E-business and its role in inventory management The main objective of this study is to provide significant new insights

into the development and implementation of e-business strategies that will lead airlines to a competitive advantage. The success of application of e-business strategy to airline industry depends on the value added of e-business to airlines. Currently, many airlines are looking at ebusiness to protect their assets and to secure customer's loyalty, and to be successful in today's competitive environment. In view of the new features of Internet, the core question of this paper is: Can an e-business system utilizing Internet technology to achieve competitive advantages for airlines? To provide an answer to this question, the researchers conducted an online survey and develop a Customer Centric E-Business (CCEB) System Model, using China ShenZhen Airlines as a case study. The work in this paper is organized as follows: Introduction; Section 1: Research Goals, Literature Review, Research Methods, Original Contribution, and Research Outcomes; Section 2: Research Flow Chart; Section 3: Findings and Results; and Section 4: Other Considerations. Furthermore, the work presents some pertinent strategies for airlines based on Michael Porter's Five Competitive Force Model. With respect to the typology suggested by Porter, the results indicate that Porter's model was essential in evaluating the airline industry under both descriptive and elucidative aspects. Introduction Many e-commerce principles were pioneered by the airline industry. These include the first business-to-business electronic information exchange and industry-wide electronic marketplace. This environment provided unprecedented opportunity for operations research (OR) modelling. Airlines continue to derive billions of dollars annually from these and derivative models. The availability of reliable, low-cost

communications via the Internet is not only providing new modelling challenges within the airline industry, but it is also providing similar opportunities in other industries [1]. Electronic Commerce is defined as "buying and selling of goods and services through electronic technology utilizing on line services such as Internet, interactive television, commercial online services and screen telephones so that an organization's objective can be achieved." In the 21st century digital technologies will push beyond the existing boundaries in all these spheres of our lives. The transition from brick-and-mortar business to "clicks" business is happening in all sectors of the economy [4]. Any size business can have an e-commerce strategy; from a sports club selling T-shirts with their name on, to a medium-sized business selling widgets, through to a traditional retail behemoth like Wal-Mart [5]. Some e-commerce companies sell only over the Internet; others sell both over the Internet and in standard brick-and-mortar distribution channels [6]. Most airline managers realize that a major business transition is taking place. Some believe the various processes by which business strategies are developed will need to change. New value propositions are being promoted by e-commerce, and it is being used to give airlines competitive advantage. Regardless of which business model airlines adopt, to be successful, airlines need to understand how the Web and e-commerce affects their business [7]. Airlines need to develop an overall strategy covering: strategic management, IT infrastructure, design, content, e-commerce systems, marketing and customer service. Airlines also need to be creative and entrepreneurial. As every entrepreneur knows however, you will only be truly successful if you provide genuine value to your customers and solve a problem for them. Section 1. Research goals, literature review, methodology, original contribution, and research outcomes Scope The scope of this research was to create an e-business solution, which will concentrate on developing a Customer-Centric E-Business (CCEB) System Model for the Chinese Airlines.

Objectives of research

To define the value added process of customer requirements. To provide information for Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Airline managers, and Airline employees for decision making about application of an e-business model to Chinese airline industry. To apply this e-business model for Chinese Airlines and assess its comprehension to business efforts. To develop an e-business framework that is aimed to create better customer relationships, and thus assist Chinese Airlines to achieve competitive advantages.

Research Question Answered Can an airline increase market share and customer loyalty by achieve competitive advantage utilizing e-business models? Literature Review Undoubtedly, one of the faster-growing business sectors is Internet-based commerce, commonly called e-commerce (electronic commerce) or I-commerce (Internet commerce). E-commerce includes both B2C (Business-to-Consumer) and B2B (Business-to-Business). The demand for e-commerce systems will translate into career opportunities and new challengers for systems developers, another name for systems analysts. Advances in technology have greatly expanded the role of e-commerce in business. Some business analysts believe that the Internet is changing consumer buying habits and reshaping the economy. E-commerce is changing traditional business models and creating new ones [8]. To figure out just how fast the Internet economy is growing, the Centre for Research in Electronic Commerce at the University of Texas at Austin conducted a study of over 2000 Internet companies. If found explosive growth from $322 billion in 1998 to $524 billion in 1999, a 68% increase. The fastest growing sector was e-commerce, which skyrocketed by 72% from $99.8 billion to $171.5 billion. According to researchers' estimate, over 50,000 companies make some or all of

their money online. By 2002, over a trillion dollars in revenue will be generated through the Internet [4]. The number of Internet users surpassed 530 million in 2001 and will continue to grow strongly in the next five years. Most of the growth is coming from Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe. By year-end 2005 the number of worldwide Internet users will double to 1.12B [9]. Goldman Sachs has estimated that B2B e-commerce will generate as much as 1.5 trillion dollars in revenues by 2004, with some estimates running even higher [10]. Between 2001 and 2002, the proportion of Internet users that are shopping online has not increased. However, an increase in number of people online has helped to ensure that e-Commerce is growing [11]. Corporate spending for e-commerce infrastructure is increasing, despite the current economic slowdown. Worldwide spending on software and IT services are projected to increase nearly 36%, to $1.15 trillion, by 2003 [12]. Figure 1 and 2 show typical current e-business models used by airlines.

Figure 1. Generic Airline e-business model [1]

Figure 2. Integrated current e-business model of airlines [13] The Customer-Centric Electronic Business (CCEB) system model for airlines industry is still in its infancy, therefore, there are limited resources available. Customer-Centric Management is related to what is called Customer Relationship Management (CRM). "CRM is defined as aligning business strategy, corporate culture and organization, customer information, and supporting information technology; so that all customer interactions promote a mutually beneficial relationship between each customer and enterprise." [14] To some airlines especially airlines in China, over 95% of commerce is still conducted through traditional business models. Airlines are investing heavily to deploy customer centric management in traditional channels. Perhaps most significant, the Internet provide a completely new way for an enterprise to interact with its customer-the electronic channel, or the e-channel. Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the differences between traditional business model (market-centric) and new business model (customer-centric). Figure 5 shows SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) model to understand how to fulfil its customer's basic needs.

Figure 3.Traditional market-centric business model [15]

Figure 4. Customer-Centric business model [15]

Figure 5. SAS model to understand how to fulfill its customer's basic needs [16] Although per-capita Asian Internet usage rates still pale by comparison to those of North America and Europe, the number of customers signing on to the World Wide Web is growing at an exponential rate. This is impart what the region's airlines are hoping to profit from as they take to the net in the same way as have their more advanced North American and European counterparts. Finally they hope to move forward with concrete online strategies. Apart from the region's e-business leaders-Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines-many airlines have been slow to log on, although a rapid catch-up game is taking place. Airlines are seeing the benefits of not just selling online, but buying. In China, some airlines including China Southern Airlines have led the way in terms of online services through travel site Et-China.com, which it owns jointly with Australia's Et-China.com Investments [17]. In 1999, the average global load factors is 69%, United Airline's load is 71%, Cathay Pacific is 71.4%, China Eastern Airlines is 58.9%, other airlines in China average for 58.6%. There are two reasons behind low factors of airlines in China: one is the fewer application of Information Technology; the other is outdated marketing strategies. For example: there are advanced aircrafts in China Eastern Airlines such as A-340, the flight size is same as Cathay Pacific in 1999. Passenger transport quantity is approximately the same, but the revenue per year, revenue per employee is just a fraction of Cathay Pacific's. Comparing IT employees between China Eastern Airlines and Cathay Pacific, there are 450 employees in Cathay Pacific, only 80 in China Eastern Airlines [13].

Constraints and Limitation of Previous Models On studying the current e-business models shown in Figures 1, 2, and 5, and through the literature review, most of the current research about airline e-business have the following limitations:

E-marketing strategies are not widely adopted by most airlines. Customer' need in today's fast growing e-business environment are not properly addressed. Almost all current models are customer data rich and information poor. Severe limitations and weakness in dealing with the challenge for most airlines to sustain and create profits in the face of heavier competition and product homogenization. Most airlines focus on CSC (Customer Service Centre), but neglect the Customer-Centric requirements.

It is obvious that it is an urgent need for further research in the application and development of e-business models to airlines. Significant & Original Contribution This work present a fist significant application of integrating System Engineering methods and marketing strategy to a real world situation using data from Chinese Airlines. Figure 6 demonstrates the key function of this integrated model, two toplevel operations Marketing and System Engineering drive the model. Each operation satisfies its unique top level requirements e.g. the System Engineering addresses the 5 Cs: Complete, Cost-effective, Congruent, Consistent, and Correct, and Marketing the 5Ps: Passenger, Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. Model Output includes the Value-Added operations, i.e. the 5 Hs: High performance, High load factors, High profit, High market share, and High loyalty. It will help Chinese airline industry in pursuit of competitive advantages over its rivals, and lead it to profit, it will play a significance role for airlines in China, since airlines in China lost a lot of money since 1997, it is contradictive with the very strong economy growth of China.

Figure 6. Integrating Marketing and System Engineering Activity

Research Approach for This Work System engineering and marketing approach

System Engineering Approach to gain a better understanding of customer's requirements and Marketing Approach to learn about customer's needs. System Engineering:

Definition of the problem and system requirement System Analysis Preliminary System Design Detail System Design Model Validation and Simulation Model Performance Measurement System Installation and Operation Analysis of Results

Marketing:

Product Place Price Promotion

On line survey (E-Survey) For this research, an online survey was conducted to test the key hypothesis .500 airline passengers were chosen randomly as a sample both in Australia and China. The questionnaires were sent to them by email in February and March 2003. The total number of response was 66 (13.2%). Case study China Shenzhen Airlines was chosen as a case study. The developed model was aimed to work in conjunction with airline Customer Service Centre (CSC), which holds critical customer data. Data collection and analysis was done using MS SQL Server 2000 and MS Excel 2000. Significance of Research Outcomes The rationale for this research is to address the issue of application and

development of e-business for airlines industry and the results of this research program will address needs of community, industry and the field of study. Benefits to the Community and Industry There are many benefits to be gained for airlines and airline passengers, firstly, passengers could book and check in through internet 24 hours, 7 days a week, at anytime, anywhere. Secondly, airlines could reduce sales cost. Significance derived from CCEB implementation will allow for new business model, based on the wide availability of information and its direct distribution to end-customers.

Directly connect airlines and passengers. Support fully digital information exchange between airlines and customers, reduced cost of a customer contact. Suppress time and place limits. Support interactivity and therefore can dynamically adapt to customer behavior. To be able to satisfy customers' need, build customer confidence and retention. Can be updated in real-time, therefore always up-to-date. Enhance airlines competitive advantages over its rivals Profitable and sustainable revenue growth.

It is hoped that this search will provide information to assist Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), China ShenZhen Airlines manager, and other airlines in China, to make an informed decision when they consider the application and development of e-business to Chinese airlines industry. Contribution to the Field of Study Chinese airline industry is one of the highest growth areas of world civil aviation industry; it is estimated 8.3% increase rate annually from 2001 to 2010. The most recent focus is the entrance to WTO of China, and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Recent research of application e-business in Chinese airline industry has pointed to a lack of subject matter, it is just at the stage of sale air tickets through websites. Furthermore, there is an absence of existing literature that explores the application of CCEB to both China airline industry and other airlines all over the world. Therefore, the current proposed research will open up a new area for further investigation and study of the airline CCEB system. The research can also be used

as tool for community education, to generate meaningful discussion on particular findings, and assist with planning and policy developments for adopting particular strategies in application and development of e-business to both Chinese airline industry, Australia airline and world wide airline industry. Section 2 Research Flow Chart Figure 7 illustrates the research stages undertaken by for this work. Starting with needs analysis and closing the loop based on performance results.

Figure 7. The research stages

Experimental Hypothesis Application of E-business Strategy could achieve competitive advantage for Airlines. (Research Question) Design questionnaire and collect data China ShenZhen Airlines (CSZA) provide some data including some on-line passenger list in Frequent Flier Programme (FPP); some On-line Customer Service Representatives list; some data about sales and promotion for this research. For this research, an online survey was conducted. This survey includes 50 questions regarding the impacts if airline introduces the e-business process and strategy to improve passenger services and increase passenger loyalty. 500 passengers were chosen randomly as a sample. The questionnaire was sent to them by email in February and March 2003. 66 passengers response to this survey, the response rate is 13.2%. Some questions are as following: Model Design Model design includes: 1. System analysis and concept design (CASE tool: MS Visio 2000) 2. Design CCEB process (CASE tool: MS Visio 2000) 3. Detail design (Developing tools: Macromedia Dreamweaver 4.0; MS Visual Interdev 6.0; MS Visual Basic 6.0; MS SQL Server 2000; MS Excel 2000) 4. Analyze data and test hypothesis (Tools: MS SQL Server 2000; MS Excel 2000; SPSS 10) 5. Validate and simulate model Because of constrains respect the length of this report, only two examples are given here. Example 1 " Design UGI " (Figure 8) and Example 2 "Design CCEB Process" (Figure 9).

Figure 8. Design User Graphic Interface

Figure 9. Design CCEB Process

Section 3 Findings It was found that in order to provide an adequate answer to the research question "Can an airline increase market share and customer loyalty by achieve competitive advantage utilising e-business models?" One must fully understand the main features of E-commerce and their relevance to Airline competitive advantage. Figure 10 identifies sixteen key features which need to be studied and relate them to business success. [18][19].

Figure 10. Features of E-commerce (F-Feature) F1. Online/immediate/24-hour availability, directly connect buyers and sellers A Web server is usually online 24 hours per day, and virtually immediately accessible (depending on line speed and network traffic, of course). This creates time independence and enables customer service to be decoupled from supplier availability. Such 24-hour availability is a strong facilitator of a global presence, overcoming time differences. As the customer is in the first instance interacting with an automated system, there is a set of service requests that can become 'selfservice' F2. Ubiquity Global information networks (fixed and mobile, cable, satellite) promise to offer worldwide, large-scale and low-cost, access to electronic commerce.

F3. Global It is often claimed that one of the largest changes brought about by the Internet is that it is global: companies get access to customers globally, customers get access to suppliers globally. F4. Digitisation The Internet and the communication and computer systems connected to it are all processing digital and digitised information. Digital information can be easily stored, transmitted, processed, mixed, transformed, in short manipulated in many ways, independent of its source or carrier. F5. Multimedia Closely related to digitisation is the aspect of multimedia, referring to the capability to deal with and deliver information in several ways: text, graphics, sounds, video, eventually tactile. F6. Interactivity As opposed to EDI, which is for application-to-application data exchange, the Internet offers person-to-person and person-to-application interactivity. Even if one side of the interaction is automated, through a Web-server program, the interaction possibilities are wide ranging and can be extremely varied and engaging. F7. One-to-one The Internet makes customer profiling fairly easy, by capturing and analysing customer characteristics. Technically, this can consist of storing some information about the customer on the customer's computer (e.g. a 'cookie'), which is retrieved when the customer returns to the site. This can be combined with more detailed information, partially solicited from the customer and partially collected by the merchant, e.g. the pattern of purchases. Many sites encourage potential customers to provide an e-mail address, personal data etc. Customer profiling technology can be complemented by 'intelligent agents' that assist in the sales process. F8. Integration

Customer service is greatly enhanced by integrating the functionalities of the transaction parties on the basis of standardized information flows. One-stop integration of functions-that is, integrating all the necessary functions for a transaction at a single point of access and with seamless flow of information between them, as illustrated by this example is, however, only one aspect of integration. Information integration is another opportunity to extract additional value by analysing data from various steps of the transaction or across transactions. F9. Can be updated in real-time, therefore always up-to-date F10. Reduce costs F11. Increase productivity Airline can gain significant productivity improvements by using business-tobusiness e-commerce to streamline and improve its supply chain processes. Airline can save time and money by purchasing supplies via the Web. Similarly, Airline can use e-commerce to communicate and transact with distributors and customers in a more cost-effective and timely manner than through traditional channels. F12. Improve level of customer service Airline can improve it's level of customer service by allowing customers to access "help" information, complete application forms, pay invoices, or change their account details via it's Web site, at their own convenience. F13. Strengthen customer relationships Airline can strengthen relationships with existing customers by allowing them to access - via it's Web site - previously inaccessible decision-support information, such as detailed research reports, product specifications and price comparisons. F14. Enhance business intelligence Airline can use its Web site to collect valuable intelligence about customer needs, buying habits and preferences. This intelligence can be a valuable input to the development of new, profit-enhancing processes, products and services. Similarly, Airline can use the Web to research new markets and to gather valuable intelligence about its competitors.

F15. Increase direct sales of products or services The Web enables businesses to reach customers all over the world, 24-hours per day, 7-days per week. Airline can use the Web to create a "self-service" environment that allows Airline to offer lower prices and provide more detailed product information than that which Airline can offer in the real world. F16. Generate advertising, sponsorship or brokerage revenue Many "content" and "infomediary" sites generate revenue through advertising or sponsorship arrangements with other sites. Infomediary sites provide useful information and act as springboard to sponsoring Web sites. Infomediary sites offer earn brokerage fees on transactions that result from the information or service they provide. Linkages between these features and airline competitive advantage Airline industry is one of the most competitive industries within the economic environment. Within industry's boundaries actors have more or less recently and with significantly different patterns of action undertaken efforts to achieve an integration of the internet platform and its applications. In this section, we explore the effects of electronic commerce and its potential for competitive advantage for airline industry by using Michael Porter's seminal work on industry analysis as a framework (Figure 11).

