IT is not my core competence, should I outsource?

IT has become the biggest concern for Organizations today due to the volatile nature of markets and need to know tomorrow’s events, today and in some cases yesterday. Better communication and higher operational flexibility have become extremely desirable factors. The global IT revolution has made the life of managers simpler by providing real time data management and aiding real time decision making. Companies that specialize in providing IT solutions and services are proliferating at a very high pace. IT has become one of the fastest growing industries and is attracting highly skilled talent from around the globe. All successful organizations have realized the necessity of implementing IT solutions for their process and have been ahead of their competitors majorly because of their decision to embrace IT.
The biggest dilemma every company faces today is whether to outsource IT or to keep it in-house? This a major question and should be considered from a strategic view-point as the answer to this question can lead to competitive supremacy or total failure. Information is considered the most important resource for decision making in any Organization. To be able to achieve an efficient and effective Operation the right information needs to be available at the right time for the right person. Every Organization in the world, irrespective of industry has a ‘Core Competency’, for example Ford manufactures Cars, and Boeing manufactures Aircrafts, the key to success for such organizations has been the ability to concentrate on their core competency i.e. making cars and aircrafts. In the modern market companies that specialize in a particular product have a general trend of trying to achieve excellence in their core competency and outsourcing the functions that are not directly related to the same.
Information however is the most important resource of any organization and outsourcing your IT is a major decision, as every strategy made, every tactical plan conceived and every operational plan executed depends on accurate information available exactly when required. So, if your decision is to outsource the IT function, which is highly recommended if you are to concentrate on your core competency, the only real question is- Who is the right IT partner for you? The answer to this straight forward question is not so straight forward, as, when you look at the market it is filled with companies that claim to be a complete IT solution provider, but the actual picture may be a little different.
At I2DS we believe that actions speak louder than words and we have a long list of satisfied clients who have achieved the results they were looking for after incorporating our solutions. We have a wide range of products to cater any IT need you might have and we believe in careful analysis of our client’s needs and then devising the perfect solution for them. We have a myriad of successful products such as Factory MES, Communication Management, Manufacturing Excellence, Inventory Management, Safety Management, Quality Management, Equipment Management etc. The above mentioned solutions are tailor-made to our client’s needs and can be applied individually or as a complete package. The idea here is not to promote our solutions but to educate our readers that there is much beyond standard IT packages available in the market, all you have to do is ask us to come visit you and we will make a worthy partner for your every IT need. We can provide you with the most modern, state-of-the-art IT solutions that will help you concentrate on your core competencies and yet be in total control of your operations. I2DS is the IT partner you have always been waiting for, so get in touch with us through e-mail at info@i2ds.com or simply click the Request Live Demo button and forget about your IT worries forever.

A Complete IT Outsourcing Solution.

Information is considered the most important resource for decision making in any Organization. To be able to achieve an efficient and effective Operation the right information needs to be available at the right time for the right person. Ever since the advent of Information Technology or IT as we all know it, many companies have been trying to provide means for better data management, smoother and error free operations. IT has transformed the way organizations do business around the world. But a major concern that remains is whether we need to develop an IT department in-house or outsource the IT function. Every Organization in the world, irrespective of industry has a ‘Core Competency’, for example Toyota manufactures Cars, and Boeing manufactures Air-crafts, the key to success for such organizations has been the ability to concentrate on their core competency i.e. making cars and air-crafts. In the modern market companies that specialize in a particular product have a general trend of trying to achieve excellence in their core competency and outsourcing the functions that are not directly related to the same. Information however is the most important resource of any organization and outsourcing your IT is a major decision, as every strategy made, every tactical plan conceived and every operational plan executed depends on accurate information available exactly when required. So, if your decision is to outsource the IT function, which is highly recommended if you are to concentrate on your core competency, the only real question is- Who is the right IT partner for you? The answer to this straight forward question is not so straight forward, as, when you look at the market it is filled with companies that claim to be a complete IT solution provider, but the actual picture may be a little different. At I2DS we believe that actions speak louder than words and we have a long list of satisfied clients who have achieved the results they were looking for after incorporating our solutions. We have a wide range of products to cater any IT need you might have and we believe in careful analysis of our client’s needs and then devising the perfect solution for them. We have a myriad of successful products such as Factory MES, Communication Management, Manufacturing Excellence, Inventory Management, Safety Management, Quality Management, Equipment Management etc. The above mentioned solutions are tailor-made to our client’s needs and can be applied individually or as a complete package. The idea here is not to promote our solutions but to educate our readers that there is much beyond standard IT packages available in the market, all you have to do is ask us to come visit you and we will make a worthy partner for your every IT need. We can provide you with the most modern, state-of-the-art IT solutions that will help you concentrate on your core competencies and yet be in total control of your operations. I2DS is the IT partner you have always been waiting for, so get in touch with us through e-mail at info@i2ds.com or simply click the Request Live Demo button and forget about your IT worries forever.

