News Briefs and Product Shorts

• Nexgen Software Technologies has introduced a replacement for the BPCS order-entry module that the company says resolves customer order problems originating from confusing screens and complicated processes in the BPCS product. NexgenCSR is a browser-based component of the Naperville, Illinois, company's NexgenCommerce product suite designed to replace the BPCS ORD700 and ORD500 order-entry modules developed by SSA Global Technologies and to provide a solution for the "green screen clutter, inefficient layout, and awkward screen flow" that product suffers from, according to the company. NexgenCSR provides a configurable interface and "is not a watered-down version of BPCS, but a comprehensive solution," says Roger Jarman, Nexgen's product manager. The software was introduced in March and has been installed at edible-food-decoration product manufacturer The Lucks Company, in Seattle, where Wayne Bruning, the company's vice president of IT, says NexgenCSR has improved upon the "extremely awkward" BPCS ordering process and has made the company's CSRs more efficient.

• The Japanese subsidiary of U.S. consumer goods giant Newell Rubbermaid has successfully installed the first 100% Pure Java-based ERP system in Japan, and it's running on an iSeries server. Last week Intentia International announced that Sanford Japan, which manufacturers writing implements sold under brand names such as Parker, Waterman, and Papermate, went live with Movex Java Version 12 on an iSeries server last October. The planning and implementation began in the summer of 2002, with plans to target certain areas of Sanford Japan's operations, including the integration of financial and sales operations, the automation of paper-based processes, the improvement of inventory accuracy, and new forecasting capabilities. Sanford Japan IT managers say they were very pleased with the quick roll-out of Movex Java, and are set to realize substantial benefits by this June, including decreasing inventory levels by 7 percent, increasing productivity by 3 percent, and increasing customer service levels by at least 5 percent. Intentia, headquartered in Sweden, has been supplying enterprise applications to the Newell Rubbermaid organization and its subsidiaries since the merger of Newell and Rubbermaid in 1999, and says that Movex is the de facto standard for Newell Rubbermaid's European organizations. With the Sanford Japan implementation complete, plans are in the works to begin Movex Java implementations at facilities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.
  
  
• DRV Technologies is aiming to give OS/400 shops more control in the way they handle spool files, with the introduction of its new Add PCL command to SpoolFlex 1.6, its suite of OS/400 spool management utilities. The Add PCL tool lets users include PCL printer commands with spool pages, giving the user control over things such as source drawer and output bin selection, the number of copies, and macro calls for electronic document overlays, on a page-by-page basis. For example, the Add PCL tool allows users to specify that a different number of copies be made for each page, ensuring that only the required number of copies is printed for each page. The Add PCL tool works with the PC Client and Spool Sentry components of the SpoolFlex suite. Pricing for individual modules of the SpoolFlex suite starts at $495. The entire suite is available for $2,995.
  
  
• The switch has been thrown for a new iSeries-based extranet at Sklar Peppler Furniture, Canada's largest manufacturer of upholstered furniture. Last week Sklar Peppler's software provider, Magic Software, announced that it took just three weeks to develop the Whitby, Ontario, company's new extranet, which allows retailers to check on order status over the Web. "They completed the project in an extremely short timeframe so that we could launch it in time for an important industry event," says Marg Allen, Sklar Peppler MIS director. "Our retailer extranet is the first step toward a comprehensive Web-based information tool for our customers." The new extranet accesses Sklar Peppler's RPG-based transaction management system and was developed by Magic Software's services division using eDeveloper, Magic's integrated development environment.
  
  
• Butler & Curless Associates recently announced a new version of its OS/400-based ERP system, ec21MWDS Version 3.0. The new version of ec21MWDS, which is an abbreviation for electronic commerce for the 21st century, Managed Wholesale Distribution Services, will feature a new dashboard screen called the Business Analysis Module, a new market segmentation product, and enhancements to its warehouse management system, company officials say. The new Business Analysis Module dashboard is designed to give ec21MWDS users quick insight into business activity in eight distinct areas, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, sales history, transfers and returns, orders, item activity, vendor purchase, and returns and credits. The dashboard, a green-screen app, will house a database of more than 500 predefined data elements that are updated daily, and will give business managers an easy way to check on performance trends at the location, warehouse, or company-wide level. For example, the dashboard will let users view the top 10 overdue invoices. ec21MWDS 3.0 has been in beta since February and should be generally available in late June.
  
  
• Integrated Print Solutions, the company that earlier this year introduced the internet OnePrint Solution utility for connecting an iSeries to practically any printer over the Internet, is developing new Linux software for mainframe and iSeries printing. OnePrint G2, which is still in development, will emulate expensive IBM host printers and allow OS/400 shops to convert their AFP/IPDS or SCS print output to PCL for printing on cheaper network laser printers. The software will support impact and ink jet printers. Integrated Print Solutions is planning three versions of OnePrint G2 that will reside in Linux partitions on iSeries servers, mainframes, and PC servers, and plans to ship the software this September.
  
  

Sponsored By FAST400

What makes IBM different from Microsoft regarding Fast400?? What is Fast400? You are hearing a lot about Fast400 aren't you? But what is Fast400? Fast400 is a "tuning" product for the iSeries. Fast400 will allow an iSeries server to utilize the available CPW for interactive processing. IBM would have you believe that these interactive cards that cost thousands to millions of dollars, actually add value to your server. By buying Fast400, you do not ever need to buy another interactive card for your iSeries. For a free demonstration of Fast400, please visit www.fast400.net. Why Fast400? A few years ago Microsoft would not let other software companies build tools to work with the Windows operating system. Microsoft did all kinds of scurrilous things to stop other manufacturers' software from working on their platform. They would put code in the base operating system that prevented other companies code from working properly. IBM even had these issues with Operations Navigator. In the early days of Operations Navigator, the developers in Rochester had to scrap early versions because Microsoft did not want IBM leverage on what was proprietary to them. Netscape also had a few problems using the Windows operating system. The result Now we all know what happened to Microsoft. After spending tens of millions of our tax dollars in the trial, the US government told Microsoft that they were acting as a monopoly and what they did was not right or fair. The similarity IBM is doing exactly the same thing to Fast400 as Microsoft did. IBM has changed the operating system of the iSeries 400 to prevent Fast400 from working. In fact this has been done several times now, and each time the Fast400 developers produce a new fix to circumvent the IBM action. Why does IBM do this? because Fast400 takes money out of IBM's pocket. The potential for IBM to make billions from its user base, for delivering virtually no product is tantamount to corporate deception! Did IBM change the operating system when EMC introduced a low cost storage solution for the iSeries? The future The cat and mouse game between IBM and Fast400 is already a year old. Every time IBM changes the operating system to disable Fast400, the developers of Fast400 produce a new version within days to enable it again. Does Fast400 have a commercial agenda? Of course it does. Fast400 is in business to provide its clients with added benefits, which will maximise the interactive performance of iSeries 400 servers. And as we are a business, why shouldn't we charge a nominal fee for that service? A fee that our clients see as being fair and proper. After all, it's not Fast400 that is making enemies in the user base. As long as IBM wants to play "David and Goliath" we will continue to "out" the giant. Fast400 is not running, you can be assured!! For more information, please visit www.fast400.net.