Figure 11. Sources of Competitive Advantage [20] Airlines do conform to those which Porter describes: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. The proposition is that airlines that can successfully work in one of these areas will be able to establish and sustain a competitive advantage. Cost Leadership (F10, F11, F15, F16) Airline can generate significant cost savings by sending tickets, newsletters, quotes, and other documents via Internet, rather than by post or facsimile. Airline can use Web site to publish - in a cost-effective way - public domain documents such as annual reports, product brochures, positions vacant, contact details and other important Airline information. Airline can save on the cost of running "bricks and mortar" outlets and can reach global markets without having to develop a physical global distribution network. Most importantly, Airline can save on customer service costs by enabling customers to serve themselves. American Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly said the Web site is playing a major role in mitigating the rise in unit costs affected by high fuel prices. It's 10 times cheaper to deliver to customers through the online service than through a travel agent, Kelly said, and costs 5 times less than using Southwest's own reservation staff. The booking cost per passenger online is "well under $1," said

Kelly, and is scaling down even further. He said Internet use by passengers was helping the carrier keep fares at low discount levels [21]. Massive investment in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) information systems is expected to translate into important cost savings in procurement, sales, billing and other support activities. The airline's fully automatic ordering system, for example, should reduce order processing costs by 90%, according to Chairman/CEO Juergen Weber of Lufthansa Aviation Group [22]. Differentiation (F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F8, F9) E-ticketing, the issue of a booking code at the conclusion online transition that replaces the traditional airline ticket. E-ticketing seems to be a 'win-win' solution for the airline business. It offers the airline the chance to make considerable savings in both trade terms as well as in invoicing and internal accountancy procedures. Moreover, it helps to fight the downward profit spiral that has affected the industry for years. Secondly, it is very attractive to customers, who may benefit from a service offer both technologically advanced and of high intrinsic value. Focus (F7, F12, F13, F14)-Case Study FedEx The airline industry gives us a perfect example of successful Focus strategies - that is the so-called "Integrated Operators" of the air freight business. FedEx, the integrated cargo carrier, was the pioneer. Having developed a very efficient and fully computerised system for tracking individual parcels anywhere on its network it took the next logical step. In 1994, through its website, it allowed its customers to book and pay for its services without restriction via the Internet [23]. The e-Commerce infrastructure developed by airlines allows collection and central storage of sales and marketing data. Airlines use this data to drive decision support tools for planning and marketing. Model Performance Assessment The developed model comprises of: Airline-Passenger Interaction Subsystem; Data

Warehouse Subsystem; CCEB Operation Subsystem; Assessment and Forecast Subsystem. The function of Assessment and Forecast Subsystem is to assess the performance of CCEB system; it was done by using MS Visual Basic 6.0, and MS Excel 2000. The performance indicators are:

Total seats Total Passengers Load factors Price per passenger Cost Saving with application of e-business Sales

Forecast function provides five years forecast for these indicators. Section 4 Other Considerations Some issues of e-commence Internet commerce offers a range of advantages that collectively have been shown to be important enough to attract massive interest on the part of businesses, both as users of the technology and as providers of technology and solutions. Although, ecommerce is growing very fast, it was witnessed dot-com failure by the world in 2000. "Why did the dot.com e-grocers in the USA fail? The electronic copy of a supermarket did not work!" [24]. On one hand, New Economy cannot be built overnight - there are some (a few winners); On the other hand, it is segregated from the rest of the enterprise. The potential of electronic commerce has been spotted by many and is one of the key factors behind the so-called "Internet Bubble" currently being exhibited within global stock markets. There is still hesitation among many companies about committing any major effort to electronic commerce, let along about fundamentally rethinking their business strategy in line with the new opportunities. The reasons for this hesitation are summarized below by Timmers [18].

Lack of awareness and understanding of the opportunities and implications and uncertainty about the appropriate business model Concerns about total costs, including the costs of retaining and the telecommunications. Concern about security of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, personal data and business confidential data. Concern about interoperability and the risk that competition between major suppliers (e.g. Microsoft and Netscape) will lead to incompatible sets of standards. Uncertainty about applicable law and appropriateness of the legal framework. Lack of usability of the technology, difficulties in performing slightly more complicated electronic commerce than merely being present with a Web page.

Process for formulating e-business strategy According to Porter's overall approach, Harmon extend and give a new sense of dynamics. Figure 12 illustrates an e-business strategy process that is conceptualised as a continuos cycle. In effect, the strategy team never completes its task; it simply works to develop a temporary understanding, makes commitments, and then evaluates the results as it cycles through a subsequent cycle in order to arrive at a new understanding [25].

Figure 12. A cyclical process for formulating e-business strategy [25]

Conclusion This research revealed that the Internet contributes more to the core of business process and transformation than other comparable technologies such as the telephone. Whilst the source of competitive advantage is changing - with information becoming a key resource and electronic commerce a key facilitator. The success of airline applications and the communications, data, and control afforded by the Internet are encouraging. This is also supported by The Wall Street Journal, it summarized the situation: "Eventually, many suppliers are likely to use the Web's fine-tuned interactivity to perfect yield management strategies similar to the way airline tickets are priced today, slashing prices to avoid surplus inventory or to quickly respond to changes in customer preferences." [26] The researchers have found that the development of the information economy is as much about strategy as it is about technology. The Internet is not just another medium or a distribution channel to reach customers. It is an important medium to find new customers and continue relationships with current customers. It is almost impossible for business and consumers to ignore this new technology. The users of Internet are not just so-called "techi's". They are people from all age group in many parts of the world. This work demonstrated that integrating key operations such as technologies, marketing, and system solutions can assist the airline industry to achieve competitive advantages.

References [1] Smith, B.C. (2001), e-commerce and operations Research in Airline Planning, Marketing, and Distribution. Available online [HREF4] [2] Arthur,T., Bill. D., Stephen.B., Alastair.D., and Andrew.,W. (2002), Management Information Systems: Concepts, issues, tools, and applications. Data Publishing, Melbourne. [3] Choi, S. Y., Whinston, A.B. (2000), The Internet Economy-Technology and

Practice. SmartEcon, Austin. [4] Deitel, H.M., Deitel, P.G. and Nieto, T.R. (2001), E-Business & e-Commerce HOW TO PROGRAM. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River. [5] Matthew, R, (2000), Beginning E-commerce with Visual Basic, ASP, SQL Server 7.0 and MTS. Wrox, Birmingham. [6] Afuah, A., Tucci, C.L. (2001), Internet Business Models and Strategies: Text and Cases. McGraw-Hill, Boston. [7] O'Brien, T. (2000), E-commerce Handbook A practical guide to developing a successful e-business strategy. Tri-Obi Production, Melbourne. [8] Shelly, G.B., Cashman, T. J., and Rosenblatt, H. J. (2001), System Analysis and Design. Course Technology. Boston, MA. [9] "Internet Users Will Top 1 Billion in 2005. Wireless Internet Users Will Reach 48% in 2005." [HREF5] Available online [10] "Where the money is: B2B" [HREF6] Available online [11] GER survey, 2001 [12] "Cashing in on Global Customers Reaching New Customers" [HREF7] Available online [13] Liu, Z.X. (2001), Application of e-business to China airlines. Available online [HREF8] [14] "Foundation for a CRM Solution - The Multichannel Contact Server" (n.d). Available online [HREF9] [15] Komenar, M. (1999), Electronic Marketing.John Wiley & Sons, New York. [16] Gustafsson, A., Ekdahl, F., and Edvardsson, B. (1999), " Customer focused service development in practice: A case study at Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)" International Journal of Service Industry Management, 1999 v.10 n.4 p.344-358. [17] Airline Business (2001), "Asian: The year 2000 was to bring big e-commerce development by Asian airlines. While little of substance was delivered, 2001 looks to be a true break-pout year". March, p74. [18] Timmers, P. (2000), Electronic Commerce-Strategies and Models for Business-to-Business Trading. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. [19] Korper, S., Ellis, J. (2001), E-Commerce Book Building the E-Empire. Academic Press, San Diego. [20] Porter, M. (1980). Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors: with a new introduction. Free Press, New York. [21]"Online Ticket Sales Soaring at Southwest", (2000) Aviation Week & Space Technology, March 6, p38. [22] "E-commerce, Alliances spark Lufthansa Uptern", (2000) Aviation Week & Space Technology, May 15, p40. [23] Stephen, S. (1999) Airline marketing and managemen. Ashgate

[24] Tanskanen, K., Yrjl, H., and Holmstrm, J. (2002) "The way to profitable Internet grocery retailing - six lessons learned", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 2002 v. 30 n. 4 p. 169-178. [25] Harmon, P., Rosen, M., and Guttman, M. (2001), Developing E-business systems and architectures A Manager's Guide. Academic Press, San Francisco. [26] Bank, David (2000), "E-commerce (a special report) --- a new model - a siteeat-site world: Disappearing profit margins have retailers fretting - and consumers rejoicing," The Wall Street Journal, July 12. Inventory Management in e-business (An EOQ Approach with Compensation Policy) Authors: Daewon Sun Winner of the Best Paper Award for the eBusiness Workshop co-sponsored by eBRC and the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) In the past several years, we have seen very rapid growth in e-commerce. Even though online retailing was still less than 1% of retail economy in 1999, online retailing is forecasted to be more than $204 billion in 2004 [5]. There are several similarities and differences between online and traditional retailing. One of the significant differences is that there are many online retailers who do not carry any inventory. Obviously, the stockless policy can reduce holding cost, and online retailers can have competitive advantages from the policy. However, it is obvious that stockouts will hinder consumers' decision making for buying a product. There are many marketing papers studying the relationship between stockouts and consumer response. Fitzsimons argues that when consumers face stockouts, consumers react substantially and negatively to the stockout-they report lower satisfaction with the decision process and show a higher likelihood of switching stores on subsequent shopping trips [3]. Therefore, there exists trade-off between cost savings and lost sales in the stockless policy. Currently, many traditional retailers keep positive stock on hand except some special cases (e.g., car dealers). However, in e-business, there are many online retailers who are doing business without carrying any stock. They are just accepting backorders. The inventory policies between online and traditional retailers are almost opposite. Then, basic and fundamental questions to ask are "can the stockless policy be an optimal inventory policy?" and "if it can be an optimal inventory policy, what are the sufficient conditions for the optimality?"

It is well known that, under the EOQ model with backorders, accepting only backorders cannot be an optimal solution unless backorder cost is equal to 0 [1, 4]. There are many papers about lost sales cases and partial lost sales cases. However, the stockless policy has not been researched fully yet. This paper's main purpose is to find the stockless policy's sufficient conditions for the optimality and to generate some insights from the sufficient conditions. To analyze and answer the above basic questions, we introduce a new inventory policy, Compensation policy. In this policy, the only difference from the other inventory policy occurs when we do not have any stock on hand. That means, if we do not have any stock on hand, we will offer a compensation, R, to keep or increase demand rate. Therefore, we compensate consumer's waiting time with compensation due to stock-outs. From customer's point of view, stock-outs will give a negative effect. Therefore, some customers may postpone the final purchase or stop by the other stores when they notice that they cannot buy what they want immediately. However, with the compensation policy, the customers may still want to buy the product because of the compensation. Furthermore, it is possible that the compensation policy may have higher demand rate compare to the demand rate with stock. From retailer's point of view, as long as they can make profits, they want to increase demand rate. Therefore, this inventory policy is beneficial for both customers and retailers as long as they can get benefits from the policy. To implementing this policy is not difficult. In traditional retailing, if a store will post its compensation rate with waiting time, it may be attractive some customers who are not interested in purchasing the product at that time. In e-business retailing, the policy can be implemented more easy way. Due to the advanced webtechnology, we can change our products price very easily. Therefore, a store will announce the compensation immediately when its inventory is out of stock. Under this compensation policy, there is also trade-off. Because we will have an additional compensation cost, our total cost will be also increased. However, due to the policy, if the demand rate with stock-outs will be increased, our total profit will be increased also. Furthermore, we may have different optimal inventory policy (e.g., stockless policy) under certain conditions. In this paper, we consider two types of compensation. One is flat rate and the other is time dependent compensation. Under the flat rate compensation policy, we will offer a fixed compensation regardless of waiting time. Therefore, during the stock-

outs period, all customers who placed backorders get same fixed compensation. On the other hand, under the time dependent compensation policy, customers will be compensated according to waiting time. To investigate and find sufficient conditions for each inventory policies, we formulate Compensation models based on the EOQ model with backorders. However, there are several differences. First, we generalize the assumption about demand rate. Under the EOQ model with backorders, the demand rate is always same. However, in our model, we can have different demand rates between with stock and with stock-outs. Second, if the demand rates are not same, just minimizing average inventory cost will not give us the solution that will maximize profit. Therefore, there are two ways to solve this problem. One is maximizing profit function, and the other is minimizing average inventory cost including the effect of different demand rate. In this paper, we introduce new cost, opportunity cost. This cost represents and takes into account changes of profit due to the difference of demand rate. Therefore, in our model, minimizing the average inventory cost guarantee that the solution from our model is also maximizing the profit function. Our major findings from our inventory policy and models are as followings. First, the EOQ model with backorders and its solution are special case of our model. This result is obvious. When we will not offer any compensation and have same demand rates between with stock and with stock-outs, our model is exactly same as the EOQ model with backorders. Second, our model also generalizes the EOQ model with backorders in case of partial lost sales. This is also our model's special case when we will not offer any compensation and have partial lost sales. Third, we found that, without any compensation, the stockless policy cannot be an optimal inventory policy unless backorder cost is zero. Therefore, with no compensation, we can have only positive stock on hand or mixture inventory policy according to our cost structure and demand rates. Fourth, the stockless policy can be an optimal solution only with positive compensation under certain conditions. Fifth, we derive sufficient conditions for the three optimal inventory policies, which are positive stock on hand, mixture inventory, and stockless inventory policy. These sufficient conditions are simple and easy to understand. Finally, we show the optimal solutions for each case. Therefore, given cost structure and demand rates for a product, we can tell what is the optimal inventory policy and what is the exact solution to minimize the average inventory cost which is equivalent to maximizing profit function. Throughout the rest of this paper, we will review the traditional EOQ model with backorders, formulate

Compensation models, analyze these Compensation models, find insights from our research, and discuss further research issues. To our knowledge, except the traditional EOQ with backorders, all models are new and also the optimal solutions are new.

E-Commerce and E-Business/Concepts and Definitions < E-Commerce and E-Business Jump to: navigation, search E-Commerce and E-Business Preface Introduction Concepts and Definitions E-Commerce Applications: Issues and Prospects E-Commerce in Developing Countries Notes For Further Reading Acknowledgment About the Author Contents [hide]

1 What is e-commerce? 2 Is the Internet economy synonymous with e-commerce and e-business? 3 What are the different types of e-commerce? 4 The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business (B2B); business-to-consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G); consumer-toconsumer (C2C); and mobile commerce (m-commerce). 5 What forces are fueling e-commerce? 6 What are the components of a typical successful e-commerce transaction loop? 7 How is the Internet relevant to e-commerce? 8 How important is an intranet for a business engaging in e-commerce? 9 Aside from reducing the cost of doing business, what are the advantages of e-commerce for businesses? 10 How is e-commerce helpful to the consumer? 11 How are business relationships transformed through e-commerce? 12 How does e-commerce link customers, workers, suppliers, distributors and competitors?

13 What is Google AdSense and how does it work for e-commerce

[edit] What is e-commerce? Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services. [1] It also pertains to any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact. [2] E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network. [3] Though popular, this definition is not comprehensive enough to capture recent developments in this new and revolutionary business phenomenon. A more complete definition is: Ecommerce is the use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals. [4] International Data Corp (IDC) estimates the value of global e-commerce in 2000 at US$350.38 billion. This is projected to climb to as high as US$3.14 trillion by 2004. IDC also predicts an increase in Asias percentage share in worldwide ecommerce revenue from 5% in 2000 to 10% in 2004 (See Figure 1). Figure 1: Worldwide E-Commerce Revenue, 2000 and 2004 (as a % share of each country/region)

Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion at year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004. Is e-commerce the same as e-business? While some use e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are distinct concepts. In e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT) is used in inter-business or inter-organizational transactions (transactions between and among firms/organizations) and in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between firms/organizations and individuals). In e-business, on the other hand, ICT is used to enhance ones business. It includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or nonprofit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehensive definition of e-business is: The transformation of an organizations processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy. Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business: [5] 1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenishment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes, among others; 2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing efforts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers purchase orders and payments, and customer support, among others; and 3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, training, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and electronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient. [6] [edit] Is the Internet economy synonymous with e-commerce and e-business? The Internet economy is a broader concept than e-commerce and e-business. It includes e-commerce and e-business.

The CREC (Center for Research in Electronic Commerce) at the University of Texas has developed a conceptual framework for how the Internet economy works. The framework shows four layers of the Internet economy-the three mentioned above and a fourth called intermediaries (see Table 1). Figure 2. Table 1. Internet Economy Conceptual Frame

Based on Center for Research in Electronic Commerce, University of Texas, "Measuring the Internet Economy," 6 June 2000; available from http://www.internetindicators.com

This image is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5 [edit] What are the different types of e-commerce? [edit] The major different types of e-commerce are: business-to-business (B2B); business-to-consumer (B2C); business-to-government (B2G); consumer-to-consumer (C2C); and mobile commerce (m-commerce). What is B2B e-commerce? B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B ecommerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment. The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets. E-frastructure is the architecture of B2B, primarily consisting of the following:

logistics - transportation, warehousing and distribution (e.g., Procter and Gamble); application service providers - deployment, hosting and management of packaged software from a central facility (e.g., Oracle and Linkshare); outsourcing of functions in the process of e-commerce, such as Webhosting, security and customer care solutions (e.g., outsourcing providers such as eShare, NetSales, iXL Enterprises and Universal Access); auction solutions software for the operation and maintenance of real-time auctions in the Internet (e.g., Moai Technologies and OpenSite Technologies); content management software for the facilitation of Web site content management and delivery (e.g., Interwoven and ProcureNet); and Web-based commerce enablers (e.g., Commerce One, a browser-based, XML-enabled purchasing automation software).

