PIMA it: don't just survive, thrive!Information Technology utilization has become a business management strategy that is key to growing markets, improving business performance and improving customer service. Fittingly, the Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA) merged its International Management Conference and its Information Technology (IT) Conference into a combined event that was held in June, 2004 in New Orleans New Orleans (ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded . The crossover commingling Combining things into one body. The term commingling is most often applied to funds or assets. When a fiduciary, a person entrusted with the management of funds other than his or her own in trust, mixes trust money with that of others, the fiduciary is commingling of conference attendees was most evident in the networking receptions held at the end of each day in the IT exhibit halls. There was some crossover session attendance between IT and Management tracks, but the challenge to attendees was concurrent high quality sessions in each track. The combined format is also planned for next year's conference, to be held June 26-29 in Nashville, Tennessee “Nashville” redirects here. For other uses, see Nashville (disambiguation). Nashville is the capital and the second most populous city of the U.S. state of Tennessee, after Memphis. , and with the format being more familiar to attendees the crossover should be greater. Thriving in business requires the right tools and resources combined with solid strategic business planning. The IT exhibit hall was filled with providers that help companies set better IT utilization strategies, provide technology tools to improve manufacturing, and better integrate business information with manufacturing information to improve decision making. As with any conference, this was the time for sharing "big news" about new offerings or success stories. Some of the news items covered as press releases or presentations were: * Linux has arrived: Boise and G-P G-P Gel'fand - Pinsker (channel code) both had sessions sharing their positive results from implementation of Linux. Cost savings in time and labor, faster response time and lower costs of recovery/backup were a few of the benefits discussed during the presentations. * SAP & OSlsoft strengthen partnership: Netweaver application from SAP has allowed a greater integration of the offerings of the two providers. * Greycon wins Bowater and has purchased 12's "Mill Planning" applications: Bowater has selected Greycon to implement a mill-based solution within Bowater mills. With the purchase of 12's assets, Greycon has added 28 Smurfit and Inland Paperboard mills to its client list. * PeopleSoft announces Abitibi-Consolidated implementation complete: PeopleSoft announced that Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. has deployed PeopleSoft's Supply Chain Management applications at 21 paper mills in the U.S. and Canada. * EDS (Electronic Data Systems, Plano, TX, www.eds.com) Founded in 1962 by H. Ross Perot (independent candidate for the President of the U.S. in 1992), EDS is the largest outsourcing and data processing services organization in the country. announces "Agile Enterprise The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. " concept: EDS's "Agile Enterprise" model is focused on creating leverage and increased speed of information utilization within companies. * IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Business Consulting Services Noun 1. consulting service - service provided by a professional advisor (e.g., a lawyer or doctor or CPA etc.) service - work done by one person or group that benefits another; "budget separately for goods and services" : IBM distributed white papers titled "Looking Good on Paper" and "Profitability Throughout the Cycle" that spoke to key issues facing the forest products industry. Retaining and strengthening the talents and experience of the former Price Waterhouse forest industry practice acquired several years ago has made IBM one of the leading strategy, technology and services providers serving the forest products sector. * Accenture presents on Sarbanes-Oxley: Accenture presented what the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act See SOX. means to companies in the paper industry. This session was presented as part of the IT track but was an excellent example of an IT/Business crossover session. Adherence to Sarbanes-Oxley is all about reliability of information. This requires solid IT applications and infrastructure combined with sound business principles. Microsoft's annual "strategy and roadmap" session and the Chief Information Officer (CIO CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. (Chief Information Officer) The executive officer in charge of information processing in an organization. ) conference-ending session were the leading crossover technology sessions for Management Conference registrants. Microsoft's pervasiveness in corporate America and the CIO's growing role in business make these sessions "top of mind" for paper industry management. There was an underlying theme throughout the IT track sessions of better leveraging IT investments. In these challenging market times, companies that produce the greatest value from their IT investments will emerge as market leaders. With the wide array of solutions exhibited or presented during technology showcases, and with "lessons learned" shared during sessions, attendees left the conference better equipped to move beyond thoughts of mere survival toward empowering their companies to thrive. Editor's Note Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : In an upcoming Solutions! Magazine, we'll feature an article covering the "Value Propositions" of many PIMA IT Conference exhibitors and other providers serving the paper industry. Short synopses for each company will present how the solutions or services can help paper industry companies improve business performance by leveraging technology. TED MCDERMOTT, SOLUTIONS! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ted McDermott is a member of the TAPPI TAPPI Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Editorial Board and the PIMA Information Technology Specialist Group. He is an e-husiness/technology analyst and consultant based in Palatine, Illinois
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