Jacqueline Emigh

NEW YORK—Microsoft Corp. is quietly working on a new initiative, internally code-named Mission Critical Microsoft, to help fight the rising specter of Linux running on enterprise mainframes. “Mission Critical Microsoft is an internal initiative, but it will probably result in a new program announcement from Microsoft within the next year,” Paul Corriveau, group product manager […]

Wal-Mart, Target and Albertsons will probably be getting more company in the land of RFID mandates soon. Kroger, CVS and other big retailers are now looking at launching full-fledged mandates of their own, technologists and consumer-goods distributors said in a freewheeling discussion about wireless ID. Participants also pointed to industry trends in item-level RFID (radio […]

The RFID industry is buzzing with controversy over Intermec Technologies Corp.s quietly evolving plans to tack patent royalties on to competitors future products. Opponents insist that the licensing plans could add big delays to customer-driven RFID initiatives from retailers Wal-Mart Inc., Target Corp. and Albertsons Inc. How much money is at stake? Intermec is looking […]

Longtime SAP partner Acsis has launched RFID Quickstart, the latest in a string of products that technology vendors are rolling out to help large product manufacturers meet encroaching RFID mandates. In an interview, Acsis executive vice president Steve Brown said many of the companys customers are Fortune 1000 consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies trying to […]

IBM is readying a new software product, known internally as BAM (Business Activity Monitoring), for use in supply chain management, risk management and other areas where customers want to generate real-time reports from either single or multiple sources of information. Produced this summer through IBMs Extreme Blue college internship program, BAM will be marketed to […]

CMGI is returning from a role as an Internet incubator to its real roots as a supply chain provider, said George McMillan, the companys CEO and president. CMGIs new ModusLink business unit, being launched this month, combines the companys existing SalesLink with recently acquired Modus Media. “Weve spent the last couple of months repositioning ourselves, […]

Hot on the heels of a court complaint by OrderPro Logistics, former company CEO Richard Windorski has sent out a letter to shareholders, flatly denying allegations of involvement in kickbacks and other stock schemes and also accusing OrderPros board of directors of slander. The Internet-based logistics startup announced Aug. 6 that it had filed a […]

Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble are among the enterprises that will soon start testing the GDSN (Global Data Synchronization Network), an Internet-based supply chain initiative launched Thursday for streamlined communication of product information. GDSN is a collaborative effort between the UCC (Uniform Code Council), original overseers of product bar-code information, and EAN International, another international […]

RFID is hailed by its fans as a tool that will revolutionize the supply chain by streamlining product tracking. Yet as Wal-Mart and other big retailers forge ahead on 2005 deadines for initial compliance, security risks are coming to light that could conceivably raise mayhem not just on retail shelves, but all the way back […]

CooperVision Inc., one of the worlds leading contact lens makers, is now eyeing a December implementation of Kewill Systems plcs Javalin Enterprise Ship, the last piece in the current phase of a new supply chain system for its U.S. market. Lake Forest, Calif.-based CooperVision now ranks third in the soft contact lens market internationally, behind […]