New Social Manufacturing Application on Force.com Brings Social, Mobile and Open Cloud Computing Technologies to Global, Distributed Manufacturing
Kenandy recently announced a manufacturing application built for the cloud on Force.com, salesforce.com’s enterprise cloud computing platform for building employee facing social apps.
By combining the core manufacturing management functions of inventory management, engineering, purchasing, production, and requirements planning with the mobile, social and open features of Force.com, Kenandy delivers next-generation manufacturing management for the cloud. With Kenandy, manufacturing companies have the collaborative and social technologies required in today’s modern, globally distributed supply chain networks.
“Manufacturing companies of all sizes need to be able to react quicker than ever in today’s competitive business environment,” said Sandra Kurtzig, founder, chairman and CEO of Kenandy. “Companies need a manufacturing management application that is complete and easy for internal use, but also social and global for collaboration in supply chain networks. Building an application on Force.com created the opportunity for Kenandy to deliver this.”
“Building a manufacturing application that truly takes advantage of the cloud requires a complete rethink,” said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. “Kenandy has stepped up to the challenge, bringing Sandra’s experience as an innovator in this arena to again redefine and deliver exactly what manufacturing companies need for the social revolution.”
Making MRP Social
While manufacturing has always been collaborative, traditional ERP systems haven’t made it easy—or even possible, in many cases—for an enterprise and its globally distributed supply chain to work together effectively. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud makes day-to-day collaboration easier, immediate, and more structured. With Kenandy, companies may use Salesforce Chatter, the employee social network, to collaborate in the cloud, and stay better informed to make smarter decisions. Users can also contribute and learn best practices in a growing social manufacturing community, and compare key performance metrics to drive ongoing improvements.
By collaborating in the cloud, companies have increased visibility and more-accurate information. For example, a manufacturer can share real-time inventory availability with its customers and distributors, while suppliers can automatically replenish customer inventory as needed.'
Communication in today’s supply chain networks is a chaotic process primarily based on e-mail, phone, and other manual ways of relaying information. With Chatter, Kenandy customers can create enterprise social networks that are social, mobile, open, and secure.
Kenandy envisions a broader community collaborating on the Chatter-enabled manufacturing cloud, bringing manufacturers together to contribute and compare information. Manufacturers will be able to share experiences on specific production equipment or supplier performance. Business analysts can offer benchmark data to the community, either publicly or through subscriptions, giving Kenandy users a basis for comparing key performance indicators and operating results.
These social capabilities of Kenandy create opportunities for new efficiencies, greater market access, and increased innovation. Distribution channels can become more nimble, creating supply networks that are better prepared to operate in economic uncertainty. Suppliers can be substituted quickly for alternate sourcing in response to global events. Smaller suppliers can operate on a more-even footing, creating greater market access for small- and medium-size manufacturers and a greater range of supply options for large enterprise manufacturers.
Product Key Features
Kenandy has the core manufacturing management features for inventory management, engineering, purchasing, production, and requirements planning. Kenandy offers:
- Fast access and immediate drilldown into any data by tapping into the power of Force.com. Users can learn the application within hours and deployments may be completed within weeks. With no software or hardware to own, the secure application gives manufacturers exceptional time to value and an overall lower cost solution.
- The critical functions manufacturers truly need, and leverages the trusted Force.com platform for extensibility and integration. This is in contrast to traditional and timeworn ERP systems, where companies typically use 20 percent or less of the functionality but have to live with 100 percent of the overhead.
- Supports for both global and mobile access, making it easy to deploy in a wide range of environments.
- Multilingual prompts, help and data to meet customer needs.
- Mobile device access to facilitate a range of functions including on-the-go processing of purchasing approvals, work order access for paperless kitting in the stock room, and shop floor access to routing steps for work in process.
Want more information? Click below.