufacturing process efficiently. The company encountered issues tracking the cost of manufacturing individual components, forecasting purchase requirements, and scheduling production processes. With little or no integration between the manufacturing systems and accounting, management was also not able to easily retrieve information on the day-to-day operations, hindering the overall decision-making process.

Recognizing that having modernizing their plant with new machineries imported from Japan & Europe itself is not the only solution, Mega Print began searching for a new integrated ERP system that would boost efficiencies within its inventory management and accounting processes. However, the search for a new solution proved to be a difficult process.

“We always wanted an integrated system, but what was available specific to our industry was limited,” says CFO of Mega Print. “To customize a local product to our needs seemed to be the best way to go. However, after hearing the horror stories about escalating costs and time delays associated with integrating customized systems, we continued to search.”

Mega Print looked at a number of options including SAP B1 with manufacturing add-ons as well as, Sage 300 ERP with its add-on AutoSimply Manufacturing modules..

Part of the challenge for the potential vendors was Mega Print’s product Cradle to Grave tracking and Costing by LOT requirements. Parent and Child Tracking for inventory items, one to many, many to one and many to many relationships.

Solution
Mega Print had both the SAP B1 and SAGE ERP consultants down to Melaka for presentation & discussions. Their evaluation team then comes up to Kuala Lumpur for further discussion and to attend both the SAP Solutions Summit and also Sage Solutions Summit that was organized by Careware the leading Sage partner in Malaysia.

After a thorough selection process and recognizing the strengths and weakness of both the system, Mega Print selected SAGE 300 ERP Premium to help it handle its sales Order, inventory management and accounting processes. The reason that they selected Sage ERP was that Careware consultants were able to show and address their pain points with some of their own data. Functions like Costing by Lot, Flexible BOM and tight integration to Sales Order Entry and Accounting systems, etc.

Careware demonstrated a clear understanding of Mega Print’s requirements. Having experience in the similar industry, with at least two other deployment of Sage 300 ERP for two Printing & Packaging factory in Melaka. With a thorough understanding of business practices and a solid team of IT professionals, Careware was able to customized or suggest work around procedure to the needs of Mega Print.

Business Benefits
Since installation of Sage 300 ERP v. 6, Mega Print is already gone live and running with the Financial & sales operational & inventory modules. Right now the next phase of implementation kicks in June/July for Manufacturing Oder, Production Planning and Manufacturing Lot in progress.

Mega Print has been able to improve a number of processes related to inventory and accounting. Inventory tracking is more visible and managed in near real time. Costing by lot information is available at the inventoried item level. Financial reporting has improved with the ability to customize reports and quickly drill down to analyze results.

Looking Ahead
Having already realized a number of business benefits with Sage 300 ERP in its accounting and inventory management, Mega Print is looking forward to deploy the system to handle the manufacturing side of its business. This is where the company expects to gain the most benefit. “The big productivity improvements will come when we fully implement Sage 300 ERP for the manufacturing side as well. “With Sage 300, they now have a solid integrated platform which can be use to tackle any part of their business.”

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For More Information
About CareWare Systems : Through its partnership with Sage, CareWare Systems helps small and mid-size companies in Malaysia reach productivity levels at the top of their respective industries. CareWare represents a variety of business management software including Sage ERP, SageCRM, For companies interested in growth, profitability and superior software support, CareWare is the Sage business partner for you. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.careware.com.my/.

Sage CRM Named Champions by Info-Tech Research Group in Vendor Landscape Evaluations

Sage CRM Named Champions by Info-Tech Research Group in Vendor Landscape Evaluations

We are delighted to announce that Sage CRM, along with Sage ERP solutions, was recently named as a Champion by Info-Tech Research Group in the firm’s Mid-Market ERP, Large Enterprise CRM and Small Enterprise CRM vendor evaluations. Info-Tech Research Group’s Vendor Landscape evaluation report recognises outstanding vendors in the technology marketplace. Assessing vendors by the strength of their offering and their strategy for the enterprise, the evaluation pays tribute to the contribution of exceptional vendors in a particular category.

