Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software Review

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software offers manufacturing management built for the cloud, which includes inventory management, production, purchasing, MRP and cutting edge supply chain collaboration through Force.com, salesforce.com’s enterprise cloud computing platform. Kenandy offers manufacturers a versatile global system, which is both mobile and scalable. Kenandy focuses on providing a system that can be easily and quickly implemented.

One of Kenandy’s key features is that it is always up-to-date, which eliminates the pressure of expensive upgrades. Another advantage to using Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software is that there is no additional software or hardware to purchase. Kenandy offers a lean and agile solution for small to midsized manufacturers that can be implemented within weeks. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software is a secure and on-demand application that is easily customizable to meet the needs of several manufacturing segments – apparel, electronics, industrial machinery and more, as well as several modes – discrete, MTO, mixed mode and light assembly.

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software provides a complete system which focuses on the commonalities of most manufacturing features. Organization can have a simplistic, yet powerful solution that can easily be extended by leveraging the additional features through Force.com. There is no need for after-hours batch jobs, as MRP can be run at any time. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software is built on a data model that is fully integrated. Imagine entering POs, reviewing work orders, and updating BOMs, all quickly and easily from a single screen.

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software is built natively on Force.com, which allows it to be easily integrated with an Organization’s existing shop floor or associated accounting applications. Kenandy’s mobility is unrivaled, as it supports accessibility from iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android. Imagine on-the-go approvals, stock room kitting and more!

Built on salesforce.com’s highly evolved cloud computing platform, Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software offers a secure and scalable application that will pave the path for innovative manufacturers.

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software Video

Here is Kenandy’s introduction at Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce Event last November:

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software Features

Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software focuses on five distinct features: Inventory Management, Engineering, Purchasing, Production, and Requirements Planning.

Inventory Management
Kenandy provides an overview of that gives manufacturers complete control and tracking of their resources. This unique overview includes the maintenance of sub-inventories that specifically support distributed operations, and visibility of upstream and downstream inventory. The lean yet powerful software gives a single screen that allows direct access to a holistic view of any item, which includes inventory locations, open purchase orders and work orders, shortages, MRP plan requisitions, assemblies, order forecasts, recent transactions, manufacturing cross-references, and cycle counts. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software can then add or maintain the item master, add and maintain inventory locations, track the movement of items and assemblies, monitor inventory status, track lot, serial, and batch numbers, and manage nettable items. Kenandy makes inventory management simple and accessible at your fingertips.

Engineering
Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software provides an effective method of managing product designs, production information, product change orders for Bills of Materials, engineering changes, work orders, and shop floor routing. Assemblies can be managed from one screen, which allows for quick access to design documents and ECOs. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software makes it possible to cover the lifespan of entire product, from design through production.

Purchasing
Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software provides rich functionality in managing the purchase of inventory, as well as asset and expensable purchases. Kenandy completely integrates with your financial system, making it a simple and single point of PO entry and approval. A simple, integrated screen provides access
purchase orders, line items, and approval information, making the experience easy, yet efficient. MRP can also drive purchasing, and Kenandy can streamline this process through your enterprise.

Production
Kenandy makes it important point to streamline your enterprise through a lean operation. Kenandy allows for a simple and easy method to move work orders into work-in-progress with complete control and tracking. Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software is offered on a multitude of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android, which always puts you in control.

Requirements Planning
Kenandy alleviates the tedious after-hours batch processing of ERP systems, which is prone to failure. Kenandy provides an agile and lean system that rethinks MRP processing, and takes advantage of on-demand availability of larger memory and disk storage. Kenandy MRP is significantly faster and efficient, providing more opportunities for you. Kenandy MRP opens up the possibilities for you by providing simulators. With Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software, never again take a late-night call to recover from a failed batch job or miss a critical planning window.

Getting Kenandy Manufacturing Cloud Software Pricing and More Information

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The Future of Cloud ERP

The big question is how will companies adopt with Cloud ERP? According to Microsoft it will be a 50/50 mix of people using traditional on-premise ERP and those electing to move to the cloud. There are many things to consider if you are selecting a new system. One of the most important decisions you can make is on the platform you will choose. This lays the groundwork for all decisions moving forward.

Cloud Computing is not new. In fact, Salesforce.com pioneered this technology with multi-tenant architecture back in 2000. So with an eleven year history, they have grown to be a powerhouse in the cloud. However, most ERP vendors tried at first to apply an Application Service Provider (ASP) model in the early 2000’s and did not have much luck. Can they reshape themselves as Cloud Computing providers?

What are the differences from and ASP and a Cloud ERP company? Well first off, ASPs worked under the premise that they were simply hosting the software and data in a data center. There was a complete separation of customers due to the fact they each had their own server or set of servers. True cloud computing is more than just a marketing gimick. It is the pooling of resources to provide fast response and a virtual division of data and sessions. The analogy that Salesforce.com has used in the past is multi-tenant, meaning just like an apartment building, you lease an apartment (or a set of resources) that are separate from other renters, but using the same infrastructure.

Unfortunately, many ERP providers are going back to the ASP model and calling it cloud computing. Yes, it is easier for them to get up and running, but in the long run, it is more costly. Each client is now on their own infrastructure and updates have to be managed separately. In a true multi-tenant environment, you can upgrade everyone at the same time.

The client companies who are looking at new ERP solutions need to consider these things and more. We have listed below some of the key benefits and concerns a buyer needs to be aware of when looking at Cloud ERP.