E-markets are simply defined as Web sites where buyers and sellers interact with each other and conduct transactions.10

The more common B2B examples and best practice models are IBM, Hewlett Packard (HP), Cisco and Dell. Cisco, for instance, receives over 90% of its product orders over the Internet. Most B2B applications are in the areas of supplier management (especially purchase order processing), inventory management (i.e., managing order-ship-bill cycles), distribution management (especially in the transmission of shipping documents), channel management (i.e., information dissemination on changes in operational conditions), and payment management (e.g., electronic payment systems or EPS).11 eMarketer projects an increase in the share of B2B e-commerce in total global ecommerce from 79.2% in 2000 to 87% in 2004 and a consequent decrease in the share of B2C e-commerce from 20.8% in 2000 to only 13% in 2004 (Figure 3). Figure 3. Share of B2B and B2C E-Commerce in Total Global E-Commerce (2000 and 2004)

This image is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5 Likewise B2B growth is way ahead of B2C growth in the Asia-Pacific region. According to a 2001 eMarketer estimate, B2B revenues in the region are expected to exceed $300 billion by 2004. Table 2 shows the projected size of B2B e-commerce by region for the years 20002004. Figure 4. Projected B2B E-Commerce by Region, 2000-2004 ($billions)

This image is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5 Box 1. Benefits of B2B E-Commerce in Developing Markets The impact of B2B markets on the economy of developing countries is evident in the following: Transaction costs. There are three cost areas that are significantly reduced through the conduct of B2B e-commerce. First is the reduction of search costs, as buyers need not go through multiple intermediaries to search for information about suppliers, products and prices as in a traditional supply chain. In terms of effort, time and money spent, the Internet is a more efficient information channel than its traditional counterpart. In B2B markets, buyers and sellers are gathered together into a single online trading community, reducing search costs even further. Second is the reduction in the costs of processing transactions (e.g. invoices, purchase orders and payment schemes), as B2B allows for the automation of transaction processes and therefore, the quick implementation of the same compared to other channels (such as the telephone and fax). Efficiency in trading processes and transactions is also enhanced through the B2B e-markets ability to process sales through online auctions. Third, online processing improves inventory management and logistics. Disintermediation. Through B2B e-markets, suppliers are able to interact and transact directly with buyers, thereby eliminating intermediaries and distributors. However, new forms of intermediaries are emerging. For instance, e-markets

themselves can be considered as intermediaries because they come between suppliers and customers in the supply chain. Transparency in pricing.Among the more evident benefits of e-markets is the increase in price transparency. The gathering of a large number of buyers and sellers in a single e-market reveals market price information and transaction processing to participants. The Internet allows for the publication of information on a single purchase or transaction, making the information readily accessible and available to all members of the e-market. Increased price transparency has the effect of pulling down price differentials in the market. In this context, buyers are provided much more time to compare prices and make better buying decisions. Moreover, B2B e-markets expand borders for dynamic and negotiated pricing wherein multiple buyers and sellers collectively participate in price-setting and two-way auctions. In such environments, prices can be set through automatic matching of bids and offers. In the e-marketplace, the requirements of both buyers and sellers are thus aggregated to reach competitive prices, which are lower than those resulting from individual actions. Economies of scale and network effects. The rapid growth of B2B e-markets creates traditional supply-side cost-based economies of scale. Furthermore, the bringing together of a significant number of buyers and sellers provides the demand-side economies of scale or network effects. Each additional incremental participant in the e-market creates value for all participants in the demand side. More participants form a critical mass, which is key in attracting more users to an e-market. What is B2C e-commerce? Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network.12 It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce. Its origins can be traced to online retailing (or e-tailing).13 Thus, the more common B2C business models are the online retailing companies such as Amazon.com, Drugstore.com, Beyond.com, Barnes and Noble and ToysRus. Other B2C examples involving information goods are E-Trade and Travelocity.

The more common applications of this type of e-commerce are in the areas of purchasing products and information, and personal finance management, which pertains to the management of personal investments and finances with the use of online banking tools (e.g., Quicken).14 eMarketer estimates that worldwide B2C e-commerce revenues will increase from US$59.7 billion in 2000 to US$428.1 billion by 2004. Online retailing transactions make up a significant share of this market. eMarketer also estimates that in the Asia-Pacific region, B2C revenues, while registering a modest figure compared to B2B, nonetheless went up to $8.2 billion by the end of 2001, with that figure doubling at the end of 2002-at total worldwide B2C sales below 10%. B2C e-commerce reduces transactions costs (particularly search costs) by increasing consumer access to information and allowing consumers to find the most competitive price for a product or service. B2C e-commerce also reduces market entry barriers since the cost of putting up and maintaining a Web site is much cheaper than installing a brick-and-mortar structure for a firm. In the case of information goods, B2C e-commerce is even more attractive because it saves firms from factoring in the additional cost of a physical distribution network. Moreover, for countries with a growing and robust Internet population, delivering information goods becomes increasingly feasible. What is B2G e-commerce? Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective.15 Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement process (and reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of the B2G e-commerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped. What is C2C e-commerce? Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or consumers.

This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers.16 It perhaps has the greatest potential for developing new markets. This type of e-commerce comes in at least three forms:

auctions facilitated at a portal, such as eBay, which allows online real-time bidding on items being sold in the Web; peer-to-peer systems, such as the Napster model (a protocol for sharing files between users used by chat forums similar to IRC) and other file exchange and later money exchange models; and classified ads at portal sites such as Excite Classifieds and eWanted (an interactive, online marketplace where buyers and sellers can negotiate and which features Buyer Leads & Want Ads).

Consumer-to-business (C2B) transactions involve reverse auctions, which empower the consumer to drive transactions. A concrete example of this when competing airlines gives a traveler best travel and ticket offers in response to the travelers post that she wants to fly from New York to San Francisco. There is little information on the relative size of global C2C e-commerce. However, C2C figures of popular C2C sites such as eBay and Napster indicate that this market is quite large. These sites produce millions of dollars in sales every day. What is m-commerce? M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce. As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable, some believe that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the method of choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet users. Industries affected by m-commerce include:

Financial services, including mobile banking (when customers use their handheld devices to access their accounts and pay their bills), as well as brokerage services (in which stock quotes can be displayed and trading conducted from the same handheld device); Telecommunications, in which service changes, bill payment and account reviews can all be conducted from the same handheld device; Service/retail, as consumers are given the ability to place and pay for orders on-the-fly; and Information services, which include the delivery of entertainment, financial news, sports figures and traffic updates to a single mobile device.17

Forrester Research predicts US$3.4 billion sales closed using PDA and cell phones by 2005 (See Table 3). Figure 5. Table 3. Forresters M-Commerce Sales Predictions, 2001-2005

This image is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5 [edit] What forces are fueling e-commerce? There are at least three major forces fueling e-commerce: economic forces, marketing and customer interaction forces, and technology, particularly multimedia convergence.18 Economic forces.One of the most evident benefits of e-commerce is economic efficiency resulting from the reduction in communications costs, low-cost technological infrastructure, speedier and more economic electronic transactions

with suppliers, lower global information sharing and advertising costs, and cheaper customer service alternatives. Economic integration is either external or internal. External integration refers to the electronic networking of corporations, suppliers, customers/clients, and independent contractors into one community communicating in a virtual environment (with the Internet as medium). Internal integration, on the other hand, is the networking of the various departments within a corporation, and of business operations and processes. This allows critical business information to be stored in a digital form that can be retrieved instantly and transmitted electronically. Internal integration is best exemplified by corporate intranets. Among the companies with efficient corporate intranets are Procter and Gamble, IBM, Nestle and Intel. Box 2. SESAMi.NET.: Linking Asian Markets through B2B Hubs SESAMi.NET is Asias largest B2B e-hub, a virtual exchange integrating and connecting businesses (small, medium or large) to trading partners, e-marketplaces and internal enterprise systems for the purpose of sourcing out supplies, buying and selling goods and services online in real time. The e-hub serves as the center for management of content and the processing of business transactions with support services such as financial clearance and information services. It is strategically and dynamically linked to the Global Trading Web (GTW), the worlds largest network of trading communities on the Internet. Because of this very important link, SESAMi reaches an extensive network of regional, vertical and industry-specific interoperable B2B e-markets across the globe. Market forces. Corporations are encouraged to use e-commerce in marketing and promotion to capture international markets, both big and small. The Internet is likewise used as a medium for enhanced customer service and support. It is a lot easier for companies to provide their target consumers with more detailed product and service information using the Internet. Box 3. Brazils Submarino19: Improving Customer Service through the Internet Brazils Submarino is a classic example of successful use of the Internet for improved customer service and support. From being a local Sao Paulo B2C ecommerce company selling books, CDs, video cassettes, DVDs, toys, electronic and computer products in Brazil, it expanded to become the largest company of its kind in Argentina, Mexico, Spain and Portugal. Close to a third of the 1.4 million

Internet users in Brazil have made purchases through this site. To enhance customer service, Submarino has diversified into offering logistical and technological infrastructure to other retailers, which includes experience and expertise in credit analysis, tracking orders and product comparison systems. Technology forces. The development of ICT is a key factor in the growth of ecommerce. For instance, technological advances in digitizing content, compression and the promotion of open systems technology have paved the way for the convergence of communication services into one single platform. This in turn has made communication more efficient, faster, easier, and more economical as the need to set up separate networks for telephone services, television broadcast, cable television, and Internet access is eliminated. From the standpoint of firms/businesses and consumers, having only one information provider means lower communications costs.20 Moreover, the principle of universal access can be made more achievable with convergence. At present the high costs of installing landlines in sparsely populated rural areas is a disincentive to telecommunications companies to install telephones in these areas. Installing landlines in rural areas can become more attractive to the private sector if revenues from these landlines are not limited to local and long distance telephone charges, but also include cable TV and Internet charges. This development will ensure affordable access to information even by those in rural areas and will spare the government the trouble and cost of installing expensive landlines.21 [edit] What are the components of a typical successful e-commerce transaction loop? E-commerce does not refer merely to a firm putting up a Web site for the purpose of selling goods to buyers over the Internet. For e-commerce to be a competitive alternative to traditional commercial transactions and for a firm to maximize the benefits of e-commerce, a number of technical as well as enabling issues have to be considered. A typical e-commerce transaction loop involves the following major players and corresponding requisites: The Seller should have the following components:

A corporate Web site with e-commerce capabilities (e.g., a secure transaction server); A corporate intranet so that orders are processed in an efficient manner; and

IT-literate employees to manage the information flows and maintain the ecommerce system.

Transaction partners include:

Banking institutions that offer transaction clearing services (e.g., processing credit card payments and electronic fund transfers); National and international freight companies to enable the movement of physical goods within, around and out of the country. For business-toconsumer transactions, the system must offer a means for cost-efficient transport of small packages (such that purchasing books over the Internet, for example, is not prohibitively more expensive than buying from a local store); and Authentication authority that serves as a trusted third party to ensure the integrity and security of transactions.

Consumers (in a business-to-consumer transaction) who:

Form a critical mass of the population with access to the Internet and disposable income enabling widespread use of credit cards; and Possess a mindset for purchasing goods over the Internet rather than by physically inspecting items.

Firms/Businesses (in a business-to-business transaction) that together form a critical mass of companies (especially within supply chains) with Internet access and the capability to place and take orders over the Internet. Government, to establish:

A legal framework governing e-commerce transactions (including electronic documents, signatures, and the like); and Legal institutions that would enforce the legal framework (i.e., laws and regulations) and protect consumers and businesses from fraud, among others.

And finally, the Internet, the successful use of which depends on the following:

A robust and reliable Internet infrastructure; and A pricing structure that doesnt penalize consumers for spending time on and buying goods over the Internet (e.g., a flat monthly charge for both ISP access and local phone calls).

For e-commerce to grow, the above requisites and factors have to be in place. The least developed factor is an impediment to the increased uptake of e-commerce as a whole. For instance, a country with an excellent Internet infrastructure will not have high e-commerce figures if banks do not offer support and fulfillment services to e-commerce transactions. In countries that have significant e-commerce figures, a positive feedback loop reinforces each of these factors.22 [edit] How is the Internet relevant to e-commerce? The Internet allows people from all over the world to get connected inexpensively and reliably. As a technical infrastructure, it is a global collection of networks, connected to share information using a common set of protocols.23 Also, as a vast network of people and information,24 the Internet is an enabler for e-commerce as it allows businesses to showcase and sell their products and services online and gives potential customers, prospects, and business partners access to information about these businesses and their products and services that would lead to purchase. Before the Internet was utilized for commercial purposes, companies used private networks-such as the EDI or Electronic Data Interchange-to transact business with each other. That was the early form of e-commerce. However, installing and maintaining private networks was very expensive. With the Internet, e-commerce spread rapidly because of the lower costs involved and because the Internet is based on open standards.25 [edit] How important is an intranet for a business engaging in e-commerce? An intranet aids in the management of internal corporate information that may be interconnected with a companys e-commerce transactions (or transactions conducted outside the intranet). Inasmuch as the intranet allows for the instantaneous flow of internal information, vital information is simultaneously processed and matched with data flowing from external e-commerce transactions, allowing for the efficient and effective integration of the corporations organizational processes. In this context, corporate functions, decisions and processes involving e-commerce activities are more coherent and organized. The proliferation of intranets has caused a shift from a hierarchical command-andcontrol organization to an information-based organization. This shift has implications for managerial responsibilities, communication and information flows, and workgroup structures.

[edit] Aside from reducing the cost of doing business, what are the advantages of e-commerce for businesses? E-commerce serves as an equalizer. It enables start-up and small- and medium-sized enterprises to reach the global market. Box 4. Leveling the Playing Field through E-commerce: The Case of Amazon.com Amazon.com is a virtual bookstore. It does not have a single square foot of bricks and mortar retail floor space. Nonetheless, Amazon.com is posting an annual sales rate of approximately $1.2 billion, equal to about 235 Barnes & Noble (B&N) superstores. Due to the efficiencies of selling over the Web, Amazon has spent only $56 million on fixed assets, while B&N has spent about $118 million for 235 superstores. (To be fair, Amazon has yet to turn a profit, but this does not obviate the point that in many industries doing business through e-commerce is cheaper than conducting business in a traditional brick-and-mortar company.) However, this does not discount the point that without a good e-business strategy, e-commerce may in some cases discriminate against SMEs because it reveals proprietary pricing information. A sound e-business plan does not totally disregard old economy values. The dot-com bust is proof of this. Box 5. Lessons from the Dot Com Frenzy According to Webmergers.com statistics, about 862 dot-com companies have failed since the height of the dot-com bust in January 2000. Majority of these were e-commerce and content companies. The shutdown of these companies was followed by the folding up of Internet-content providers, infrastructure companies, Internet service providers, and other providers of dial-up and broadband Internetaccess services.26 From the perspective of the investment banks, the dot-com frenzy can be likened to a gamble where the big money players were the venture capitalists and those laying their bets on the table were the small investors. The bust was primarily caused by the players unfamiliarity with the sector, coupled with failure to cope with the speed of the Internet revolution and the amount of capital in circulation.27 Internet entrepreneurs set the prices of their goods and services at very low levels to gain market share and attract venture capitalists to infuse funding. The crash began when investors started demanding hard earnings for sky-high valuations.

The Internet companies also spent too much on overhead before even gaining a market share.28 E-commerce makes mass customization possible. E-commerce applications in this area include easy-to-use ordering systems that allow customers to choose and order products according to their personal and unique specifications. For instance, a car manufacturing company with an e-commerce strategy allowing for online orders can have new cars built within a few days (instead of the several weeks it currently takes to build a new vehicle) based on customers specifications. This can work more effectively if a companys manufacturing process is advanced and integrated into the ordering system. E-commerce allows network production. This refers to the parceling out of the production process to contractors who are geographically dispersed but who are connected to each other via computer networks. The benefits of network production include: reduction in costs, more strategic target marketing, and the facilitation of selling add-on products, services, and new systems when they are needed. With network production, a company can assign tasks within its non-core competencies to factories all over the world that specialize in such tasks (e.g., the assembly of specific components). [edit] How is e-commerce helpful to the consumer? In C2B transactions, customers/consumers are given more influence over what and how products are made and how services are delivered, thereby broadening consumer choices. E-commerce allows for a faster and more open process, with customers having greater control. E-commerce makes information on products and the market as a whole readily available and accessible, and increases price transparency, which enable customers to make more appropriate purchasing decisions. [edit] How are business relationships transformed through e-commerce? E-commerce transforms old economy relationships (vertical/linear relationships) to new economy relationships characterized by end-to-end relationship management solutions (integrated or extended relationships). [edit] How does e-commerce link customers, workers, suppliers, distributors and competitors?

E-commerce facilitates organization networks, wherein small firms depend on partner firms for supplies and product distribution to address customer demands more effectively. To manage the chain of networks linking customers, workers, suppliers, distributors, and even competitors, an integrated or extended supply chain management solution is needed. Supply chain management (SCM) is defined as the supervision of materials, information, and finances as they move from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. It involves the coordination and integration of these flows both within and among companies. The goal of any effective supply chain management system is timely provision of goods or services to the next link in the chain (and ultimately, the reduction of inventory within each link).29 There are three main flows in SCM, namely:

The product flow, which includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a customer, as well as any customer returns or service needs; The information flow, which involves the transmission of orders and the update of the status of delivery; and The finances flow, which consists of credit terms, payment schedules, and consignment and title ownership arrangements.

Some SCM applications are based on open data models that support the sharing of data both inside and outside the enterprise, called the extended enterprise, and includes key suppliers, manufacturers, and end customers of a specific company. Shared data resides in diverse database systems, or data warehouses, at several different sites and companies. Sharing this data upstream (with a companys suppliers) and downstream (with a companys clients) allows SCM applications to improve the time-to-market of products and reduce costs. It also allows all parties in the supply chain to better manage current resources and plan for future needs.30 Figure 6. Old Economy Relationships vs. New Economy Relationships

This image is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons Attribution License 2.5 [edit] What is Google AdSense and how does it work for e-commerce Google AdSense is a service offered by Google that allows website publishers to advertise on Google. It is Google's number 1 source of revenue. AdSense is used to advertise when users type in key words in Google's search engine. Ads are placed on the right hand side of the screen. The ads are text based and allow for links to the website on the advertisement as well. The AdWords program determines the pricing for key words. AdWords is based on a Vickrey auction system. It is a sealed-bid auction, users submit bids not knowing what other users bid. The highest bidder wins but the second place person's bid is paid. There are pros and cons to this type of auction. The winners the vast majority of the time are the ones who bid the highest. A downside to this type of system is that there is no price discovery, which is a market failure known as imperfect information. AdSense users generate revenue by having users click on their links and buy having them buy what is offered on their website. AdSense has been a huge success for Google and the users of the system.

