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ILOG Connection is produced by the Communication Department of ILOG S.A. in Gentilly, France |
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CUSTOMER NEWS New Oracle Internet APS to Use ILOG Optimization Oracle Corp. has selected ILOG optimization software components for inclusion in the upcoming Oracle Internet Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) solution. Oracle will use the industry-leading components in two key modules: Oracle Advanced Supply-Chain Planning and Oracle Advanced Manufacturing Planning. By providing the industry's most powerful algorithms, the components have become the acknowledged standard for optimization applications. Oracle Internet APS will enable companies to optimize their "extended" supply chains through a planning and scheduling solution that can generate a plan supporting even the most complex activity, whether its for high-level strategic planning or detailed shop floor scheduling. "Embedding best-in-class ILOG optimization components ensures that our customers are able to quickly generate the optimal plans they need to compete globally at Internet speed," said Don Klaiss, senior vice president of manufacturing and distribution at Oracle. "As the world moves to e-business, our goal is for Oracle APS to enable companies to optimize their supply chains as they fundamentally change their business model to succeed in the Internet age." Oracle is integrating the components into a successful memory-based planning solution that has already been deployed to hundreds of customers. By incorporating ILOG algorithms, Oracle will be able to deliver an unbeatable solution in a fraction of the time required to develop a constraint-based APS solution from scratch. "Optimization is one of those technologies that does take a rocket scientist to exploit. Why bother to develop it yourself when ILOG already has the expertise?" said David Dobrin, partner at analysis firm Benchmarking Partners, Inc. "Every major ERP and supply-chain vendor has incorporated ILOG technology within their product offering -- some products of which are being shipped today, some which are currently under development." Oracle Internet APS will use ILOG components with constraint and linear programming methodologies. The components include solvers for handling a broad array of supply-chain operations, and ILOG is the only supplier of components offering both methodologies.
ILOG Makes OrbixWeb™ Connection Java developers have a new, faster solution for linking distributed applications through the Internet: ILOG Server. ILOG has extended its top software component for connecting and synchronizing distributed applications, by adding a service for OrbixWeb, the leading CORBA-compliant Java-based middleware product from IONA Technologies. Developing widely distributed Java applications that can display data in real time on graphical user interfaces (GUIs) all across the network has always been very costly and time-consuming. But with ILOG Server, the applications and GUIs can be connected almost immediately, halving—if not more—development time. IONA has taken the lead in "Making Software Work Together"™. Its Orbix line gives customers standard-based enterprise middleware solutions for making diverse applications work together reliably and dependably. Already more than 3,500 businesses worldwide use Orbix middleware, and ILOG Server has the potential of greatly extending their operational reach. Find out how ILOG Server and IONA OrbixWeb can extend your reach across the Internet, by going to www.ilog.com and ordering a free CD-ROM on the ILOG-IONA connection.
McDougalls Foods Boosts Stock Turnover By using an ILOG-driven advanced planning and scheduling (APS) solution, McDougalls Foods has more than quadrupled its stock turnover. Britain's leading maker of baking flour, McDougalls Foods had adopted just-on-time manufacturing as part of a company-wide improvement program. The new system heightened efficiency at the company's operations, reducing inventories and doubling stock turnover from six to 12 times. To support the new system, McDougalls Foods hired WorldCLASS Manufacturing Systems Ltd. to use ILOG optimization software to develop an APS solution for making real-time finite production plans and schedules based on customer demand, inventories and factory bottlenecks. The result: stock turnover dramatically climbed again, hitting 32 times in January. "By using World Class Manufacturing Systems and ILOG," explains Martin Hollingworth, Operations Planning Manager at McDougalls Foods, "we were able to employ a combination of off-the-shelf and bespoke approaches to the development of this system. This was important because McDougalls Foods faced some site specific issues in scheduling bottlenecks, and the off-the-shelf packages we evaluated would not have been able to meet our complex requirement, or provide the flexibility we need." Powering the system are ILOG Solver and ILOG Scheduler. Both world-class C++ components for optimizing operations with constraint-based programming, they take information from McDougalls Foods' ordering system and generate schedules that ensure the right materials are always available at the right time. The system also enables the company to do unscheduled reporting to monitor areas with stock problems. The system also allows the company to update information as often as required, reacting to changes in both the marketplace and the factory. This has enabled McDougalls Foods to increase customer service levels--their most important measure of performance--while simultaneously reducing the level of its safety stock.
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