Cloud ERP Benefits

No more heavy IT expenditures – no servers to buy
Less Staff to maintain the On-Premise systems
Reduced Costs in workstation expenditures – A net computer would work fine
Easily Expandable – just buy more licenses
Reduced costs of communications for large multi-site companies – possible elimination of site-to-site bandwidth
Costs hit the Profit and Loss statement, not the Balance Sheet – before you had to capitalize the large expenditure of an ERP, now you can expense the license costs.

Disadvantages of Cloud ERP

Financial Data part of the Cloud ERP system – Can you trust your provider?
Integration to other systems may be more difficult
Higher costs of Internet bandwidth
Indirect access to your data – will likely have to use an API rather than direct data access
Full backups will be dependent upon pulling data down from the cloud, thus possibly resulting in less frequent backups

Cloud ERP and the next few years

The future of Cloud ERP is going to be an exciting one. People will be transitioning technologies and as a result, many legacy systems will likely be retired. Software that is running on old platforms will begin to disappear. Only those providers with the most up to date technologies will be able to survive, because Cloud updates happen so fast and so regular. Imagine having pushed updates every quarter that just appear. No more waiting for disks and announcing downtime to your users while you test, load, and then patch updates. The next five years should be very exciting as more and more providers and customers transition to Cloud ERP.

Infor Launches Infor24 Cloud Initiative and Selects Microsoft Windows Azure as Preferred Cloud Platform

Infor and Microsoft

Infor, one of the major players in ERP software, announced today that it has teamed with Micosoft to utilize their Azure platform for SAAS based computing and is offering several cloud based solutions on the Azure Platform. This is a significant move on their part and shows how larger ERP Vendors are moving to cloud computing.

Leading their ERP charge is Syteline, a powerful ERP solution for manufacturers. Taking this to a cloud solution will allow companies without the base infrastructure to utilize this software without the headaches of maintaining application and database servers.

Cloud based ERP should also shorten the implementation timelines of implementations. Using a cloud platform, you have taken the infrastructure questions out of the equation and are now strictly focused on processes and configuration.

You can read the press release here: Infor Launches Infor24 Cloud Initiative and Selects Microsoft Windows Azure as Preferred Cloud Platform.

This seems to be a trend in the industry, ERP software vendors moving to the cloud. Infor is clearly an example of this. What do you think of larger ERP solutions moving to the cloud?

You can see more Infor products in our ERP Vendors Directory.

Infor Launches Infor24 Cloud Initiative

Cloud 2.0 is Here

Watching a recent Salesforce.com partner presentation, we got to see firsthand where the technology world is going specifically to Cloud 2.0. The age of Cloud 2.0 is here. We are moving from fixed environments to web-based, real-time environments. No longer are computers chained to the desktop, now the mobile worker is free to go anywhere.

More importantly, they are updated in real-time on the status of their coworkers, their projects, their subordinates, their customers, all through the new technology of Chatter, within Salesforce.com. If you haven’t heard of Chatter, think of it as Twitter for the corporation.

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are creating a generation of people who expect real-time updates on their friends and co-workers. Being aware of what people are working on and how they are solving problems through collaborative technologies are more examples of Cloud 2.0. Facebook has become a giant part of the web. In fact, in the younger generation, Facebook is the web. In general, if not monitored, you are likely to find more people on Facebook than on their business systems at any time. So why not bring the power of Facebook to business systems? That is what Salesforce is attempting to do with Chatter.

With the release of the iPad, there is now a tablet based mobile technology that can bring the web vividly to anyone, anywhere. At first, we thought it was purely and entertainment platform, but the more we understand it, the more we see that Apple is now moving to both a mobile and web based computing platform. It could probably be the next generation of Macintoshes for the cloud generation. People are now able to create, produce, and develop from anywhere there is a cell phone signal (or wifi).

Comparing Cloud 2.0 to Legacy Computing

Here is Salesforce’s view of Cloud 2.0. This says a lot!

Cloud 1.0	Cloud 2.0
Amazon.com	Facebook
Tabs	Feeds
Pull	Push
Click	Touch
Desktop	Smartphone/Tablet
Fixed	Mobile
Location Unknown	Location aware
Windows/Mac	Cocoa/HTML5

No longer are we talking about managing a business from within the four walls of the company. Businesses can now operate virtually. Further, sales will love this new technology as they can prep for their meetings in the parking lot with real-time pushed data, they will be able to connect to their customers and build relationships and then report back immediately via their iPad to their CRM, and they will have real-time insight into everything about that client by way of the mobile web.

As you can see the combination of social media, interactive CRM and ERP, and mobile touch computing such as the iPhone or iPad are changing the landscape of computing and IT. It is an exciting time to be in technology!

Cloud 2.0

What to ask before saying yes to SaaS, cloud computing

Here is a very informative article on the issues surrounding SAAS deployment. The one thing they didn’t mention is that a traditional purchase hits the capital budget, a SAAS deployment hits operating capital. Here is the snippet:

Not surprisingly, SaaS vendors have decided there’s no time like the present to make a full court sales press. In a down economy with slashed IT budgets, when there’s no tolerance for 18-month software implementations and the price tags of on-premise software from Oracle and maintenance fees for SAP applications are not falling, software-as-a-service and cloud computing offerings become more attractive options for businesses. Read More here…