Inventory From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Inventory means a list compiled for some formal purpose, such as the details of an estate going to probate, or the contents of a house let furnished. This remains the prime meaning in British English.[1] In the USA and Canada the term has developed from a list of goods and materials to the goods and material available in stock by a business; and this has become the primary meaning of the term in North American English, equivalent to the term "stock" in British English. In accounting, inventory or stock is considered an asset. Contents [hide]

1 Inventory management 2 Business inventory o 2.1 The reasons for keeping stock o 2.2 Special terms used in dealing with inventory o 2.3 Typology o 2.4 Inventory examples 2.4.1 Manufacturing 3 Principle of inventory proportionality o 3.1 Purpose o 3.2 Applications o 3.3 Roots 4 High-level inventory management 5 Accounting for inventory o 5.1 Financial accounting o 5.2 Role of inventory accounting o 5.3 FIFO vs. LIFO accounting o 5.4 Standard cost accounting o 5.5 Theory of constraints cost accounting 6 National accounts 7 Distressed inventory 8 Inventory credit 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading

[edit] Inventory management

Inventory management is primarily about specifying the shape and percentage of stocked goods. It is required at different locations within a facility or within many locations of a supply network to precede the regular and planned course of production and stock of materials. The scope of inventory management concerns the fine lines between replenishment lead time, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory valuation, inventory visibility, future inventory price forecasting, physical inventory, available physical space for inventory, quality management, replenishment, returns and defective goods, and demand forecasting. Balancing these competing requirements leads to optimal inventory levels, which is an ongoing process as the business needs shift and react to the wider environment. Inventory management involves a retailer seeking to acquire and maintain a proper merchandise assortment while ordering, shipping, handling, and related costs are kept in check. It also involves systems and processes that identify inventory requirements, set targets, provide replenishment techniques, report actual and projected inventory status and handle all functions related to the tracking and management of material. This would include the monitoring of material moved into and out of stockroom locations and the reconciling of the inventory balances. It also may include ABC analysis, lot tracking, cycle counting support, etc. Management of the inventories, with the primary objective of determining/controlling stock levels within the physical distribution system, functions to balance the need for product availability against the need for minimizing stock holding and handling costs. [edit] Business inventory [edit] The reasons for keeping stock There are three basic reasons for keeping an inventory: 1. Time - The time lags present in the supply chain, from supplier to user at every stage, requires that you maintain certain amounts of inventory to use in this lead time. However, in practice, inventory is to be maintained for consumption during 'variations in lead time'. Lead time itself can be addressed by ordering that many days in advance. 2. Uncertainty - Inventories are maintained as buffers to meet uncertainties in demand, supply and movements of goods. 3. Economies of scale - Ideal condition of "one unit at a time at a place where a user needs it, when he needs it" principle tends to incur lots of costs in terms

of logistics. So bulk buying, movement and storing brings in economies of scale, thus inventory. All these stock reasons can apply to any owner or product [edit] Special terms used in dealing with inventory

Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) is a unique combination of all the components that are assembled into the purchasable item. Therefore, any change in the packaging or product is a new SKU. This level of detailed specification assists in managing inventory. Stockout means running out of the inventory of an SKU.[2] "New old stock" (sometimes abbreviated NOS) is a term used in business to refer to merchandise being offered for sale that was manufactured long ago but that has never been used. Such merchandise may not be produced anymore, and the new old stock may represent the only market source of a particular item at the present time.

[edit] Typology 1. Buffer/safety stock 2. Cycle stock (Used in batch processes, it is the available inventory, excluding buffer stock) 3. De-coupling (Buffer stock held between the machines in a single process which serves as a buffer for the next one allowing smooth flow of work instead of waiting the previous or next machine in the same process) 4. Anticipation stock (Building up extra stock for periods of increased demand - e.g. ice cream for summer) 5. Pipeline stock (Goods still in transit or in the process of distribution - have left the factory but not arrived at the customer yet) [edit] Inventory examples While accountants often discuss inventory in terms of goods for sale, organizations - manufacturers, service-providers and not-for-profits - also have inventories (fixtures, furniture, supplies, etc.) that they do not intend to sell. Manufacturers', distributors', and wholesalers' inventory tends to cluster in warehouses. Retailers' inventory may exist in a warehouse or in a shop or store accessible to customers. Inventories not intended for sale to customers or to clients may be held in any premises an organization uses. Stock ties up cash and, if uncontrolled, it will be

impossible to know the actual level of stocks and therefore impossible to control them. While the reasons for holding stock were covered earlier, most manufacturing organizations usually divide their "goods for sale" inventory into:

Raw materials - materials and components scheduled for use in making a product. Work in process, WIP - materials and components that have begun their transformation to finished goods. Finished goods - goods ready for sale to customers. Goods for resale - returned goods that are salable.

For example: [edit] Manufacturing A canned food manufacturer's materials inventory includes the ingredients to form the foods to be canned, empty cans and their lids (or coils of steel or aluminum for constructing those components), labels, and anything else (solder, glue, etc.) that will form part of a finished can. The firm's work in process includes those materials from the time of release to the work floor until they become complete and ready for sale to wholesale or retail customers. This may be vats of prepared food, filled cans not yet labeled or sub-assemblies of food components. It may also include finished cans that are not yet packaged into cartons or pallets. Its finished good inventory consists of all the filled and labeled cans of food in its warehouse that it has manufactured and wishes to sell to food distributors (wholesalers), to grocery stores (retailers), and even perhaps to consumers through arrangements like factory stores and outlet centers. [edit] Principle of inventory proportionality [edit] Purpose Inventory proportionality is the goal of demand-driven inventory management. The primary optimal outcome is to have the same number of days' (or hours', etc.) worth of inventory on hand across all products so that the time of runout of all products would be simultaneous. In such a case, there is no "excess inventory," that is, inventory that would be left over of another product when the first product runs out. Excess inventory is sub-optimal because the money spent to obtain it could have been utilized better elsewhere, i.e. to the product that just ran out.

The secondary goal of inventory proportionality is inventory minimization. By integrating accurate demand forecasting with inventory management, replenishment inventories can be scheduled to arrive just in time to replenish the product destined to run out first, while at the same time balancing out the inventory supply of all products to make their inventories more proportional, and thereby closer to achieving the primary goal. Accurate demand forecasting also allows the desired inventory proportions to be dynamic by determining expected sales out into the future; this allows for inventory to be in proportion to expected short-term sales or consumption rather than to past averages, a much more accurate and optimal outcome. Integrating demand forecasting into inventory management in this way also allows for the prediction of the "can fit" point when inventory storage is limited on a perproduct basis. [edit] Applications The technique of inventory proportionality is most appropriate for inventories that remain unseen by the consumer, as opposed to "keep full" systems where a retail consumer would like to see full shelves of the product they are buying so as not to think they are buying something old, unwanted or stale; and differentiated from the "trigger point" systems where product is reordered when it hits a certain level; inventory proportionality is used effectively by just-in-time manufacturing processes and retail applications where the product is hidden from view. One early example of inventory proportionality used in a retail application in the United States was for motor fuel. Motor fuel (e.g. gasoline) is generally stored in underground storage tanks. The motorists do not know whether they are buying gasoline off the top or bottom of the tank, nor need they care. Additionally, these storage tanks have a maximum capacity and cannot be overfilled. Finally, the product is expensive. Inventory proportionality is used to balance the inventories of the different grades of motor fuel, each stored in dedicated tanks, in proportion to the sales of each grade. Excess inventory is not seen or valued by the consumer, so it is simply cash sunk (literally) into the ground. Inventory proportionality minimizes the amount of excess inventory carried in underground storage tanks. This application for motor fuel was first developed and implemented by Petrolsoft Corporation in 1990 for Chevron Products Company. Most major oil companies use such systems today.[3] [edit] Roots

The use of inventory proportionality in the United States is thought to have been inspired by Japanese just-in-time parts inventory management made famous by Toyota Motors in the 1980s.[3] [edit] High-level inventory management It seems that around 1880[4] there was a change in manufacturing practice from companies with relatively homogeneous lines of products to horizontally integrated companies with unprecedented diversity in processes and products. Those companies (especially in metalworking) attempted to achieve success through economies of scope - the gains of jointly producing two or more products in one facility. The managers now needed information on the effect of product-mix decisions on overall profits and therefore needed accurate product-cost information. A variety of attempts to achieve this were unsuccessful due to the huge overhead of the information processing of the time. However, the burgeoning need for financial reporting after 1900 created unavoidable pressure for financial accounting of stock and the management need to cost manage products became overshadowed. In particular, it was the need for audited accounts that sealed the fate of managerial cost accounting. The dominance of financial reporting accounting over management accounting remains to this day with few exceptions, and the financial reporting definitions of 'cost' have distorted effective management 'cost' accounting since that time. This is particularly true of inventory. Hence, high-level financial inventory has these two basic formulas, which relate to the accounting period: 1. Cost of Beginning Inventory at the start of the period + inventory purchases within the period + cost of production within the period = cost of goods available 2. Cost of goods available cost of ending inventory at the end of the period = cost of goods sold The benefit of these formulae is that the first absorbs all overheads of production and raw material costs into a value of inventory for reporting. The second formula then creates the new start point for the next period and gives a figure to be subtracted from the sales price to determine some form of sales-margin figure. Manufacturing management is more interested in inventory turnover ratio or average days to sell inventory since it tells them something about relative inventory levels.

Inventory turnover ratio (also known as inventory turns) = cost of goods sold / Average Inventory = Cost of Goods Sold / ((Beginning Inventory + Ending Inventory) / 2) and its inverse Average Days to Sell Inventory = Number of Days a Year / Inventory Turnover Ratio = 365 days a year / Inventory Turnover Ratio This ratio estimates how many times the inventory turns over a year. This number tells how much cash/goods are tied up waiting for the process and is a critical measure of process reliability and effectiveness. So a factory with two inventory turns has six months stock on hand, which is generally not a good figure (depending upon the industry), whereas a factory that moves from six turns to twelve turns has probably improved effectiveness by 100%. This improvement will have some negative results in the financial reporting, since the 'value' now stored in the factory as inventory is reduced. While these accounting measures of inventory are very useful because of their simplicity, they are also fraught with the danger of their own assumptions. There are, in fact, so many things that can vary hidden under this appearance of simplicity that a variety of 'adjusting' assumptions may be used. These include:

Specific Identification Weighted Average Cost Moving-Average Cost FIFO and LIFO.

Inventory Turn is a financial accounting tool for evaluating inventory and it is not necessarily a management tool. Inventory management should be forward looking. The methodology applied is based on historical cost of goods sold. The ratio may not be able to reflect the usability of future production demand, as well as customer demand. Business models, including Just in Time (JIT) Inventory, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Customer Managed Inventory (CMI), attempt to minimize on-hand inventory and increase inventory turns. VMI and CMI have gained considerable attention due to the success of third-party vendors who offer added expertise and knowledge that organizations may not possess. [edit] Accounting for inventory

Accountancy Key concepts Accountant Accounting period Bookkeeping Cash and accrual basis Cash flow forecasting Chart of accounts Journal Special journals Constant item purchasing power accounting Cost of goods sold Credit terms Debits and credits Double-entry system Mark-tomarket accounting FIFO and LIFO GAAP / IFRS General ledger Goodwill Historical cost Matching principle Revenue recognition Trial balance Fields of accounting Cost Financial Forensic Management Tax (U.S.) Financial statements Balance sheet Cash flow statement Statement of retained earnings Income statement Notes Management discussion and analysis XBRL Auditing Auditor's report Financial audit GAAS / ISA Internal audit SarbanesOxley Act Fund

Accounting qualifications CA CPA CCA CGA CMA CAT CIIA IIA CTP This box:

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Each country has its own rules about accounting for inventory that fit with their financial-reporting rules. For example, organizations in the U.S. define inventory to suit their needs within US Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP), the rules defined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) (and others) and enforced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other federal and state agencies. Other countries often have similar arrangements but with their own GAAP and national agencies instead. It is intentional that financial accounting uses standards that allow the public to compare firms' performance, cost accounting functions internally to an organization and potentially with much greater flexibility. A discussion of inventory from standard and Theory of Constraints-based (throughput) cost accounting perspective follows some examples and a discussion of inventory from a financial accounting perspective. The internal costing/valuation of inventory can be complex. Whereas in the past most enterprises ran simple, one-process factories, such enterprises are quite probably in the minority in the 21st century. Where 'one process' factories exist, there is a market for the goods created, which establishes an independent market value for the good. Today, with multistage-process companies, there is much inventory that would once have been finished goods which is now held as 'work in process' (WIP). This needs to be valued in the accounts, but the valuation is a management decision since there is no market for the partially finished product.

This somewhat arbitrary 'valuation' of WIP combined with the allocation of overheads to it has led to some unintended and undesirable results. [edit] Financial accounting An organization's inventory can appear a mixed blessing, since it counts as an asset on the balance sheet, but it also ties up money that could serve for other purposes and requires additional expense for its protection. Inventory may also cause significant tax expenses, depending on particular countries' laws regarding depreciation of inventory, as in Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner. Inventory appears as a current asset on an organization's balance sheet because the organization can, in principle, turn it into cash by selling it. Some organizations hold larger inventories than their operations require in order to inflate their apparent asset value and their perceived profitability. In addition to the money tied up by acquiring inventory, inventory also brings associated costs for warehouse space, for utilities, and for insurance to cover staff to handle and protect it from fire and other disasters, obsolescence, shrinkage (theft and errors), and others. Such holding costs can mount up: between a third and a half of its acquisition value per year. Businesses that stock too little inventory cannot take advantage of large orders from customers if they cannot deliver. The conflicting objectives of cost control and customer service often pit an organization's financial and operating managers against its sales and marketing departments. Salespeople, in particular, often receive sales-commission payments, so unavailable goods may reduce their potential personal income. This conflict can be minimised by reducing production time to being near or less than customers' expected delivery time. This effort, known as "Lean production" will significantly reduce working capital tied up in inventory and reduce manufacturing costs (See the Toyota Production System). [edit] Role of inventory accounting By helping the organization to make better decisions, the accountants can help the public sector to change in a very positive way that delivers increased value for the taxpayers investment. It can also help to incentivise progress and to ensure that reforms are sustainable and effective in the long term, by ensuring that success is appropriately recognized in both the formal and informal reward systems of the organization.

To say that they have a key role to play is an understatement. Finance is connected to most, if not all, of the key business processes within the organization. It should be steering the stewardship and accountability systems that ensure that the organization is conducting its business in an appropriate, ethical manner. It is critical that these foundations are firmly laid. So often they are the litmus test by which public confidence in the institution is either won or lost. Finance should also be providing the information, analysis and advice to enable the organizations service managers to operate effectively. This goes beyond the traditional preoccupation with budgets how much have we spent so far, how much do we have left to spend? It is about helping the organization to better understand its own performance. That means making the connections and understanding the relationships between given inputs the resources brought to bear and the outputs and outcomes that they achieve. It is also about understanding and actively managing risks within the organization and its activities. [edit] FIFO vs. LIFO accounting Main article: FIFO and LIFO accounting When a merchant buys goods from inventory, the value of the inventory account is reduced by the cost of goods sold (COGS). This is simple where the CoG has not varied across those held in stock; but where it has, then an agreed method must be derived to evaluate it. For commodity items that one cannot track individually, accountants must choose a method that fits the nature of the sale. Two popular methods that normally exist are: FIFO and LIFO accounting (first in - first out, last in - first out). FIFO regards the first unit that arrived in inventory as the first one sold. LIFO considers the last unit arriving in inventory as the first one sold. Which method an accountant selects can have a significant effect on net income and book value and, in turn, on taxation. Using LIFO accounting for inventory, a company generally reports lower net income and lower book value, due to the effects of inflation. This generally results in lower taxation. Due to LIFO's potential to skew inventory value, UK GAAP and IAS have effectively banned LIFO inventory accounting. [edit] Standard cost accounting Standard cost accounting uses ratios called efficiencies that compare the labour and materials actually used to produce a good with those that the same goods would have required under "standard" conditions. As long as actual and standard

conditions are similar, few problems arise. Unfortunately, standard cost accounting methods developed about 100 years ago, when labor comprised the most important cost in manufactured goods. Standard methods continue to emphasize labor efficiency even though that resource now constitutes a (very) small part of cost in most cases. Standard cost accounting can hurt managers, workers, and firms in several ways. For example, a policy decision to increase inventory can harm a manufacturing manager's performance evaluation. Increasing inventory requires increased production, which means that processes must operate at higher rates. When (not if) something goes wrong, the process takes longer and uses more than the standard labor time. The manager appears responsible for the excess, even though s/he has no control over the production requirement or the problem. In adverse economic times, firms use the same efficiencies to downsize, rightsize, or otherwise reduce their labor force. Workers laid off under those circumstances have even less control over excess inventory and cost efficiencies than their managers. Many financial and cost accountants have agreed for many years on the desirability of replacing standard cost accounting. They have not, however, found a successor. [edit] Theory of constraints cost accounting Eliyahu M. Goldratt developed the Theory of Constraints in part to address the cost-accounting problems in what he calls the "cost world." He offers a substitute, called throughput accounting, that uses throughput (money for goods sold to customers) in place of output (goods produced that may sell or may boost inventory) and considers labor as a fixed rather than as a variable cost. He defines inventory simply as everything the organization owns that it plans to sell, including buildings, machinery, and many other things in addition to the categories listed here. Throughput accounting recognizes only one class of variable costs: the truly variable costs, like materials and components, which vary directly with the quantity produced Finished goods inventories remain balance-sheet assets, but labor-efficiency ratios no longer evaluate managers and workers. Instead of an incentive to reduce labor cost, throughput accounting focuses attention on the relationships between throughput (revenue or income) on one hand and controllable operating expenses and changes in inventory on the other. Those relationships direct attention to the

constraints or bottlenecks that prevent the system from producing more throughput, rather than to people - who have little or no control over their situations. [edit] National accounts Inventories also play an important role in national accounts and the analysis of the business cycle. Some short-term macroeconomic fluctuations are attributed to the inventory cycle. [edit] Distressed inventory Also known as distressed or expired stock, distressed inventory is inventory whose potential to be sold at a normal cost has passed or will soon pass. In certain industries it could also mean that the stock is or will soon be impossible to sell. Examples of distressed inventory include products that have reached their expiry date, or have reached a date in advance of expiry at which the planned market will no longer purchase them (e.g. 3 months left to expiry), clothing that is defective or out of fashion, music that is no longer popular and old newspapers or magazines. It also includes computer or consumer-electronic equipment that is obsolete or discontinued and whose manufacturer is unable to support it. One current example of distressed inventory is the VHS format.[5] In 2001, Cisco wrote off inventory worth US $2.25 billion due to duplicate orders.[6] This is one of the biggest inventory write-offs in business history. [edit] Inventory credit Inventory credit refers to the use of stock, or inventory, as collateral to raise finance. Where banks may be reluctant to accept traditional collateral, for example in developing countries where land title may be lacking, inventory credit is a potentially important way of overcoming financing constraints. This is not a new concept; archaeological evidence suggests that it was practiced in Ancient Rome. Obtaining finance against stocks of a wide range of products held in a bonded warehouse is common in much of the world. It is, for example, used with Parmesan cheese in Italy.[7] Inventory credit on the basis of stored agricultural produce is widely used in Latin American countries and in some Asian countries.[8] A precondition for such credit is that banks must be confident that the stored product will be available if they need to call on the collateral; this implies the existence of a reliable network of certified warehouses. Banks also face problems in valuing the inventory. The possibility of sudden falls in commodity prices means that they are

usually reluctant to lend more than about 60% of the value of the inventory at the time of the loan

Inventory management software From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article's references may not meet Wikipedia's guidelines for reliable sources. Please help by checking whether the references meet the criteria for reliable sources. (August 2010) Inventory management software is a computer-based system for tracking product levels, orders, sales and deliveries.[1] It can also be used in the manufacturing industry to create a work order, bill of materials and other production-related documents. Companies use inventory management software to avoid product overstock and outages. It is a tool for organizing inventory data that before was generally stored in hard-copy form or in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Contents [hide]

1 Components o 1.1 Asset tracking o 1.2 Barcoding o 1.3 Order management o 1.4 Service management 2 History 3 Purpose 4 Manufacturing uses/applications 5 Advantages o 5.1 Cost savings o 5.2 Warehouse organization o 5.3 Updated data

5.4 Time savings 6 Disadvantages o 6.1 Expense o 6.2 Complexity 7 See also 8 References
o

[edit] Components Inventory management software is made up of several components, all working together to create a cohesive inventory and stocks for many organisations control systems. These components include (in alphabetical order): [edit] Asset tracking When a product is in a warehouse or store, it can be tracked via its bar code and/or other tracking criteria, such as serial number, lot number or revision number.[2] [edit] Barcoding Barcodes are the means whereby data on products and orders is inputted into inventory management software. A barcode reader is required to read barcodes and look up information on the products they represent.[3] [edit] Order management Once products reach a certain low level, a companys inventory management system can be programmed to tell managers to reorder that product. This helps companies avoid running out of products or tying up too much capital in inventory.[4] [edit] Service management Companies that are primarily service-oriented rather than product-oriented can use inventory management software to track the cost of the materials they use to provide services, such as cleaning supplies. This way, they can attach prices to their services that reflect the total cost of performing them.[5] [edit] History

The Universal Product Code (UPC) was adopted by the grocery industry in April 1973 as the standard barcode for all grocers, though it was not introduced at retailing locations until 1974.[6] This helped drive down costs for inventory management because retailers in the United States and Canada didnt have to purchase multiple barcode readers to scan competing barcodes. There was now one primary barcode for grocers and other retailers to buy one type of reader for. In the early 1980s, PCs debuted and started becoming popular. [7] This further pushed down the cost of barcodes and readers. It also allowed the first versions of inventory management software to be put into place. One of the biggest hurdles in selling readers and barcodes to retailers was the fact that they didnt have a place to store the information they scanned. As computers became more common and affordable, this hurdle was overcome. Once barcodes and inventory management programs started spreading through grocery stores, inventory management by hand became less practical. Writing inventory data by hand on paper was replaced by scanning products and inputting information into a computer by hand. Starting in the early 2000s, inventory management software progressed to the point where businesspeople no longer needed to input data by hand but could instantly update their database with barcode readers.[8] [edit] Purpose Companies often use inventory management software to reduce their carrying costs.[9] The software is used to track products and parts as they are transported from a vendor to a warehouse, between warehouses, and finally to a retail location or directly to a customer. Inventory management software is used for a variety of purposes, including:

Maintaining a balance between too much and too little inventory. Tracking inventory as it is transported between locations. Receiving items into a warehouse or other location. Picking, packing and shipping items from a warehouse. Keeping track of product sales and inventory levels. Cutting down on product obsolescence and spoilage.