Sage CRM secured the award by having the highest vendor score in the small enterprise market. This was primarily driven by our reach and channel strength, our strength in ERP and social media integration including integration with LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as providing a dedicated app for iPhone and Android.

According to Info-Tech award criteria ‘Champions receive high scores for most evaluation criteria and offer excellent value. They have a strong market presence and are usually the trend setters for the industry.’

Info-Tech’s CRM vendor evaluations are based on extensive research on each key player in the market looking at areas such as company, products, technology, customers, partners, sales models and pricing. Info-Tech analysts evaluate each vendor’s market position and product offering, ranking vendors on:

• viability and stability,
• strategy,
• technical merit, and
• product feature set.

All data is combined to achieve an overall rating, placing vendors in one of four categories:

• Champion,
• Innovator,
• Market Pillar, and
• Emerging Player.

Sage CRM is a leading supplier of CRM solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. More than 12,000 organisations in 70 countries use our award winning Sage CRM software to manage their critical sales, marketing and customer service activities every day.

This is an excellent award for Sage CRM and it recognises our on-going commitment to developing an award-winning, SMB focused CRM solution that delivers real value to customers.
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Source : https://community.sagecrm.com/user_community/b/sage_crm_news/archive/2012/05/15/sage-crm-named-champions-by-info-tech-research-group-in-vendor-landscape-evaluations.aspx

Check on medical devices to ensure they are safe for public use

PUTRAJAYA (May 21, 2012): Manufacturers and importers of medical devices will soon come under the microscope as the Health Ministry moves to regulate the industry.

Under the recently gazetted Medical Device Act 2011, a Medical Devices Authority will be formed as a regulatory body to register such devices, and to monitor manufacturers and importers for quality compliance.

More than 3,000 items, including everything from thermometers, condoms, pacemakers and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines are expected to come under scrutiny under this Act.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told a press conference yesterday the Medical Devices

Authority is being set up to ensure that medical devices used by hospitals, clinics, individuals or sold by pharmacies are safe for public use.

“The authority will be set up by the end of May, and a board of directors, chaired by the health director-general, will also be established. The board is expected to conduct its first meeting by June,” Liow said.

Over the next few months, the authority will draw up subsidiary regulations in the Act.

“The regulations are scheduled to be drawn up by end-October, after which the authority will begin the registration process over a period of two years.

“Devices which fall under the medium-high or high-risk categories (see accompanying graphic) will have to register with the authority, who will ensure that the products adhere to strict standards.

“This way, we will no longer allow fly-by-night or sub-standard manufacturers to put their products on the market,” Liow said.

The minister was speaking after a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) for healthcare steering committee meeting at the ministry yesterday.

Makers or importers who refuse to register after the two-year period is over will face a maximum penalty of RM200,000 fine or three years imprisonment, or both.

Liow said devices that are marketed with false claims on medical efficacy will also be pulled off the shelves.

“If a device is claimed to treat diabetes or high-blood pressure without proper clinical proof, they will not be allowed to register with the authority (and hence won’t be allowed for sale),” he said.

Medical devices are defined under the Act as any instrument, implant, in-vitro reagent or calibrator, software, or material intended by the manufacturer to be used, alone or in combination, for the purpose of:

>> diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment of disease or injury.
>> of investigation, replacement or modification or support of the anatomy or a physiological process
>> disinfection of a medical device
>> control of conception
>> or support or sustainment of life.

Pills, drugs, serums or vaccines are not considered medical devices.

Liow, however, said that retailers of medical devices or individual users do not need to register with the authority.

When approached after the press conference, Health Ministry Medical Device Control Division director Zamane Abdul Rahman said a website is being developed for manufacturers to register their devices online, as well as for users and retailers to check for devices which are blacklisted or not registered to the authority.
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http://www.thesundaily.my/news/384885

What is new in Sage Manufacturing Suite - AutoSimply.