The Path for Turning Information To Knowledge

Information is considered the biggest asset of an Organization, all management theories stress on improving Information processing and knowledge management to be more successful. Information which becomes a part of our cognition over a period of time through experience and education becomes Knowledge. In our daily work routine we come across a lot of Data, but this data needs to be presented in a meaningful form to become information and make sense, then analyzing this information will result in learning and eventually in knowledge. Information Technology has changed the way Organizations manage their Data, process their information and manage their knowledge. Today there are systems that process raw data and present potent information to the users, this saves time and helps avoid lengthy calculations and paperwork. For a truly modern organization data processing and database management are not the major concerns, it is the integration of all their operations and free flow of knowledge that has become the major area of concern. I2DS has realized this need of the futuristic organizations and has developed a true Knowledge Management solution to meet these needs of future, today. We offer a seamless integration for the entire Organization, our services and solutions range from Database Management to Manufacturing Excellence. We can achieve the level of integration desired by the Organization as we have developed solutions that are aimed at automation of Information Processing and better Knowledge Management. Let’s have a brief glance at all our verticals; they are, Data Management, Factory Automation, Factory MES, Manufacturing Excellence and IT/Software services. Our verticals have been designed specially to provide integrated platforms, which have the functionality of converting raw data to information and providing seamless information to achieve smooth learning resulting in an Organization wide Knowledge Base. We have experts in all verticals mentioned above, which gives us the ability to empathize with Organizations and realize their pain points better, our solutions are aimed at resolving present information problems and better dealing with the future ones. So if you are an Organization that aspires to be a market leader through effective and efficient Knowledge Management, I2DS is the right partner for you. If you want to get a glimpse of our world class product line e-mail us at info@i2ds.com or hit the Request Live Demo button on this page.

Improve Your Safety Performance with I2DS’ Safety Management Solution

Is Safety a priority in your Organization? If Yes, we are the partner you have been looking for. I2DS provides the most advanced Safety Management Solutions in the industry today. Our Safety management tool allows you to track each safety issue in real time, assign owner to each action item for safety, capture workplace safety training sessions and above all our solution is flexible enough to accommodate to all your safety needs. We at I2DS believe in providing our clients to choose the functionality they require and map thos requirements to a solution best suited for their organization. So you can leave your Safety worries with us and rely on our Safety Management Solution to help you create a safe and healthy work environment.

What Are You Waiting For- Be The Best In Quality, Apply QMS Today

Quality has become the back-bone of successful business operations today. Every OEM/manufacturer stresses that their product quality is far superior to their competitors. The nature of international business is such that quality has become an order qualifier and is considered the primary consideration by the customers. To have a superior hold on their quality issues, operations managers around the world look at Statistical Tools and information systems. Without the help of modern information systems, getting a grasp of quality issues and dealing with them in real-time becomes very complex and time consuming. A quality management system can help manufacturers get a hold on their quality efforts, but the application of such systems should be done with extreme caution.
Every process is unique and faces a distinct set of issues both long term and contingent. In such a case a general Quality Management System or QMS can prove to be an impediment rather than a facilitator of the Quality endeavor. What organizations need to understand is that the one size fits all theory does not work in the case of production processes and any IT application should be carefully designed specifically for the organization’s processes to bear fruition. There are however some generalizations that can be made pertaining to the basic functionality that a QMS should have, let’s look at them here. A QMS should be able to provide potent information about the important process metrics, highlight quality issues and help in root cause analysis. But the over-all application of a QMS would depend drastically on how the process actually is and what is the present orientation towards product/process quality.
An ideal QMS would be able to adapt itself to the process and provide its users real-time, actionable information regarding all quality issues, and help them by providing an SPC application to ensure any occurrence can be assigned a cause and can be analyzed with the adapt at the systems disposal. There are also certain value added features that a QMS can provide pertaining to performance appraisal, process appraisal, process/product improvement and overall process efficiency. These features and their applicability are a function of the process owner’s needs and the capability of the service provider. With the emergence of TQM, Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma, the importance of Quality Management Systems has escalated, what companies need to decide is the level of proficiency and depth of analysis they want for their operation and then select a suitable partner to provide for their needs. To be reasonably successful in your operation also a QMS is a must, but to be the leader in your industry, the Quality of your QMS becomes quite important. So while selecting a partner for application of a QMS bear in mind what you need and how can the QMS provider meet and exceed your needs with their applications.