[edit] Manufacturing uses/applications Manufacturers mainly use inventory management software to create work orders and bills of materials. This facilitates the manufacturing process by helping

manufacturers efficiently assemble the tools and parts they need to perform specific tasks. For more-complex manufacturing jobs, manufacturers can create multilevel work orders and bills of materials, which have a timeline of processes that need to happen in the proper order to build a final product. Other work orders that can be created using inventory management software include reverse work orders and auto work orders. Manufacturers also use inventory management software for tracking assets, receiving new inventory and additional tasks businesses in other industries use it for. [edit] Advantages There are several advantages to using inventory management software in a business setting. [edit] Cost savings In many cases, a companys inventory represents one of its largest investments, along with its workforce and locations.[10] Inventory management software helps companies cut expenses by minimizing the amount of unnecessary parts and products in storage. It also helps companies keep lost sales to a minimum by having enough stock on hand to meet demand.[11] [edit] Warehouse organization Inventory management software can help distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers optimize their warehouses. If certain products are often sold together or are more popular than others, those products can be grouped together or placed near the delivery area to speed up the process of picking, packing and shipping to customers. [edit] Updated data Up-to-date data on inventory conditions and levels is also an advantage inventory management software gives companies. Company executives can usually access the software through a mobile device, laptop or PC to check current inventory numbers. [edit] Time savings With the aid of restricted user rights, company managers can allow many employees to assist in inventory management. They can grant employees enough

information access to receive products, make orders, transfer products and do other tasks without compromising company security. This can speed up the inventorymanagement process and save managers time. [edit] Disadvantages The main disadvantages of inventory management software are its cost and complexity. [edit] Expense Cost can be a major disadvantage of inventory management software.[12] Many large companies use inventory management software, but small businesses can find it difficult to afford it. Barcode readers and other hardware can compound this problem by adding even more cost to companies. The advantage of allowing multiple employees to perform inventory-management tasks is tempered by the cost of additional barcode readers. [edit] Complexity Inventory management software is not necessarily simple or easy to learn. A companys management team must dedicate a certain amount of time to learning a new system, including its software and hardware, in order to put it to use. Most inventory management software includes training manuals and other information available to users. Despite its apparent complexity, inventory management software offers a degree of stability to companies. For example, if an IT employee in charge of the system leaves the company, a replacement can be comparatively inexpensive to train compared to if the company used multiple programs to store inventory data

Certified in Production and Inventory Management From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Contents [hide]

1 CPIM 2 CFPIM 3 External links 4 References

[edit] CPIM The APICS CPIM or Certified in Production and Inventory Management designation is a professional certification offered by APICS The Association for Operations Management. The program was founded in 1973. APICS CPIM designees learn essential terminology, concepts, and strategies related to demand management, procurement and supplier planning, material requirements planning, capacity requirements planning, sales and operations planning, master scheduling, performance measurements, supplier relationships, quality control, and continuous improvement. To earn the APICS CPIM designation, operations management professionals must successfully complete five exams: Basics of Supply Chain Management, Master Planning of Resources, Detailed Scheduling and Planning, Execution and Control of Operations, Strategic Management of Resources The APICS CPIM designation must be maintained every five years through the APICS Certification Maintenance program.[1] [edit] CFPIM Persons who have qualified for the CPIM designation are eligible to take their professional credentials to the next level with the Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Management (CFPIM) program[2]. The CFPIM designation is awarded to an elite group of professionals who share their knowledge with others through presenting, publishing, teaching, and participating in other professional development activities IT asset management From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) IT asset management (ITAM) is the set of business practices that join financial, contractual and inventory functions to support life cycle management and strategic decision making for the IT environment. Assets include all elements of software and hardware that are found in the business environment. Contents [hide]

1 Hardware asset management 2 Role of IT asset management in an organization 3 Goals of ITAM 4 Process 5 External links

[edit] Hardware asset management Hardware asset management entails the management of the physical components of computers and computer networks, from acquisition through disposal. Common business practices include request and approval process, procurement management, life cycle management, redeployment and disposal management. A key component is capturing the financial information about the hardware life cycle which aids the organization in making business decisions based on meaningful and measurable financial objectives. Software Asset Management is a similar process, focusing on software assets, including licenses, versions and installed endpoints. [edit] Role of IT asset management in an organization The IT Asset Management function is the primary point of accountability for the life-cycle management of information technology assets throughout the organization.

Included in this responsibility are development and maintenance of policies, standards, processes, systems and measurements that enable the organization to manage the IT Asset Portfolio with respect to risk, cost, control, IT Governance, compliance and business performance objectives as established by the business. IT Asset Management uses integrated software solutions that work with all departments that are involved in the procurement, deployment, management and expense reporting of IT assets. [edit] Goals of ITAM ITAM business practices have a common set of goals:

Uncover savings through process improvement and support for strategic decision making Gain control of the inventory Increase accountability to ensure compliance Enhance performance of assets and the life cycle management Improve Availability Time of the Business/Applications/Processes.

Risk reduction through standardization, proper documentation, loss detection [edit] Process ITAM business practices are process-driven and matured through iterative and focused improvements. Most successful ITAM programs are invasive to the organization, involving everyone at some level, such as end users (educating on compliance), budget managers (redeployment as a choice), IT service departments (providing information on warranties), and finance (invoice reconciliation, updates for fixed asset inventories). IT asset management generally uses automation to manage the discovery of assets, so inventory can be compared to ownership information. Full business management of IT assets requires a repository of multiple types of information about the asset, as well as integration with other systems such as supply chain, help desk, procurement and HR systems

IT asset management From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) IT asset management (ITAM) is the set of business practices that join financial, contractual and inventory functions to support life cycle management and strategic decision making for the IT environment. Assets include all elements of software and hardware that are found in the business environment. Contents [hide]

1 Hardware asset management 2 Role of IT asset management in an organization 3 Goals of ITAM 4 Process 5 External links

[edit] Hardware asset management Hardware asset management entails the management of the physical components of computers and computer networks, from acquisition through disposal. Common business practices include request and approval process, procurement management, life cycle management, redeployment and disposal management. A key component is capturing the financial information about the hardware life cycle which aids the organization in making business decisions based on meaningful and measurable financial objectives. Software Asset Management is a similar process, focusing on software assets, including licenses, versions and installed endpoints. [edit] Role of IT asset management in an organization

The IT Asset Management function is the primary point of accountability for the life-cycle management of information technology assets throughout the organization. Included in this responsibility are development and maintenance of policies, standards, processes, systems and measurements that enable the organization to manage the IT Asset Portfolio with respect to risk, cost, control, IT Governance, compliance and business performance objectives as established by the business. IT Asset Management uses integrated software solutions that work with all departments that are involved in the procurement, deployment, management and expense reporting of IT assets. [edit] Goals of ITAM ITAM business practices have a common set of goals:

Uncover savings through process improvement and support for strategic decision making Gain control of the inventory Increase accountability to ensure compliance Enhance performance of assets and the life cycle management Improve Availability Time of the Business/Applications/Processes.

Risk reduction through standardization, proper documentation, loss detection [edit] Process ITAM business practices are process-driven and matured through iterative and focused improvements. Most successful ITAM programs are invasive to the organization, involving everyone at some level, such as end users (educating on compliance), budget managers (redeployment as a choice), IT service departments (providing information on warranties), and finance (invoice reconciliation, updates for fixed asset inventories). IT asset management generally uses automation to manage the discovery of assets, so inventory can be compared to ownership information. Full business management of IT assets requires a repository of multiple types of information about the asset, as well as integration with other systems such as supply chain, help desk, procurement and HR systems

Fishbowl Inventory From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Fishbowl Inventory

Type Founded

Private 2001

Headquarters Orem, Utah Key people Products Employees Website David Williams, CEO Inventory Management Software and Solutions 78 (March 2011) www.fishbowlinventory.com

Fishbowl Inventory (aka ExpressTech Holdings) is an Orem, Utah-based software company that develops and publishes inventory management software and related solutions. Fishbowl was created in 2001 by a group of software developers. The company was originally called ExpressTech Holdings, but its name was changed to Fishbowl a few years later to reflect its focus on allowing small businesses and mid-size businesses to see how much inventory they have on hand by using electronic devices, such as desktop computers and wireless scanners.[1]

Shortly after it was created, Fishbowl focused on integrating its inventory management software with QuickBooks. It soon became one of the first third-party software developers to receive Intuit's Gold Developer status. It continues to hold that status through 2011. In 2003, Fishbowl became the #1 inventory management add-on to QuickBooks, based on sales to QuickBooks users.[2] Contents [hide]

1 History 2 Features 3 Products o 3.1 Fishbowl Inventory o 3.2 Fishbowl Mobile Warehouse o 3.3 Inventory Hardware Solutions 4 Community service 5 Awards o 5.1 2011 o 5.2 2010 o 5.3 2009 o 5.4 2008 o 5.5 2007 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History Fishbowl was formed in 2001 by Chuck Hale and Beverly Hale, two business owners in Salt Lake City. The pair invested $3 million into the software company and went through several CEOs with little success.[3] In 2004, they asked a business consultant named David Williams to evaluate the company and possibly dissolve it. Instead, Williams reorganized the company and was able to keep it in business. Within three years, it was out of debt and earning awards for its growth.[4] In addition to inventory management software, the companys product line grew to include a Manufacturing Option in 2009[5] and a mobile warehouse solution in 2010.[6] The Mississippi State Department of Health,[7] Santa Barbara County, CA

IT Network Division,[8] and several other government bodies use Fishbowl Inventory as an asset tracking system. [edit] Features The primary product, Fishbowl Inventory, is an inventory control program for QuickBooks. Fishbowl Inventory was one of the first programs to integrate with QuickBooks and currently holds Gold Developer Status, Intuits highest award for third-party integrators.[9] The program is divided into modules focusing on various inventory control and management tasks, including sales, purchasing, manufacturing, shipping, pricing, and ordering. The program provides multilocation inventory tracking, LIFO/FIFO and average costing standards, bar coding, and order creation and recording. Fishbowl Inventorys feature set was designed to provide distributors, wholesalers, manufactures and retail businesses the additional inventory features and functionality that QuickBooks lacks. These include inventory control, purchase order and sales order generation, manufacturing, and cycle counting.) As part of the QuickBooks integration, Fishbowl Inventory records transactions, invoices, and bills directly to customers' QuickBooks file.[10] The software runs on a centralized server, allowing multiple clients to connect simultaneously. This structure also allows integration with barcode inventory tracking hardware devices, multiple location tracking, and other mobile communicators. The server side uses a SQL database and can run on Windows or Linux.[11] [edit] Products [edit] Fishbowl Inventory

Fishbowl Inventory Client and Server Software Available for multiple users Runs on Windows, Linux, and Macs

[edit] Fishbowl Mobile Warehouse

Wireless PDA software Integrates with Fishbowl Inventory Allows real-time inventory tracking via bar coding

[edit] Inventory Hardware Solutions

Mobile hardware Barcode printer hardware Point of sale kit

[edit] Community service Fishbowl offers community service to Provo, Orem and other local communities at least once a year. In 2009, Fishbowl donated its inventory management software to CherryCreek Elementary School in Orem to track its supplies, and Fishbowl employees helped catalog the schools equipment, books and other resources. [12] In 2010, Fishbowl employees landscaped the playground and other areas surrounding Provos House of Hope, a facility where women suffering from substance abuse come to receive assistance for themselves and their children.[13] Fishbowl has also partnered with several Utah groups and companies which include Utah Valley University, Certiport, Think Atomic and Voonami to create the Courage Above Mountains Center. The CAM Center provides job education and additional services to low-income mothers and other people in need.[14] It also helps entrepreneurs find local resources to help them develop their startups. [edit] Awards Since 2007, Fishbowl has earned a number of business awards for its revenue growth. These awards are listed in order by year: [edit] 2011

Inc. 5000: No. 3,283[15] Utah Business 30 Women to Watch - Fishbowl President Mary Michelle Scott[16] Utah Valley BusinessQ Fast 50: No. 24[17] v100 - vSpring Capital Top 100 Venture Entrepreneur - Fishbowl CEO David Williams[18]

[edit] 2010

Deloitte Technology Fast 500: No. 218[19] Inc. 5000: No. 2,157[20] MountainWest Capital Network Utah 100: No. 36[21] Utah Business Fast 50: No. 45[22]

UV Fast 50: No. 16[23]

[edit] 2009

Deloitte Fast 500: No. 142[24] Inc. 5000: No. 799[25] MWCN Utah 100: No. 22[26] Utah Business Fast 50: No. 38[27]

[edit] 2008

Deloitte Fast 500: No. 101[28] Inc. 500: No. 356[29] MWCN Utah 100: No. 6[30] Utah Business Fast 50: No. 6[31] UV Fast 50: No. 8[32]

[edit] 2007

MWCN Utah 100: No.

Erply From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Erply

URL Commercial? Type of site

http://www.erply.com Yes point of sale, inventory management

Available language(s) Owner Launched Current status

English

Kristjan Hiiemaa 2009 Active

Erply is an enterprise software company focusing on point of sale and inventory management technology.[1] It was founded in Estonia by Kristjan Hiiemaa in 2009.[2] Contents [hide]

1 History 2 Description 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History In 2009, Erply won Seedcamp, a European early stage investment program.[3][4][5] At the time of the announcement, Erply had 200 clients and was at break-even.[3] In March 2010, they received $2 million in funding from Saul Klein (Index Ventures), Satish Dharmaraj (Redpoint Ventures), Dave McClure and Kenny van Zant.[6][7] At the time of the announcement, they had 700 paid subscribers and 2,000 users.[6] Currently, Erply has over 20,000 users.[8] [edit] Description Initially, Erply launched as a retail payment solution for small to medium sized businesses.[9] They have since expanded to big box retailers and offer point of sale

technology, inventory control, billing, business reporting, and custom barcodes.[10] Erply offers both paid and free packages; on average, subscriptions to the service cost $74 per month.[11] Because the Erply software does not store credit card info, they pay a 1.9% processing fee per transaction (the industry standard is 2.7%). [9] Additionally, Erply is cloud based, meaning that the retailer does not need to possess their own servers.[9] In August 2011, they released a mobile credit card reader for handheld mobile devices, allowing merchants to use the Erply point of sale application on iPads.[12][13] Since the app is cloud based, it can also be used on the web.[9] [edit] Reception Erply has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, BBC, TechCrunch, Inc. Magazine, The Guardian and Fox Business.[1][5][6][14][15][16] Saul Klein noted that Erply can do for business software what Skype did for telecommunication and The Wall Street Journal selected Erply as one of the top ten European startups to watch in 2011

EOQ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search EOQ may refer to:

Economic order quantity (also known as EOQ Model), an economic model for inventory management European Organization for Quality, a federation of quality management organisations

APICS The Association for Operations Management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search APICS The Association for Operations Management, is a not-for-profit international education organization, offering certification programs, training tools and networking opportunities to increase workplace performance. It was founded in 1957 as the American Production and Inventory Control Society, and currently has more than 43,000 individual and corporate members in more than 10,000 companies worldwide. In April 2008, the organization relocated to Chicago, Illinois. APICS defines operations management as "the field of study that focuses on the effective planning, scheduling, use and control of a manufacturing or service organization through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, management information systems, quality management, production management, inventory management, accounting, and other functions as they affect the organization."[1] APICS offers several professional designations: APICS CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management), APICS CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional) and APICS CFPIM (Certified Fellow in Production and Inventory Management).[2] The APICS CIRM (Certified in Integrated Resource Management) program was discontinued in 2008. APICS continues to recognize the designation. Also in 2008, APICS published the APICS Operations Management Body of Knowledge (OMBOK) Framework. The APICS OMBOK Framework defines the scope of the profession and provides a dynamic resource for operations management professionals. Other publications APICS produces for the operations and supply chain management profession are APICS magazine, the Production and Inventory Management Journal, and the APICS Dictionary.[3] APICS, along with a variety of other operations and supply chain management organizations, provides professional development opportunities that help professionals and their organizations successfully compete in the global economy. Organizations with which APICS is currently aligned include:

The Supply-Chain Council The American Society of Transportation & Logistics The Association for Manufacturing Excellence

