Posts Tagged: automation

Current Change & Future Vision for Open Data

Open data not only promises needed innovation and government reform, but also unique business opportunities benefiting government and private sector entities alike. Government is not the only driver of data transformation. Grassroots innovators working in specific information areas like geospatial, initiated most open data transformations. These efforts were aided by President Obama’s 2013 Open DataRead… Read more »

Dealing With Cutbacks? Turn to Automation

Do less with more. One person doing two jobs. Make better decisions – but with fewer resources. These sort of phrases have become the new edict of government. As budgets get cut and staff reduced, government employees wonder how, exactly, they are supposed to get everything done, when it seems like they have more andRead… Read more »

You Can Only Build So Many Walls

For years the IT community has been building walls and digging moats to keep out cyber attackers. Now the focus has shifted. Rather than zero-in on outside invaders, security experts have set their sights on internal vulnerability. – Federal Times. Automation alone can’t prevent cyber attacks. Why? “It is critical to have people standing onRead… Read more »

One Police Department Still Practices Asset Management With Index Cards

In the business world, poor efficiency equals lost profits and less chance at survival. As dire as that sounds, inefficiency among first responders can have even more serious consequences, especially with state and local police departments. Yet many local government agencies all over the country still grapple with the issue of asset management and inventoryRead… Read more »

Fixed Asset Management Takes Center Stage For Fire Departments

Take a spin through the headlines and it’s easy to see fire departments struggling with fixed asset management. In a rural Mississippi town recently, thieves made off with much of the equipment that allowed a volunteer fire department to do its critical job. They stole the “jaws of life,” saws, fans, tools and other equipment.Read… Read more »

Inefficient Warehouse Management Wastes 3,000 Hours Each Year

That “unproductive” feeling in your warehouse likely isn’t due to your employees’ extra coffee breaks. A recent survey of distribution centers in the United Kingdom revealed that DCs waste an average of 3,000 hours per year on inefficient workflow and processes. Responses from 250 supply chain, warehouse and distribution managers were compiled to show thatRead… Read more »

Potential Port Strike Forces Retailers to Prepare for Supply Chain Management Challenges

Chinese New Year is signaling an increase in transpacific freight, but retailers are bracing for potential supply chain disruptions over threats of a worker strike at gulf and east coast ports. Though talks made progress in December, when an earlier strike was avoided between the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s AssociationRead… Read more »

Technology Review: Then and Now

The start of a new year usually signifies a time for reflection on where we’ve been and where we’re headed, and nowhere is that disparity more glaringly apparent than in the technology sector. A decade ago, a business traveler had to collect receipts, pull up Excel and spend an afternoon keying up an expense reportRead… Read more »

Smart Supply Chain Management Is Key to Success In the ‘Age of Now’

At some point in the past decade, society entered what I’ll call the “Age of Now.” Instant gratification is not a new concept, of course. According to Wikipedia (our favorite modern shortcut to learning things nowinstead of doing actual research), pizza delivery began in Naples way back in the 1800s. Florists have offered same-day deliveryRead… Read more »

Ecuador Mandates Transition to Electronic Invoice Management

Though Europe has led the charge toward mandating electronic invoice management for private and public organizations, e-invoicing has been gaining rapid ground in South America as well. Ecuador has now joined the ranks of countries looking to cut costs and improve services through implementation of an electronic invoice management system, following a pilot program whichRead… Read more »