My Factory Is Productive and Profitable, Why Do I Need an MES?

The question stated above seems to be a very valid question, I mean what could be wrong with a factory that is making heaps of money and filling orders in the given lead time? This thought process is common in the minds of conservative managers and can be correct if the industry produces products or services that are labor or skill intensive and cannot be substituted by any kind of automation, one such trade is the Handicraft Industry. However the above perspective is a wrong way of looking at production and automation in general. What we need to look at is how is our industry shaping up, what are the best practices, is there mush room for innovation and automation in our sector? When we begin to ask such questions to ourselves and to our teams, we can gauge the gaps in our armor and thus establish the need for automation in operation of our production units.
MES is an application that has the capability of automating even the most industrialized production facility. MES application integrates your operation and provides you an end-to-end view of your production plant. So we need to analyze our process keeping in mind two very important considerations, present industry benchmarks and future trend towards automation. Even is the future inclination of the industry does not support automation in information processing, we should always remember that every industry has a pioneer and this might be your chance to be a pioneer in your industry.
Let’s try and understand why is an MES application so desirable, does it affect the bottom line, what sort of competitive advantage can you achieve by an MES application? MES applications are closely related to factory operations management, today we will look at these questions from an Operations Management perspective, Operations management is a pillar on which organizations build their competitive advantage. Operations management encompasses the entire organization, expertise in operations management can ensure that the process used by a particular organization remains the best in the industry. Operations Management in manufacturing industry revolves around the idea of managing the process by facts and doing things right the first time. Operations managers have moved from a fire fighting role to a planning role. QBD-Quality By Design, QFD-Quality Function Deployment, SPC-Statistical Process Control and Taguchi’s Quality Function are some of the theories and practices that advocate the involvement of Operations professionals in product planning, product design and process control.
Successful Organizations have realized the importance of Operations Management and Technology. These are the two factors that can make an ordinary operation a very efficient and successful one. An MES application combines both these facets of Operation; it is a combination of Information Technology and Operations Management. Manufacturing Organizations can benefit immensely by the application of MES application, as it provides both automation but also Integration of their entire production process under one comprehensive system. But choosing just any MES application can be very risky and lead to massive losses and develop a negative attitude in the workforce.
To be able to design the perfect MES application, expertise in both Technology and Ops Management are prerequisites. As I mentioned earlier, every manufacturing process has some unique attributes, an MES provider should be able to assess these unique feature and use them in the MES application so as to further benefit the customer’s Organization. I2DS is one such company that can boast of expertise in both Information Technology and Operations Management. The team of experts at I2DS has worked for few of the top organizations world wide and is renowned for its skills in Factory Automation, Information Technology, Data Management and Operation Management. This means that the team does not take any manufacturing process for granted, each process is carefully analyzed to determine the scope and functionality of an MES application.
I2DS brings more to the table than any other MES application provider in the industry. Every MES solution provided is tailor made to suit the present and future technology of the client, with the main aim of making Operation Management more efficient and decision making more concrete. If you also value Technology and Operations Management and believe that your MES application should facilitate these factors, I2DS is the best partner for you. To know more about our solution or to get your process analyzed by our panel of experts, e-mail us at info@i2ds.com or hit the Request Live Demo tab on this webpage and we will get back to you