The American Management Association The Institute of Operations Management

[edit] External links

APICS website Production and Inventory Management Journal APICS magazine

CER-203 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search CER (Serbian: Digital Electronic Computer) model 203 was an early digital computer developed by Mihajlo Pupin Institute (Serbia) in 1971. It was designed to process data of medium sized businesses:

In banks, for managing and processing of accounts, bookkeeping, foreign-currency and interest CER-203: CPU testing calculations, amortization plans and statistics In manufacturing, for production planning and management, market data processing and forecasting, inventory management, financial document management and process modelling In utilities, to calculate water and electricity Block diagram consumption, to produce various reportsand lists and for technical calculations and design In construction industry for network planning method design, financial management and bookkeeping In trading companies for payment processing, market analysis, inventory management and customer and partner relationship management

[edit] Specifications Central Processing:

Type: BMS-203 Number of instructions: 32 Performance: o one 16-cycle instruction: 20 s o one single cycle instruction: 5 s o addition and/or subtraction of two 15-digit numbers: 20 s

Primary memory:

Capacity: 8 kilowords Speed (cycle time): 1 s Complete, autonomous memory error checking Parity control

Punched tape reader:

Dielectric-based reading Speed: 500 to 1,000 characters per second Accepts 5, 7 and 8-channel tapes

'Tape puncher:

Speed: 75 characters per second

Parallel Line Printer 667:

"On the fly" printing 128 characters per line Removable/replaceable printing cylinder Speed: o 500 lines per minute for a character set of 63 characters o 550 lines per minute for a character set of 50 characters Automatic paper feeder Two line spacing settings Programamtic tape for discontinuous paper movement Maximum number of carbon copies: 6

Independent Printer M 30:

132 characters per line Speed:

Prints 25 alphanumeric characters per second o Prints 33 numeric characters per second o Tabulation speed: 144 characters per second o Blank printing speed: 100 characters per second Maximum number of carbon copies: 6
o

Magnetic cassettes 4096:

Capacity: 600,000 characters Variable record length Transfer rate: 857 characters per second Tape speed: 10 inches per second

Magnetic Tape Drives:

Data format: 9-track ASCII with inter-record space of 0.6 inches (1.524 cm) Data density: 556/800 bits per inch Capacity per tape: circa 10,000,000 characters Tape speed: 24 inches/s, 150 inches/s fast-forward and rewind Transfer rate: 19.2 kHz Tape width: 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) Tape length: 2400 ft (731.52 m) Working ambient temperature range: 5C to 40C Relative humidity: up to 80% Integrated circuit control logic Separate control panel for each drive Read/Write Capabilities: o Read and Write forward o Read forward o Read reverse

Petrolsoft Corporation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Petrolsoft Corporation

Former type Industry Fate Founded Founder(s) Defunct

Distribution software Petroleum Acquired by Technology 1989 Bill Miller Gamboa 2000 and David Aspen

Headquarters San Diego, California Area served Worldwide

Petrolsoft Corporation (19892000) was a supply chain management software company with a focus on the petroleum industry. Petrolsoft Corporation was founded at Stanford University in 1989 by Bill Miller and David Gamboa as Petrolsoft Software Group. It was later incorporated in 1992. Petrolsoft introduced demand-driven inventory management to the petroleum industry. Contents [hide]

1 History 2 Technology 3 Influence 4 Acquisition 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading

[edit] History The initial idea for Petrolsoft's inventory management product came from founder David Gamboa family's cash flow problems at their chain of retail gasoline stations. Mr. Miller's analysis showed that it was being caused by an inventory imbalance of gasoline stocks. When they approached Chevron with their solution, they discovered this was more than just a family problem, rather an industry-wide problem.[1] The software solution to this problem became Petrolsoft's initial product, based on inventory proportionality. Gordon Hartogensis, a Stanford computer science graduate, joined the company in 1993 as the third partner to lead product development. Petrolsoft's products grew to include sales forecasting, inventory management, demand aggregation, remote inventory and sales reporting, and transportation optimization for the downstream petroleum supply chain and other bulk liquid supply chains.[2] [edit] Technology Tank trucks in the oil industry are typically divided internally into 3 to 6 compartments of various sizes. Service stations typically sell three or four different grades of motor fuel. Each delivered grade of motor fuel must have a dedicated underground storage tank. For example, a four compartment truck bringing up to four different products can be filled in 256 (44) different ways. Petrolsofts technology would choose the optimal way to restore inventory proportionality to the station based on its forecasts of sales by product grade.[3] The technology would accurately forecast hourly demand for each grade of motor fuel at each service station, enabling it to determine when the first product would run out, the amounts of other products that would be left at that time, and when the optimal load chosen would fit in the underground storage tanks. The period of time from the forecasted time of fitting in the tanks to the point of product run out was

called the delivery window. The delivery window represented the delivery flexibility of when the load could arrive at the service station so that it would fit in the tanks, and arrive prior to first product run out.[4] Based on all of the delivery windows for all of the forecasted deliveries for all of the stations in an oil companys directly supplied service station network, Petrolsofts technology would optimize the distribution of motor fuel by scheduling fleets of tank trucks to meet the demand across the distribution network. This optimal automation of the replenishment process led to lower average inventories, better utilization of tank truck fleets, lower overall distribution costs, and reduced manpower requirements. This type of time-based demandbalanced replenishment (just-in-time) was extended up the supply chain from the filling stations to the bulk terminals, where finished product was stored and then to the refinery where the product was made from crude oil feedstocks.[5] [edit] Influence Initial customers for the product included Sunoco, ARCO,[6] Mobil,[2] Exxon,[7][8][9] and Tosco,[10] expanding to many of the major oil companies in the United States,[11] and eventually world-wide at companies such as YPF (Argentina) and Ampol (Australia). Petrolsoft grew quickly, eventually making the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies in both 1998 and 1999.[12] By this time, Petrolsoft had about 50 specialized employees working in three global offices: San Diego, London[13][14] and Singapore and had released multi-lingual versions of their software for use worldwide.[15] In September 2000, following an extended sales effort, on-site pilot program and the acquisition of Petrolsoft by Aspen Technology, Chevron [16] became one of the largest US customers. The Chevron contract was executed on September 30, 2000 and announced on November 16, 2000. In May 2001, Petro-Canada[17] became the largest Canadian customer, utilizing the software to manage the majority of their company-owned sites located in Ontario and Quebec. In 2003, Petro-Canada extended the solution nationwide.[18] Irving Oil became the next largest Canadian customer, also executing a contract in 2001. Savings for these companies as a result of using Petrolsoft's solutions was in the millions of dollars each year.[2] Prior to the implementation of Petrolsoft's technology, the petroleum industry functioned as a "push" manufacturing system. That is, product was manufactured based on current market prices without regard to actual branded demand. Once Petrolsoft's demand forecasting based inventory management system was implemented, oil companies were able to track and aggregate demand from their

end customers on a real time basis. This allowed them to optimize transportation resources such as tank trucks and pipelines, and to inform how much of their daily demand was constant branded demand versus spot price-driven demand. This realtime information flow changed the way the downstream petroleum industry operated and increased profitability across all adopters. Additionally, the technology prevented service stations from running out of gasoline, lowered inventory carrying costs, and lowered the cost per gallon delivered to the customer.[4] [edit] Acquisition On June 1, 2000, Petrolsoft Corporation was acquired by Aspen Technology, Inc. (AZPN), a public software company focused on the process manufacturing software space in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $60 million at the time of acquisition.[19][20][21] Over a several month period, Petrolsoft's Supply Retail software suite was integrated with Aspen Technology's PIMS crude selection and refinery operations planning and execution software.[22] Petrolsoft's suite of supply chain management tools completed Aspen's fully integrated petroleum offering from the sourcing of crude oil, through the manufacturing process, and down to the end customer putting gasoline into their vehicle

Paper doll (gaming) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010) This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) In role-playing video games, a paper doll is a way of representing a character's inventory and currently used equipment.

In games that use a paper doll inventory management, the different player characters are usually shown posing the same way. The equipment sprites (or 3D models) are then added on top of the character, similar to the paper cut-outs in realworld paper dolls. This is sometimes done by dragging the items in place, or by selecting them from the list. Sometimes, there are also multiple poses, for example, there may be two different poses, one when a one-handed weapon is equipped, and another when a two-handed weapon is equipped. Typically, the paper dolls are a separate part of the inventory management. Sometimes, however, the in-game character sprite or 3D model itself acts as a paper doll on which equipment can be put; an example of this would be Ultima IX: Ascension. Some of the games that use paper dolls include

Materiel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Not to be confused with material. Further information: Equipment (disambiguation) Warfare

Military history Eras[show] Generations of warfare[show] Battlespace[show] Weapons[show] Tactics[show] Strategy[show] Organization[show] Logistics[show] Lists[show]

Portal

v t e

Materiel (from the French "matriel" for equipment or hardware, related to the word material) is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management. In a military context, materiel relates to the specific needs of a force to complete a specific mission. The term is also often used in a general sense ("men and materiel") to describe the needs of a functioning army. Materiel management consists of continuing actions relating to planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, controlling, and evaluating the application of resources to ensure the effective and economical support of military forces. It includes provisioning, cataloging, requirements determination, acquisition, distribution, maintenance, and disposal. The terms materiel management, materiel control, inventory control, inventory management, and supply management are synonymous. [1] Materiel in the commercial distribution context comprises the items being moved by the services of or as the products of the business, as distinct from those involved in operating the business itself.

A tanker trailer being moved as part of exercise

Electronic commerce From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, ecommerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on such technologies as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones as well.

Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of ebusiness. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

E-commerce can be divided into:

E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on Web sites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall" The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters) Business-to-business buying and selling The security of business transactions

Contents [hide]

1 History o 1.1 Early development o 1.2 Timeline 2 Business applications 3 Governmental regulation 4 Forms 5 Global trends 6 Impact on markets and retailers 7 Distribution channels 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History [edit] Early development Originally, electronic commerce was identified as the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the WorldWideWeb web browser and transformed an academic telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called internet/www. Commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited by NSF until 1995.[1] Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994 with the adoption of Mosaic web browser, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing

various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services. [edit] Timeline The timeline for e-commerce progression is shown below.

1979: Michael Aldrich invented online shopping[2] 1981: Thomson Holidays, UK is first B2B online shopping[citation needed] 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Telecom and used for online ordering. 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping and Mrs Snowball, 72, is the first online home shopper[3] 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and Canada. It is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service.[4] 1985: Nissan UK sells cars and finance with credit checking to customers online from dealers' lots.[citation needed] 1987: Swreg begins to provide software and shareware authors means to sell their products online through an electronic Merchant account.[citation needed] 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer. 1992: Terry Brownell launches first fully graphical, iconic navigated Bulletin board system online shopping using RoboBOARD/FX. 1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offers online ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opens. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials also become commercially available, as do cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 SSL encryption that made transactions secure. 1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield, Product Manager for CompuServe UK, from W H Smiths shop within CompuServes UK Shopping Centre is the UKs first national online shopping service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured WH Smith, Tesco, Virgin/Our Price, Great Universal Stores/GUS, Interflora, Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World (retailer) and Innovations.[5] 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb.

1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web. 1998: Alibaba Group is established in China. 1999: Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster launches. ATG Stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online. 2000: The dot-com bust. 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001. 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[6] Niche retail companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal. 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit. 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform, is established, forcing other b2b sites to move away from the "yellow pages" model.[7] 2005: Yuval Tal founds Payoneer- a secure online payment distribution solution 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.[8] 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[9] Retail Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments based on performance through 2012.[10] 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites plans to go ahead with an IPO in mid-2011.[11] 2011: Online payment and recurring billing services provider Vindicia, developer of the CashBox SaaS billing solution, is named the 20th fastest growing company in Silicon Valley.[12] 2011: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $197 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2010.[13] Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash plus $45 million in debt and other obligations.[14] GSI Commerce, a company specializing in creating, developing and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar businesses, acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion.[15]

[edit] Business applications

An example of an automated online assistant on a merchandising website. Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:

Document automation in supply chain and logistics Domestic and international payment systems Enterprise content management Group buying Automated online assistants Instant messaging Newsgroups Online shopping and order tracking Online banking Online office suites Shopping cart software Teleconferencing Electronic tickets

[edit] Governmental regulation The examples and perspective in this United States may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (March 2011) In the United States, some electronic commerce activities are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These activities include the use of commercial

e-mails, online advertising and consumer privacy. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive.[16] Using its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises about the security of consumers personal information.[17] As result, any corporate privacy policy related to ecommerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the FTC. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, which came into law in 2008, amends the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies.[18] Internationally there is the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which was formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations. The purpose was stated as being to find ways of co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with crossborder transactions in both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding. From this came econsumer, as an initiative of ICPEN since April 2001. www.econsumer.gov is a portal to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies. There is also Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving stability, security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment. APEC has an Electronic Commerce Stearing Group as well as working on common privacy regulations throughout the APEC region. In Australia, Trade is covered under Australian Treasury Guidelines for electronic commerce,[19] and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission[20] regulates and offers advice on how to deal with businesses online,[21] and offers specific advice on what happens if things go wrong..[22] Also Australian government ecommerce website[23] provides information on ecommerce in Australia. [edit] Forms

Contemporary electronic commerce involves everything from ordering "digital" content for immediate online consumption, to ordering conventional goods and services, to "meta" services to facilitate other types of electronic commerce. On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are very hot and pressing issues for electronic commerce. [edit] Global trends Business models across the world also continue to change drastically with the advent of eCommerce and this change is not just restricted to USA. Other countries are also contributing to the growth of eCommerce. For example, the United Kingdom has the biggest e-commerce market in the world when measured by the amount spent per capita, even higher than the USA. The internet economy in UK is likely to grow by 10% between 2010 to 2015. This has led to changing dynamics for the advertising industry[24] Amongst emerging economies, China's eCommerce presence continues to expand. With 384 million internet users,China's online shopping sales rose to $36.6 billion in 2009 and one of the reasons behind the huge growth has been the improved trust level for shoppers. The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel more comfortable shopping online.[25] eCommerce is also expanding across the Middle East. Having recorded the worlds fastest growth in internet usage between 2000 and 2009, the region is now home to more than 60 million internet users. Retail, travel and gaming are the regions top eCommerce segments, in spite of difficulties such as the lack of region-wide legal frameworks and logistical problems in cross-border transportation.[26] E-Commerce has become an important tool for businesses worldwide not only to sell to customers but also to engage them.[27] [edit] Impact on markets and retailers Economists have theorized that e-commerce ought to lead to intensified price competition, as it increases consumers' ability to gather information about products and prices. Research by four economists at the University of Chicago has found that the growth of online shopping has also affected industry structure in two areas that have seen significant growth in e-commerce, bookshops and travel agencies. Generally, larger firms have grown at the expense of smaller ones, as they are able to use economies of scale and offer lower prices. The lone exception to this pattern

has been the very smallest category of bookseller, shops with between one and four employees, which appear to have withstood the trend.[28] [edit] Distribution channels E-commerce has grown in importance as companies have adopted Pure-Click and Brick and Click channel systems. We can distinguish between pure-click and brick and click channel system adopted by companies.

Pure-Click companies are those that have launched a website without any previous existence as a firm. It is imperative that such companies must set up and operate their e-commerce websites very carefully. Customer service is of paramount importance. Brick and Click companies are those existing companies that have added an online site for e-commerce. Initially, Brick and Click companies were skeptical whether or not to add an online e-commerce channel for fear that selling their products might produce channel conflict with their off-line retailers, agents, or their own stores. However, they eventually added internet to their distribution channel portfolio after seeing how much business their online competitors were generating

Supply chain management software From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Supply chain management software (SCMS) is a business term which refers to a whole range of software tools or modules used in executing supply chain transactions, managing supplier relationships and controlling associated business processes.[citation needed] While functionality in such systems can often be broad it commonly includes[citation needed]: 1. Customer requirement processing 2. Purchase order processing 3. Inventory management

4. Goods receipt and Warehouse management 5. Supplier Management/Sourcing A requirement of many SCMS often includes forecasting. Such tools often attempt to balance the disparity between supply and demand by improving business processes and using algorithms and consumption analysis to better plan future needs.[1] SCMS also often includes integration technology that allows organizations to trade electronically with supply chain partners.[2] Supply Chain Management Software companies such as Demand Foresight, SAP, IES Ltd, Sage, Oracle, Arena and others have risen to meet the demand to help manage these complex systems

System Center Configuration Manager From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search System Center Configuration Manager Developer(s) Microsoft Corporation Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 / 2010

Stable release

R3

Development status Active Operating system Platform Available in Microsoft Windows x86 Multilingual

Type License

Systems management MS-EULA Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Website

System Center Configuration Manager (CM07 or SCCM or ConfigMgr or Configuration Manager), formerly Systems Management Server (SMS), is a systems management software product by Microsoft for managing large groups of Windows-based computer systems. Configuration Manager provides remote control, patch management, software distribution, operating system deployment, network access protection, and hardware and software inventory. There have been three major iterations of SMS. The 1.x versions of the product defined the scope of control of the management server (the site) in terms of the NT domain that was being managed. Since the 2.x versions, that site paradigm has switched to a group of subnets that will be managed together. Since SMS 2003, the site could also be defined as one or more Active Directory sites. The most frequently used feature is inventory management, which provides both hardware and software inventory across a business enterprise. The major difference between the 2.x product and SMS 2003 is the introduction of the Advanced Client. The Advanced Client communicates with a more scalable management infrastructure, namely the Management Point. A Management Point (MP) can manage up to 25000 Advanced Clients. The Advanced Client was introduced to provide a solution to the problem that a managed laptop might connect to a corporate network from multiple locations and should not always download content from the same place within the enterprise (though it should always receive policy from its own site). When an Advanced Client is within another location (SMS Site), it may use a local distribution point to download or run a program which can conserve bandwidth across a WAN. The current generation of the product, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, was initially released in November 2007.[1]

Contents [hide]

1 Version history 2 See also 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Version history Product Systems Management Server (SMS) Systems Management Server (SMS) Systems Management Server (SMS) Systems Management Server (SMS) Systems Management Server (SMS) Systems Management Server (SMS) Revision Released Service Pack Feature Pack Version/Build Notes

1.0

1994

1.1

1995

1.2

1996

2.0

1999

2003

2003

2003 R2

2006

System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr)

2007

Beta 1

4.00.5135.0000

2007

RTM

4.00.5931.0000

2008 (May)

SP1

4.00.6221.1000

System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr)

2010

SP1

System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr)

2008

System

2007

2009

SP2

This update (KB 977203 [ KB97720 4.00.6221.1193 ) may 2] 3 be run against SP1 or SP2 clients. The R2 feature add-on require s at least R2 no change SP1, and can be installe d after SP2. 4.00.6487.2000

Center Configuratio n Manager (ConfigMgr) This update (KB 977203 [ KB97720 4.00.6487.2111 ) may 3] 3 be run against SP1 or SP2 clients. The R3 update R3 4.00.6487.2157 require s SP2 Client.

