Cambashi, recently hosted a dinner for some 20 senior executives from IT companies in the UK at which the topic for after-dinner discussion was how to win sales in a recession. It was the latest in a series of occasional dinners when senior executives from IT companies are invited to join Cambashi executives to discuss a topical, business-related subject in a relaxed and informal setting, with a view to sharing ideas that could be beneficial to all. Read more...

Lord Drayson visits Cambashi UK SCIENCE & INNOVATION MINISTER VISITS CAMBASHI FOR
DISCUSSIONS ON GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENT on 31 March 2009.

New Research on Medical Device Total Product Lifecycle Practices announced by Cambashi, Axendia, and FDAnews.

Cambashi Country Observatory predicts V-shaped outcome to recession.

Cambashi press releases can be accessed by following this link

Meeting Cambashi

This year at COFES Cambashi's Allan Behrens provides insight into some of the trends and opportunities with a focus on international as opposed to domestic US situations. Attendance by senior executives from the IT industry, end users, and the analyst and press communities provides numerous opportunities for peer to peer discussions. and, as ever, Allan is available throughout the event for meetings and discussion. Although the event thrives on impromptu conversations, Allan would also be delighted to put aside time for those that request it.

Hannover Fair: We'll be attending the 2009 Hannover Fair in April and leading the Enterprise Integration day in the Manufacturing Executive Leadership Forum, which promises to offer a fascinating look at the current picture of enterprise integration, including the results of Manufacturing Automation's recent survey on integration priorities and projects. Tony Christian will give the keynote presentation and Julie Fraser will participate in the subsequent panel discussions.

We are looking forward to sharing ideas and participating in the discussions on Enterprise Integration, as well as taking the opportunity to learn about the many other areas of activity covered at Hannover. If you plan to go (follow this link), we'd be delighted to see you there!

White Paper

Mobile Technology For Managing Meter Replacement Initiatives

Technology is changing the meter replacement process. The software and hardware options for field crews, the wireless communication systems available to exchange data with office systems and the supporting office systems are available at differing levels of sophistication. Every task can benefit from this technology. This paper looks at the stages of meter replacement programs and compares the implementation options open to utility companies. Issues covered range from managing meter inventories, ensuring field operations have the right meters in the right places, updating back office systems and maximizing productivity of each meter installation. Follow this link to read the full paper by Christine Easterfield.

Cambashi's Guidelines to Preparing a Marketing Plan is available from our free information page.

It is important to distinguish between a business plan and a marketing plan. A business plan states business objectives; it concentrates on financial targets such as desired growth and profit and outlines the strategy required to accomplish these goals.

A marketing plan feeds into the business plan. Its primary purpose is to show how to achieve the goals detailed in the business plan. This guide briefly describes most of the items a final marketing plan might contain. Further reading material can be found in "How come your marketing plans aren't working?" by Malcolm McDonald

In most companies, professional development and business success go hand in hand. Cambashi has created a business practice focussed on Training and Industry Readiness. The aim of the practice is to deliver a full range of professional development and training services for our clients who work with manufacturing and related
industries. < read more>

Cambashi Ezine

Cambashi's e-Xpertise in Industry #36 May 2009
Cambashi produces a free best practice ezine aimed at senior management, sales and marketing professionals working in the IT Industry.

Mike Evans has prepared a special Keynesian edition comprising:

Econometrics predictions for the application software market according to Mike Evans it is not the end of the feast.
Follow the money! Mike Evans looks at how John Maynard Keynes made his investments and discusses how a similar process could be used today.

To subscribe to the Cambashi ezine, please send an email to ezine@cambashi.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.

Axendia, Cambashi, and FDAnews present their research Total Product Lifecycle Management: Lowering Costs while Increasing Quality. Click on this button to register for a free download.

New Podcast on OPM

Julie Fraser, President of the Cambashi US operation, discusses operations performance management (OPM) with Search Manufacturing ERP's Peter Bochner. Listen to this recorded interview here.

Gaining Business Visibility Through Right-time Dashboards

Cambashi research suggests that thenext ten years will see a wave of re-investment in software applications.

Manufacturers are adopting new strategies - such as mass customisation and globalization - to give greater value to customers. Rather than investing to provide everything within one enterprise, a growing approach is to create an Industry Network that combines resources to satisfy customers.

Industry will need new software applications to help operate these networks so they add value for the customer and don’t simply shift costs around the chain.

Ten years ago, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrated previously disparate applications. Today, applications like ERP, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) provide visibility of resources and progress on customer orders across the entire network.

Cambashi believes that new infrastructure technologies such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) will enable smaller application components to work together to support unique and adaptable business processes. This will provide an attractive alternative to older monolithic and potentially inflexible applications.