We are pleased to announce that the new Item Number Change and BOM Import utility is now available.

1. Item Number Change

1. BOM Import, Update and Integrity Check Utility

Enterprises not waiting to board Win 8 train

Windows 8 may be in the spotlight right now after Microsoft showcased more of its upcoming operating system (OS) during the recently concluded Mobile World Congress (MWC), but most companies are likely to continue to look to Windows 7 to power their business.


Al Gillen, program vice president of system software for IDC, said that business and enterprise users will continue their existing upgrade to Windows 7 and not wait for Redmond's latest OS iteration to be launched later this year. This is because the greatest uptake for the upcoming OS will be among consumers or Windows tablet users, since "that is where the greatest amount of change and improvement is incorporated into", he explained.

Elaborating, he noted that for the average business user that spends much of his time using Microsoft Office and other business applications, a touch-enabled environment--one of the key features of Windows 8's Metro UI (user interface)--brings little productivity enhancements.

Those who might benefit from these new features to the operating system would be mobile workers such as healthcare employees, insurance adjusters, field technicians, and etc, Gillen added. However, their productivity will be enhanced only if the applications they need and use are upgraded to run natively on the OS and are fully touch-enabled, the analyst qualified.

"[As such,] we expect Windows 7 to continue to be heavily deployed by business users even after the launch of Windows 8," the executive stated.

One iteration at a time

Two organizations ZDNet Asia spoke to reiterated that Windows 7 deployment is their main priority currently.

Ong Leong Seng, chief architect & director at Integrated Health Information Systems (IHIS), for one, pointed out that the organization is in the midst of rolling out Windows 7 to all its hospitals, so its IT environment currently supports both Windows XP and Windows 7 for desktop and laptop devices.

He noted that upgrading operating systems is a "fairly long process" for organizations in the healthcare industry, and it would be transitioning its back office users first. In fact, IHIS was pushed into making the migration to Windows 7 because with support for XP coming to an end, this leaves them "little choice but to upgrade", he said.

Ong added: "We are not waiting for Windows 8, but will be exploring desktop virtualization to help smooth subsequent OS upgrades in the future."

Business intelligence (BI) software vendor QlikView is another that had gone ahead with deploying Windows 7 within the company.

Terry Smagh, vice president of Southeast and North Asia at QlikView, said it has supported the existing OS since its launch in 2009. This support was based on how closely the company works with Microsoft in ensuring that its products were always updated and supported the latest Windows version, he stated.

That said, the company has embraced HMTL 5 for its products, which Smagh said smoothes the crossover of its BI software, also known as QlikView, to Windows 8 in time to come.

"As Windows 8 is scheduled to be released soon, our move toward focusing on HTML 5 for end-user experience over the Web allows cross-platform support, be it on Windows or even Apple's iOS platform, which is dominant in the market," he said.

Microsoft did not directly comment when contacted, but pointed ZDNet Asia to its Web site showing customers that have adopted Windows 7 in their organizations.

Rich Reynolds, general manager of Windows commercial marketing at Microsoft, did earlier urge companies to continue and accelerate deployment of Windows 7. In a report last year, he said waiting for Windows 8 to launch might lead to security risks for businesses since official support for Windows XP will end in April 2014.
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By Kevin Kwang , ZDNet Asia on March 7, 2012 
http://www.zdnetasia.com/enterprises-not-waiting-to-board-win-8-train-62304116.htm

Sage Manufacturing Solution Summit.

A Special Invitation to
Sage Manufacturing Solution Day.

A Flexible System, Customized For Your Specific Needs

To really learn something about what SAGE ERP Manufacturing Suite can do for your company, join us on a 'back to basics' seminar and we'll give you what you need - an in-depth, straight-forward, guided tour - right inside the product - from Manufacturing to Distribution and Financial Integration.