System Center Configuratio 2007 n Manager (ConfigMgr)

2010

SP2

System Center Configuratio n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio n Manager (ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio n Manager

2007

2010[4]

2012 (Formerly 2010/05/2 Beta 1 "v.Next")[ 6

5]

2012

2011/03/2 Beta 2 3

5.00.7561.0000

2012

Release 2011/10/2 Candidat 8 e1 Release 2012/01/1 Candidat 7 e 2[6]

5.00.7678.0000

2012

5.00.7703.0000

(ConfigMgr) System Center Configuratio 2012 n Manager (ConfigMgr) [edit] See also

Projected April RTM 2012

Windows Server System Microsoft System Center System Center Data Protection Manager System Center Operations Manager System Center Virtual Machine Manager Configuration management Windows Server Update Services

[edit] External links

System Center Configuration Manager homepage Configuration Manager TechCenter on TechNet myITforum.com FAQShop (FAQ specifically for SMS and for ConfigMgr) SMSUG.ca User Group for SMS in Canada The Configuration Manager Support Team Blog Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog SCCM - System Center Configuration Manager Blog Configuration Manager OSD Feature Team Blog Managing Privileged Accounts from within System Center Configuration Manager (Product Datasheet from Lieberman Software) QMX natively extends the capabilities of SCCM to Non-Windows domain Community of SCCM Smart Agents for: Applications, Hardware, Infrastructure, Network, Operating Systems, Power, Printers, Security, Storage, Telecom, Virtualization and more.

Pawnbroker From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the occupation of a pawnbroker. For the 1960s novel and film, see The Pawnbroker. This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (November 2010) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) Personal Finance

Credit and debit Pawnbroker Student loan Employment contract Salary Wage Employee Employee benefit Direct deposit Retirement Pension Defined Defined Social Business Corporate action Personal budget Financial Financial

stock

option

benefit contribution security plan

planner adviser

Financial Financial Estate planning See also Banks Cooperatives

independence renovator

and

credit

unions

edit this box A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The word pawn is derived from the Latin pignus, for pledge, and the items having been pawned to the broker are themselves called pledges or pawns, or simply the collateral. If an item is pawned for a loan, within a certain contractual period of time the pawner may purchase it back for the amount of the loan plus some agreed-upon amount for interest. The amount of time, and rate of interest, is governed by law or by the pawnbroker's policies. If the loan is not paid (or extended, if applicable) within the time period, the pawned item will be offered for sale by the pawnbroker/secondhand dealer. Unlike other lenders, the pawnbroker does not report the defaulted loan on the customer's credit report, since the pawnbroker has physical possession of the item and may recoup the loan value through outright sale of the item. The pawnbroker/secondhand dealer also sells items that have been sold outright by customers to the pawnbroker or secondhand dealer. Contents [hide]

1 Business model o 1.1 Assessment of items o 1.2 Determining amount of loan o 1.3 Inventory management o 1.4 Auxiliary operations 2 History 3 Symbol 4 In Asia

5 Popular culture 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Business model [edit] Assessment of items The pawning process begins when a customer brings an item into a pawn shop. Common items pawned (or, in some instances, sold outright) by customers include jewelry, electronics, musical instruments, and tools (both hand tools and power tools). In some of the United States, pawnshops with firearms licenses sell pistols and rifles to customers who meet state and federal acquisition criteria. In other states and other countries, though, such as Canada and the UK, pawnshops do not sell firearms. Gold, silver, and platinum are popular items which are often purchased; even if the source (such as a piece of broken jewelry) has little value, the metals can still be sold in bulk to a bullion dealer or smelter for the value of the gold, silver, or platinum content. Similarly, with jewelry that contains genuine gemstones, even if the jewelry is broken or missing pieces, the jewels may have value in their own right because they can be reset into a new item of jewelry. The pawnbroker assumes the risk that an item might be stolen property; however, laws exist in many jurisdictions that protect both the community at large and the brokers from unknowingly engaging in criminal activity (handling stolen goods, also known as "fencing"). These laws often require the pawnbroker to establish positive identification of the seller through photo identification (such as a driver's license or government-issued identity document), as well as a holding period placed on an item purchased by a pawnbroker (to allow for local law enforcement authorities to track down stolen items). In some jurisdictions, pawnshops must give a list of all newly pawned items and any associated serial number to police, to allow the police to determine if any of the items have been reported as stolen. Many police departments will advise burglary or robbery victims to visit local pawnshops to see if they can locate stolen items which might have been pawned or sold to the pawnbroker. Some pawnshops set up their own screening criteria to avoid buying stolen property. The pawnbroker assesses an item for its condition and marketability by testing the item (in the case of electronics or instruments) and examining it for flaws, scratches or other damage. Another aspect that affects marketability is the supply

and demand for the item in the community or region. In some markets, the used goods market is so flooded with used stereos and car stereos, for example, that pawnshops will only accept the higher-quality brand names. Alternatively, a customer may offer to pawn an item which will be difficult to sell, such as a surfboard in an inland region or a pair of snowshoes in tropical or sub-tropical regions. The pawnshop owner will either turn down hard-to-sell items or offer a very low amount of money for these items. While some items will never get outdated, such as hammers and hand saws, electronics and computer items can quickly get out of date and become unsalable. As such, pawnshop owners have to learn about the different makes and models of computers, software and other electronic equipment, so that they can discern between items which are still salable, and those which are obsolete. To assess the value of different items, pawnbrokers use guidebooks ("Blue Books"), catalogs, Internet search engines, and their own experience to subjectively evaluate the goods. Some pawnbrokers have training in the identification of gems, or they employ a specialist with gem training to assess jewelry. One of the risks when accepting secondhand goods is that the item may be counterfeit. If the item is counterfeit, such as a fake Rolex watch, it may have only a fraction of the value of the genuine item. Once the pawnbroker has determined that the item is genuine and not likely to have been stolen, and that it is marketable, the pawnbroker offers the customer an amount for it. The customer can either sell the item outright if (as in most cases) the pawnbroker is also a licensed secondhand dealer, or offer the item as collateral. [edit] Determining amount of loan To determine the amount of the loan, the pawnshop owner needs to take into account several factors. One factor is the predicted resale value of the item. This is often thought of in terms of a range, with the low point being the wholesale value of the used good, in the case that the pawnshop is unable to sell it, and they decide to sell it to a wholesale merchant of used goods. The higher point in the range is the retail sale price in the pawnshop. For example, a five-year-old 42" Sony TV may have been bought by the customer for $1000. However, as a used item in a pawnshop, it will only fetch $250 and $300, because the customers will be wary that it might be a "lemon" that the seller is getting rid of because it has some hardto-detect problem. Used electronics wholesalers will buy the TV for $100 to $150. The wholesaler pays a lower price than the retail value because they have the added cost of hiring electronics technicians who overhaul and repair the items so that they can be sold in used electronics stores.

The pawnshop owner takes into account their knowledge of supply and demand for the item in question to determine if they think that they will end up selling the TV for $100 to a wholesaler or $300 to a pawnshop customer. If the pawnshop owner believes that there are "too many used TVs around these days in town", they may fear that they will only get $100 for the TV if they have to unload it to a wholesaler. With that figure in mind as the expected revenue, the pawnshop owner has to factor in the overhead costs of the store (rent, heat, electricity, phone connection, yellow pages ad, website costs, staff costs, insurance, alarm system, etc.), and a profit for the business. As such, the customer who comes in with this TV that they paid $1000 for when it was new may be offered as little as $50 by the pawnshop owner, who is taking into account all of the risk and cost factors. In determining the amount of the loan, the pawnshop owner also assesses the likelihood that the customer will pay the interest for several weeks or months and then return to repay the loan and reclaim the item. Since the key to the pawnshop business model is making interest off the loaned money, pawnshop owners want to accept items that the customer is likely to want to recover, after having paid interest for a period on the loan. If, in an extreme case, a pawnshop only accepted items that customers had no interest in ever reclaiming, it would not make any money from interest, and the store would in effect become a second hand dealer. Determining if the customer is likely to return to reclaim an item is a subjective decision, and wily customers may attempt to persuade the pawnshop owner that the item in question is important to them ("that necklace belonged to my grandmother, so I will certainly return for it"), and they will claim that they will return to recover it. The pawnshop owner can use a variety of factors to evaluate the likelihood that the customer will return, such as whether the customer lives in the neighborhood or whether the customer has a good track record of returning to the pawnshop to recover items. Some customers may return several times over a year and pawn the same valuable item as a way of borrowing money, and they return each month to pay the interest and recover the item. As well, the pawnshop owner can assess the item and the pawner; if a non-disabled twenty year-old male comes into the pawnshop to pawn an electric wheelchair (perhaps the possession of his late grandfather), the pawnshop owner may doubt the man's claims that he will return for the wheelchair. On the other hand, if a middle aged man pawns a top quality set of golf clubs, the pawnshop owner may assess it as more credible that he will return for the items. The saleability of the item and the amount that the customer wants for it are also factored into the pawnbroker's assessment; if a customer offers a very salable item at a low price,

the pawnbroker may accept it even if it is unlikely that the customer will return, because the pawnshop can turn around a quick profit on the item. If a customer offers a top quality, brand-name valuable at too low a price the pawnbroker may turn down the offer, because this suggests that the item may either be counterfeit or stolen.

Pawnbroker in Reseda, CA [edit] Inventory management Pawnshops have to be careful to manage how many new items they accept as pawns: either too little inventory or too much is bad. A pawnshop might have too little inventory if, for example, it mostly buys jewels and gold which are then reset and smelted, or perhaps the pawnshop owner quickly sells most of the items using specialty shops (e.g., musical instruments are sold to used music stores and stereos are sold to used hi-fi audio stores). In this case, the pawnshop will not be very interesting to customers, because it will be a mostly empty store with bare shelves and counters. Customers walking by a near-empty store will be less likely to be intrigued by the merchandise and come into the store. On the other extreme, if a pawnshop has a huge amount of inventory, there can be several disadvantages. If the store is crammed with used athletic gear, old stereos, and old tools, the store owner has to spend more time and money shelving and sorting the items, displaying them on different stands or in glass cases, and monitoring customers to prevent shoplifting. If there are too many low-value, poor quality items, such as old toasters, scratched-up 20 year-old TVs, and worn-out sports gear piled into cardboard boxes, the store may begin looking more like a low-end rummage sale or flea market. Small, high-value items such as iPod players or cell phones need to be put in locked glass display cases, which means that the owner may need additional staff to unlock the cabinets and get out items that customers want to examine. As a store becomes more and more filled with items, an owner has to take more steps to protect inventory from theft by hiring staff to

supervise the different parts of the store and/or by installing security cameras or alarms. The biggest problem with accumulating too much unsold inventory, though, is that this means that the store has not been able to pull out the value of these items by reselling them, which provides the store with cash that can be loaned out to borrowers. As such, the better option lies in the middle of the continuum. A store that has a moderate amount of good quality, brand-name items arranged neatly in the display windows attracts passersby, who are more likely to come in to peruse the items for sale. If the items are attractively laid out in display cases and shelves in an uncluttered fashion, the pawnshop has a more professional, reputable appearance. Once passersby start coming to the store to look at items, they may decide to bring unwanted items to the pawnshop for loans on subsequent visits. Some pawnshop owners prevent their store from developing a cluttered look by keeping some of the less attractive items such as snow tires, or items which are overstocked (e.g., if there are too many stereos) in a storage facility in the basement. Another approach used by some pawnshop companies is to operate a number of stores in a state or province. This way, the inventory can be moved between affiliated stores so that each store has a balanced inventory. For example, if a rural location of a pawnshop accumulates too much hunting and fishing gear, some of the overstock can be transferred to a suburban location. Some stores also slim down their inventory by selling some items to specialty used gear retailers. For example, if a pawnshop in a low-income neighborhood pays a customer $300 for a power amplifier that has a used retail value of about $2000, this stereo device may be hard to sell in the pawnshop, given that most of the stereos sell for a fraction of this price. However, a high-end used audio store in a well-to-do neighborhood might be able to sell it for $2000, so the pawnshop owner may decide to sell the amplifier to the audio shop for $1000, thus netting $700. Some pawnshops may sell specialty items on eBay or other websites. A specialty item such as a high-end model railroad set with a retail value of $1000 may not sell in the store, or it would only sell for a deep discount. However, if it is put up for sale on eBay or a similar website, a model train enthusiast 1000 miles away may decide to purchase the item and have it shipped to them. [edit] Auxiliary operations While the main business activities of a pawnshop are lending money for interest based on valuable items that customers bring in, some pawnshops also undertake other business activities, such as selling brand-new retail items that are in demand

in the neighborhood of the store. Depending on where a pawnshop is located, these other retail items may range from guitar and musical instruments to firearms. Some pawnbrokers also sell brand-new self defense items such as pepper spray or stun guns. Many pawnshops will also trade used items, as long as the transaction turns a profit for pawn shop. In cases where the pawnshop buys items outright, the money is not a loan; it is a straight payment for the item. Some pawnshops may keep a few unusual, high value items on display to capture the interests of passersby, such as a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle; the owner is not typically expecting to sell these items. Other activities carried out by pawnshops are financial services including fee-based check cashing, payday loans, vehicle title or house title loans, and currency exchange services. [edit] History Main article: History of pawnbroking In the west, pawnbroking existed in the Ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Most contemporary Western law on the subject is derived from the Roman jurisprudence. As the empire spread its culture, pawnbroking went with it. Likewise, in the East, the business model existed in China 3000 years ago[1] no different than today, through the ages strictly regulated by Imperial or other authorities.

Modern pawnbroker storefront. In spite of early Roman Catholic Church prohibitions against charging interest on loans, there is some evidence that the Franciscans were permitted to begin the practice as an aid to the poor.[citation needed] Pawnbrokerage arrived in England with William the Conqueror, but known by the Italian name, Lombard. In 1338, Edward

III pawned his jewels to raise money for his war with France. King Henry V did much the same in 1415. The Lombards were not a popular class, and Henry VII harried them a good deal. In the very first year of James I Stuart an Act against Brokers was passed and remained on the statute-book until Queen Victoria had been on the throne thirty-five years. It was aimed at the many counterfeit brokers in London. This type of broker was evidently regarded as a fence. It is also known that Queen Isabella of Spain pawned her jewelry in order to send Christopher Columbus out to what he believed was the Indies.

Provident Loan Society of New York, a charitable pawnbroker A similar system was used during the Crusades. Crusaders, predominantly in France, brokered their land holdings to monasteries and diocese for funds to provide supply, transit and outfitting for the Holy Land. Instead of outright repayment the Church reaped a certain amount of crop returns for a certain amount of seasons, which could additionally be re-exchanged in a type of equity. A pawnbroker can also be a charity. The Monte di Piet movement was begun in Perugia, Italy, in 1450 by Barnaba Manassei, a Franciscan monk. It had the aim of providing financial assistance to people in the form of no-interest loans, secured with pawned items. Instead of interest, borrowers were urged to make donations to the Church. It spread first through Italy then in other parts of Europe. The first Monte de Piedad organization in Spain was founded in Madrid, and from there the idea was transferred to New Spain by Pedro Romero de Terreros, the Count of Santa Maria de Regla[2] and Knight of Calatrava.[3] The Nacional Monte de Piedad is a charitable institution and pawn shop whose main office is located just off the Zocalo, or main plaza of Mexico City. It was established between 1774 and 1777 by Pedro Romero de Terreros as part of a movement to provide interest-free or low-interest loans to the poor. It was recognized as a national charity in 1927 by the Mexican government.[3] Today it is a fast-growing institution with over 152 branches all over Mexico and with plans to open a branch in every Mexican city.[4]

The economic downturn of 2008 saw the advent of the online pawnbrokers.[5] [edit] Symbol

Symbol of pawnbrokers.

Pawnbroker's sign in Edinburgh Scotland The pawnbrokers' symbol is three spheres suspended from a bar. The three sphere symbol is attributed to the Medici family of Florence, Italy, owing to its symbolic meaning of Lombard.[1] This refers to the Italian province of Lombardy, where pawn shop banking originated under the name of Lombard banking. The three golden spheres were originally the symbol which medieval Lombard merchants hung in front of their houses, and not the arms of the Medici family. It has been conjectured that the golden spheres were originally three flat yellow effigies of byzants, or gold coins, laid heraldically upon a sable field, but that they were converted into spheres to better attract attention. Most European towns called the pawn shop the "Lombard". The House of Lombard was a banking family in medieval London, England. According to legend, a Medici employed by Charlemagne slew a giant using three bags of rocks. The three ball symbol became the family crest. Since the Medicis were so successful in the financial, banking, and moneylending industries, other families also adopted the symbol. Throughout the Middle Ages, coats of arms bore three balls, orbs, plates, discs, coins and more as symbols of monetary success. Pawnbrokers (and their detractors) joke that the three balls mean "Two to one, you won't get your stuff back".

Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of pawnbrokers. The symbol has also been attributed to the story of Nicholas giving a poor man's three daughters each a bag of gold so they could get married.[6] [edit] In Asia

Pawn shop in Malaysia

Pawn shop in Hong Kong

A typical Hong Kong pawn shop sign: a bat holding a coin. In Hong Kong the practice follows the Chinese tradition, and the counter of the shop is typically higher than the average person for security. A customer can only hold up his hand to offer belongings and there is a wooden screen between the door and the counter for customers' privacy. The symbol of a pawn shop in Hong Kong is a bat (the animal) holding a coin (Chinese: , Cantonese: fk sy diu gm chn). The bat signifies fortune and the coin signifies benefits. In Japan, the usual symbol for a pawn shop is a circled digit seven, as "shichi", the Japanese word for seven, sounds similar to the word for "pawn" (). In Malaysia, a multi-race country, where Malaysian Chinese consists 25% of total population, initiated the Pawnbroker business. Nowadays, majority pawnbrokers in Malaysia are managed by Malaysian Chinese. In Malay, Pawn is called as "PAJAK GADAI". A valid and licensed Pawnshop in Malaysia must always declare themselves as a "PAJAK GADAI" or a PAWNSHOP for their company registration. They must also fulfill the requirement of Ministry of Housing and Local Government, where the pawn counter is not higher than 4 feet, bullet-proof and stainless steeled counters, stainless steeled doors, strong rooms with automatic locks, safes, equipped with fully computerized system, CCTV, Alarm and Pawnbroker Insurance. The picture shows one of the Malaysia's Pawnshops that is located at Changlun, which is the only pawnshop that closes to the border of Thailand. In India, the Marwari Jain community pioneered the pawnbroking business, but today others are involved; the work is done by many agents called "saudagar". Instead of working from a shop, they go to needy people's homes and motivate them to become involved in the business. Pawn shops are often run as part of jewelry stores. Gold, silver, and diamonds are frequently accepted as collateral. Pawnbroking is also a traditional trade in Thailand, where pawnshops are run both privately and by local governments. In Sri Lanka Pawnbroking is a lucrative

business engaged in by specialized pawnbrokers as well as commercial banks and other finance companies. [edit] Popular culture Pawn Stars, an American reality television series (2009) appearing on the History Channel, chronicles the daily activities at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. A spinoff series, Cajun Pawn Stars, premiered in 2012 and focuses on the Silver Dollar Pawn and Jewelry Center in Alexandria, Louisiana. A similar show, Hardcore Pawn, premiered on TruTV in August 2010, concerning American Jewelry and Loan in Detroit, Michigan

Amadeus IT Group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Amadeus IT Holding S.A.

