Resources > APICS Magazine > November/December 2004
APICS Magazine
November/December 2004
Volume 14, Number 10
Feature Articles
COVER STORY
Spotlight on the Electronics Industry
Our special section focuses on the unique challenges facing the electronics industry and how intense customer focus can lead to success. It offers far-reaching analysis on management methods, manufacturing strategies, and other techniques that readers can apply to improve performance in their own companies.
Employee Ideas Revealed 
By Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder
Employee idea systems can help companies become leaner and more competitive by making ideas a part of everyone’s job, at every level. This allows for better decisions, faster implementation, and more time for managers to focus on higher-level issues.
The Expanding Roots of MRP
By Dave Turbide, CFPIM, CMfgE, CIRM
Material requirements planning (MRP) is arguably the most successful business management software solution ever conceived, especially considering that it includes its “evolutionary offspring” manufacturing resource planning and enterprise resources planning. Is the MRP heritage inhibiting innovation, or does it provide a stable and beneficial foundation on which to build tomorrow’s systems?
Where the Money Is
By Rajesh Ray, CPIM
A well-managed service parts operation can provide a big boost to customer satisfaction levels and the bottom line. Find out what it takes to establish a truly world-class service parts program.
The Devilish Details
By George Schultz
Compliance with the stringent requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has been a rude awakening for many. The act goes beyond more accurate, timely, and ethical financial reporting by now requiring controls on processes within manufacturing organizations. George Schultz shows us that help exists in the form of enterprise and documentation software that can provide data access, risk assessment, and requisite controls.
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