SEMINAR HIGHLIGHTS

Introducing :Sage ERP Manufacturing Suite 
 Sage ERP 300 - Accpac 6>

 Sage X3 ERP for Process

 Sage Business Intelligence
-------------------------------------------------------Date : Wednesday, 21st March 2012

Time : 8:30 am to 2: 00 pm
Venue : Armada Hotel
Lorong Utara C, Seksyen 52
46200, Petaling Jaya
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Lunch will be provided, with 1 tea break.
Register Here: http://www.careware.com.my/index.php?mid=1730&p=contents-item&id=9968

Six Reasons Why Manufacturing Systems Fail

Manufacturers can achieve a number of business goals by investing cost-effective, end-to-end solutions that are simple to implement and use. With that being said, things can (and do) go wrong. Here are six reasons why manufacturing systems fail:

1. A faulty inventory item numbering scheme

Consider a company that has two sources for chips. Even though each supplier has its own part number for the item, the company didn’t map out its own part numbering scheme properly. As a result, the item appears to be out of stock even though there are still chips on hand from the other supplier. There’s a right and a wrong way to set up inventory control when you have more than one supplier. If the program you’re using doesn’t have multiple supplier capabilities, you won’t be able to properly set up Inventory Control to reflect this. Make sure the system you are considering maintains a cross-reference between your internal part number and each supplier’s part number.

2. Insufficient control of content for bills of material

Every BOM needs to be entered correctly from the start, based on specifications received from engineering. Even if the BOM has all of the right components in theory, sometimes in practice quantities aren’t exactly what they need to be and then people on the shop floor start to personalize as they assemble. It’s critical that engineering and manufacturing communicate effectively over the correct structure of BOMs and that only qualified people are keeping BOMs up-to-date. Regardless of the size of your manufacturing operation, a robust security system will restrict unqualified people from using certain critical functions of the software.

3. Inaccurate inventory on hand

One of the benefits of an integrated solution is that you eliminate redundancies in your system. One of the drawbacks is that errors can be compounded. If your inventory on hand is miscounted from the start, the error will repeat itself throughout your system. And the last thing you want is to be forced to close down for several days to do a physical inventory in order to identify discrepancies and reset your on-hand quantities. Manufacturing systems that offer “net-change” physical inventory functions will make it easy to correct stock counts without having to halt production activities.

4. Lack of agreement between engineering and manufacturing

Before implementing any system, it is absolutely essential that you reach an agreement between engineering and manufacturing on your goals and how you’re going to get there. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your software is if you don’t have appropriate buy-in from these two departments. Work with your consultant to develop a thorough implementation plan. Make sure everyone in engineering, manufacturing, and management signs off on the plan before you begin installing software.

5. Unrealistic expectations of what the system will be able to accomplish

Know exactly what you want to accomplish with your new system. You wouldn’t buy a Chevrolet to travel 200 MPH, nor would it make sense to pay a lot of money for a Lamborghini just to keep it in the driveway. Buying functionality you won’t ever need is just a waste of money. Make a careful list of the functionality you really need, adding a few of those “would be nice” items. Award major points to manufacturing systems that have a built-in growth path, especially if you can test-drive advanced functions using your own familiar data.

6. Failure to determine the company’s needs in accounting, manufacturing, engineering and data collection

It is vital that you spend time thoroughly evaluating your company’s needs before choosing and installing any system. Get a complete review of the requirements in accounting, manufacturing, engineering and data collection. This is a mandatory step in the process – and one that cannot be skipped. Doing your homework in the planning stages will pay off ten-fold when it’s time to connect all the pieces. Ask your reseller if consultation and training is available directly from the software supplier.
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Erik Kaas is Vice President of Product Management for Mid-Market ERP products at Sage, including Sage Accpac, MAS 90 and MAS 500. He is responsible for managing the product line life cycle from strategic planning to tactical activities. Erik manages a team of product managers responsible for specifying market requirements for current and future products. The product management team conducts market research supported by customer visits to ensure that engineering develops and releases products based on the needs of customers.

Source : http://www.mbtmag.com/blogs/2012/02/six-reasons-why-manufacturing-systems-fail