Type Industry Founded

Sociedad (BMAD: AMS) Travel technology 1987

Annima

Headquarters Madrid, Spain

Key people

Jos Antonio Tazn (Chairman), Luis Maroto (President and CEO) Provision of computer reservations systems; IT systems for the travel industry; online travel agency 2.594 billion (2010)[1] 311.9 million (2010)[1] 136.8 million (2010)[1] 5.331 billion (end 2010)[1] 767.3 2010)[1] million (end

Services

Revenue Operating income Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Subsidiaries Website

7,780 (FTE, end 2010) TravelTainment, AAI www.amadeus.com

Amadeus IT Group (English pronunciation: /mdes a ti grp/) is a transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry. The company is structured around two key related areas - its global distribution system and its IT Solutions business area. Acting as an international network, Amadeus provides search, pricing, booking, ticketing and other processing services in real-time to travel providers and travel agencies through its distribution business area. Through

its IT Solutions business area, it also offers travel companies software systems which automate processes such as reservations, inventory management and departure control. The group, which processed 850 million billable travel transactions in 2010,[2] services customers including airlines, hotels, tour operators, insurers, car rental and railway companies, ferry and cruise lines, travel agencies and individual travellers directly. The parent company of Amadeus IT Group, holding over 99.7% of the firm, is Amadeus IT Holding S.A., which is listed on the Spanish stock exchanges as of 29 April 2010[3] and trades under the symbol AMS. For the year ended 31 December 2009, the company reported revenues of 2.461 billion and EBITDA of 894 million.[4] Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters and marketing), Sophia Antipolis, France (product development) and Erding, Germany (data processing centre) as well as regional offices in Miami, Florida, USA, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai.[5] At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 73 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations (ACOs) covering 195 countries. The Amadeus group employs 10,170 employees worldwide. Contents [hide]

1 History 2 Data centre 3 Overview of the company's business and activities o 3.1 Distribution o 3.2 IT Solutions 4 Business model and other business lines 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History Amadeus was originally created as a neutral global distribution system (GDS) by Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa and SAS in 1987 in order to connect providers'

content with travel agencies and consumers in real time. The creation of Amadeus was intended to offer a European alternative to Sabre, the American GDS. The first Amadeus system was built from core reservation system code coming from System One, an American GDS that competed with Sabre but went bankrupt, and a copy of the Air France pricing engine. These systems were respectively running under IBM TPF and Unisys. At the beginning of Amadeus, the Amadeus systems were functionally dedicated to airline reservation and centered on the PNR (Passenger Name Record), the passenger's travel file. Throughout the years, the PNR was opened up to additional travel industries (hotels, rail, cars, cruises, ferries, insurance, etc.). Although established initially as a private partnership, Amadeus went public in October 1999, becoming listed on the Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid stock exchanges. Progressively and in line with industry evolution, Amadeus diversified its operations by focusing on information technologies (IT) to deliver services spanning beyond sales and reservation functionalities, centred on streamlining the operational and distribution requirements of its customer base. In 2000, Amadeus received an ISO 9001:2000 quality certification the first GDS company to do so.[6] Since 2004, the company has invested 1 billion in R&D[7] and Amadeus's technology has increasingly embraced open systems which provide clients with more flexibility and features, as well as other benefits. Today, 85% of its software portfolio is open system based. In 2005, Amadeus was delisted from the Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid stock exchanges when BC Partners and Cinven bought their stake from three of the four founding airlines and the rest of the capital floated from institutional and minority shareholders. The transition from distribution system to technology provider was reflected by the change in its corporate name in 2006, when the company name was changed to Amadeus IT Group. In 2009, Amadeus invested about 257 million in R&D. [4] Amadeus is again listed on the Spanish Stock Exchanges as of 29 April 2010 (AMS). Throughout the years, Amadeus acquired:

SMART AB, the leading travel distribution company in Northern Europe[8] Vacation.com, the largest US marketing network for leisure travel[9] E-Travel, Inc., a leading supplier of hosted technology products for corporate travel[10] Opodo, a European travel website[11] which it sold on February 2011 for 450 million[12] Airline Automation (AAI), a robotic PNR processing company, in 2006[13] TravelTainment, a leisure content provider[14]

Optims, a European hotel software company[15] Onerail, a rail IT software supplier[16]

[edit] Data centre Amadeus has its own data centre in Erding, Germany - the largest civil data centre in Europe.[17] In 2010, the Erding complex processed 850 million key billed transactions, and handled, on average, 9,000 user data queries per second, with an average system response time of 0.3 seconds and an average system uptime of 99.99%.[18] Amadeus global operations comprise not only the main site in Erding, Germany, but also two strategic operation centres in Miami, United States and Sydney, Australia, and local competency centres in Germany, Thailand, Poland, Colombia and the United Kingdom. [edit] Overview of the company's business and activities [edit] Distribution Amadeus CRS is the largest GDS provider serving the worldwide travel and tourism industry, with an estimated market share of 37% in 2009.[19] This position permits Amadeus to offer distribution reach for global and local travel content. As of December 2010, over 90,000 travel agencies worldwide use the Amadeus system and 58,000 airline sales offices use it as their internal sales and reservations system. Amadeus gives access to bookable content from 435 airlines (including 60 low cost carriers), 29 car rental companies (representing 36,000 car rental locations), 51 cruise lines and ferry operators, 280 hotel chains and 87,000 hotels, 200 tour operators, 103 rail operators and 116 travel insurance companies.[20] [edit] IT Solutions The principal service of this business area is the Amadeus Alta Customer Management System[21] (CMS), a software suite which addresses airlines' key operating functions: sales and reservations, inventory management and departure control. Unlike the carriers legacy IT systems, which use different technologies, the Alta platform is based on a common technical infrastructure and software. With Alta, airlines outsource their IT operations onto a community platform which allows them to share information with both airline alliance and code-share partners.

The Alta suite presently consists of four main modules:[22] Alta Reservation, providing booking, pricing and ticketing management through a single interface; Alta Inventory, providing schedule and seat capacity management on a flight-byflight basis; Alta Departure Control, a departure control system software package; and Alta e-commerce, a software suite for airline e-commerce sales and support. In 2009, the number of passengers boarded by airlines using Amadeus Alta was 238 million.[23] Amadeus is extending its IT solutions business with the ongoing development of similar systems for rail companies, hotel chains, airport operators and ground handling companies. [edit] Business model and other business lines The business model of Amadeus is booking fee or transaction based, which means that a fee is taken for each confirmed net booking made in the Amadeus CRS. Income from these fees is used to finance the distribution network based on incentives and the Amadeus system evolutions. In the late 90s, a business division specialized in e-commerce was created. Its purpose was to complement the Amadeus software product offer to the airlines by developing a complete web based booking solution. It proposes a high level of integration with Amadeus central reservation system. In 2000, Amadeus was awarded the development of two new operational applications for British Airways and Qantas Airways : the inventory management and the departure control systems.[24] These products were outside of the core expertise domain of Amadeus and were built with the expertise of the airlines

Inktel Direct From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Inktel Direct

Type Founded Headquarters Area served Website

Private 1997 Miami, States Florida, United

Worldwide http://www.inktel.com

Inktel Direct is a global outsourcer of business services and direct marketing services, most notably including Fulfillment (as well as inventory management and order processing) and Call Center services, but also including other services such as Direct Mail/Lettershop, E-commerce, Data Management, Social Media and Graphic Design. Inktel's clients include various Fortune 500 companies, federal/state/local government agencies, and non-profit organizations. Founded in 1997, Inktel Direct is headquartered in Miami, FL with additional operations in Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis, and Connecticut among other cities.[1][2] In 2003, the firm had surpassed more than $40 million in annual revenues.[3] Inktel is owned by President and CEO, Ricky Arriola, and his brother, Executive Vice President, Dan Arriola. Inktel Direct was named the "Best Company to Work For" in the state of Florida.[4] Contents [hide]

1 Services and divisions o 1.1 Fulfillment Services o 1.2 Contact Center Services

1.3 E-commerce Services o 1.4 Other Services o 1.5 Customer Experience Research 2 "Passion for People"(TM) Philosophy o 2.1 Hiring model o 2.2 Training model o 2.3 Philanthropy o 2.4 Wellness Focus o 2.5 Awards and recognition 3 Company Culture o 3.1 Customer Service o 3.2 Blog 4 References
o

[edit] Services and divisions Inktel Direct provides direct marketing services to clients across the world. Service offerings include inbound and outbound call center services, fulfillment and inventory management, direct mail and lettershop, e-commerce, data management and optimization, social media and graphic design.[5] Inktel Direct serves Fortune 500 companies in several industries including Telecommunications, Ecommerce, Government, Retail, Advertising, and other industries. [5] Inktel Direct Government BPO Services launched in 2009 to provide business process outsourcing for local, state and federal government agencies.[6]

[edit] Fulfillment Services Inktel provides order fulfillment, inventory management, warehousing, pick-andpack, kitting, sampling, direct mail, and a number of other fulfillment services out of its 240,000-square-foot (22,000 m2) warehouse in Chicago, Illinois, for dozens of Fortune 500 firms and government institutions.[7] [edit] Contact Center Services

Inktel provides inbound and outbound contact center services, including customer service, complaint resolution, customer retention programs, order-taking, inbound and outbound sales, as well as a number of other types of call center services. [7] Inktel provides services in a dozen different languages and houses over 500 contact center seats in three locations: Chicago, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. In 2010, Inktel was named a "Top Outsourcer" in the contact center industry by "Contact Center World." [8] [edit] E-commerce Services Inktel supports e-commerce websites through both order warehousing, inventory management, call center order-taking, call center customer service and web development and design. [7] Additionally, Inktel builds custom-designed customizable marketing web portals.[9] In 2011, Inktel partnered with e-commerce company, Americaneagle.com, to enhance its ecommerce offerings.[10] [edit] Other Services Inktel lists services in the areas of Social Marketing, Data Management and Graphic Design.[7] [edit] Customer Experience Research Inktel's customer experience research stands as a series of industry-related studies into the way customers react to stimuli, applying the study of neuroscience. [11]. Despite various types of services, Inktel says its' ultimate expertise and specialization is brand management and optimizing customer experiences across all channels, be it call center, order fulfillment or website design.[12][11]

[edit] "Passion for People"(TM) Philosophy Inktel's employee-focus has won several awards and has been noted in several publications, including being named the "Best Company to Work For" in the state of Florida.[4] [edit] Hiring model

Inktel Direct's Human Resources Department (or "Human Capital" Department, as they deem it), earned the "Excellence in Human Resources" Award, as presented by the South Florida Business Journal.[13] Inktel's multistep and exhaustive hiring process includes multiple rounds of interviews per candidate, utilizing the hiring philosophy of "TopGrading,"[14] behavioral interviews, a personality test known as the Predictive Index,[15] background and drug screenings, an intelligence test known as the Wonderlic, and more. [edit] Training model Ongoing learning and development is a major component to Inktel's philosophy. The company operates an internal "university", the Inktel Direct Excellence Academy (IDEA), where employees can take course in general business skills as well as company-specific courses.[16][17] Employee Benefit News called this "...a unique work-life touch to training that has enhanced learning, increased employee satisfaction and reduced absenteeism."[16] The department is led by Michelle Roza, a Certified Professional Coach and AchieveGlobal certified trainer.[18] [19] [edit] Philanthropy Inktel's "iCares" program[20] has contributed to organizations such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation, Hands on Miami and numerous others. [edit] Wellness Focus Inktel's employee-centric nature is furthered through the usage of healthy vending machines[21], participation in athletic charity events such as triathlons and 5Ks [20], annual biometric screenings, running and nutrition tips from the CEO[22] and discounted gym memberships. [edit] Awards and recognition Inktel Direct has been awarded

"Workplace Excellence" Award Finalist[23] by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce in 2010 "Best Company to Work For" in all of Florida[4] in 2009 and #4 in 2010 "Best Place to Work" in South Florida[24] in 2008, 2009 and 2010

"Best Place to Work" Honorable Mention in Chicago by Crain's Chicago Business in 2010 American Teleservices Associations "Outstanding Corporate Citizen Award" in both 2008[25] and 2009. Top 20 Outsourcer Awards for the past four years[26]

[edit] Company Culture Innovation and a forward-thinking culture are apparent through internal contests such as "The Big Idea" contest[27] and its employee-led blog focused on admiration for Best Practices, "Collective Inktelligence."[28] [edit] Customer Service Inspired by the renowned customer service philosophies of Chip Conley's "Peak: How Great Companies Get their Mojo from Maslow" and Tony Hsieh's "Delivering Happiness,"[29] [30] Inktel's Client Services Department is led by Harvard Business School MBA and University of Texas graduate, Summer Dennis.[31][32] [edit] Blog Collective Inktelligence is written by the different employees of the organization and doesn't serve as a typical corporate blog, but rather one that serves to document Best Practices and "celebrate great ideas and great people

ABC analysis From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The ABC analysis is a business term used to define an inventory categorization technique often used in materials management. It is also known as Selective Inventory Control. Policies based on ABC analysis:

A ITEMS: very tight control and accurate records B ITEMS: LESS TIGHTLY CONTROLLED and good records C ITEMS: simplest controls possible and minimal records

The ABC analysis provides a mechanism for identifying items that will have a significant impact on overall inventory cost, [1] while also providing a mechanism for identifying different categories of stock that will require different management and controls. The ABC analysis suggests that inventories of an organization are not of equal value. [2] Thus, the inventory is grouped into three categories (A, B, and C) in order of their estimated importance. 'A' items are very important for an organization. Because of the high value of these A items, frequent value analysis is required. In addition to that, an organization needs to choose an appropriate order pattern (e.g. Just- in- time) to avoid excess capacity. 'B' items are important, but of course less important, than A items and more important than C items. Therefore B items are intergroup items. 'C' items are marginally important. [3] Contents [hide]

1 ABC analysis categories 2 ABC Analysis in ERP package 3 Example of the Application of Weighed Operation based on ABC class 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] ABC analysis categories There are no fixed threshold for each class, different proportion can be applied based on objective and criteria. ABC Analysis is similar to the Pareto principle in that the 'A' items will typically account for a large proportion of the overall value but a small percentage of number of items.[4] Example of ABC class are

A items 20% of the items accounts for 70% of the annual consumption value of the items. B items - 30% of the items accounts for 25% of the annual consumption value of the items. C items - 50% of the items accounts for 5% of the annual consumption value of the items.[5]

Another recommended breakdown of ABC classes[6]: 1. "A" approximately 10% of items or 68.6% of value 2. "B" approximately 20% of items or 23.3% of value 3. "C" approximately 70% of items or 10.1% of value [edit] ABC Analysis in ERP package Major ERP packages (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, etc.) have built in function of ABC analysis. User can execute ABC analysis based on user defined criteria and system apply ABC code to items (parts). See detail at external link. [edit] Example of the Application of Weighed Operation based on ABC class

Actual distribution of ABC class in the electronics manufacturing company with 4051 active parts.

Distribution of ABC class ABC class Number of items Total amount required A B C Total 5 10 85 100 70 15 15 100

Using this distribution of ABC class and change total number of the parts to 4000.

Uniform Purchase

When you apply equal purchasing policy to all 4000 components, example weekly delivery and re-order point (safety stock) of 2 week supply assuming that there are no lot size constraints, the factory will have 16000 delivery in 4 weeks and average inventory will be 2.5 week supply.

Application of Weighed Purchasing condition Uniform condition Weighed condition Items Conditions Items Conditions Re-order point=1 week A-class items supply 200 Delivery frequency=weekly Re-order point=2 week Re-order point=2 week B-class items supply All items supply 400 Delivery frequency=bi4000 Delivery weekly frequency=weekly Re-order point=3 week C-class items supply 3400 Delivery frequency=every 4 weeks

Weighed Purchase

In comparison, when weighed purchasing policy applied based on ABC class, example C class monthly (every 4 week) delivery with re-order point of 3 week supply, B class Bi-weekly delivery with re-order point of 2 weeks supply, A class weekly delivery with re-order point of 1 week supply, total number of delivery in 4 weeks will be (A 200x4=800)+(B 400x2=800)+(C 3400x1=3400)=5000 and average inventory will be (A 75%x1.5weeks)+(B 15%x3weeks)+(C 10%x3.5weeks)=1.925 week supply. Comparison of "Equal" and "Weighed" Purchase (4 weeks span) Equal purchase Weighed purchase % of No of No of ABC No of total delivery average delivery average note class items supply supply value in 4 in 4 level level weeks weeks same delivery frequency, safety stock reduced from 2.5 1.5 2.5 to 1.5 weeksa, A 200 75% 800 800 a weeks weeks require tighter control with more man hours.

400

15%

1600

2.5 weeks

800

3400 10%

13600

2.5 weeks

3400

Total 4000 100% 16000

2.5 weeks

5000

increased safety stock level by 20%, frequency 3 weeks delivery reduced to half. Less manhour required. increased safety stock from 2.5 to 3.5 week supply, delivery 3.5 frequency is one weeks quarter. Drastically reduced man hour requirement. average inventory value reduced by 23%, delivery 1.925 frequency reduced by weeks 69%. Overall reduction of man hour requirement

a)

A class item can be applied much tighter control like JIT daily delivery. If daily delivery with one day stock is applied, delivery frequency will be 4000 and average inventory level of A class item will be 1.5 days supply and total inventory level will be 1.025 week supply. reduction of inventory by 59%. Total delivery frequency also reduced to half from 16000 to 8200.

Result

By applying weighed control based on ABC classification, required man-hours and inventory level are drastically reduced