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According to a recent Financial Times article on the International Security Forum's new project with supply chain data, consideration of this aspect of business has become critical to operate a competent organization in today's marketplace. But, while many experts in the United Kingdom may be focused on providing additional supply chain security, the Global Market Development Center (GMDC) based in Boston is concentrating on ways a company can improve its overall supply chain management with the use of better technology.

"With so many economic variables outside people's direct control, the best news from the survey is that there are specific actions that companies in the consumer goods supply chain can take today, like modernizing their forecasting tools, to improve their ability to raise profitability and service levels," says Mark Deuschle, chief marketing officer at GMDC.

According to a survey conducted by the group, 74 percent of managers would prefer a bottom-up supply chain forecast deriving from key customer and point-of-sale data. But, more than half of respondents don't actually have a forecast system in place beyond Excel spreadsheets, which may not allow them to effectively plan and coordinate with their partners. Furthermore, 41 percent of respondents said that at least one-third of their volume comes from advertising and trade promotions that will directly impact baseline forecasts.

It's clear that being able to accurately track and forecast supply chain demands requires technology beyond just a standard spreadsheet. In order to keep up with this burgeoning requirement, managers may want to consult a FileMaker developer to create a custom database software that fits their needs.

By maintaining such key figures as advertising and promotions demands, fill rates and in-stock numbers as well as point-of-sale data with a more dynamic database software, companies will gain much more visibility into their supply chain. 

In today’s online market, maintaining an excellent digital advertising campaign can be crucial. But, if companies aren’t keeping track of critical analytical figures – budgeting, advertising space and search engine optimization (SEO) data – then there’s no way to truly tell how well they’re doing.

For example, according to BIA/Kelsey’s Media Ad View reports, the Dallas area can expect to see a spike in video display advertisement spending. In fact, the analytics say this media spending is projected to nearly triple by 2016.

“Dallas businesses are still spending money on traditional media, but they are allocating an increasingly higher percentage of their advertising budgets to digital media,” said Mark Fratrik, vice president and chief economist of the consultancy.

While Dallas may only be an example, it’s clear that budgets and media buying is just one of many statistics that companies need to keep track. Doing so with custom database software, such as FileMaker, can help ensure their efforts are creating a positive return on investment.

But, Entrepreneur Magazine recommends that companies ignore a few analytical numbers in the burgeoning field of SEO.

According to Entrepreneur, companies may want to ignore where they place in the top 30 of Google search rankings and look closely at top 10 rankings. This is because many individuals hardly ever go past the first page in a Google search.

In addition, rather than tracking the unique views a website sees, a company should focus on the conversion rates from website viewer to customer. This statistic will paint the real picture of how effective a marketing campaign or website is.

Being able to maintain these statistics is crucial in gauging a company’s performance and impact on target audiences. In order to keep an accurate account of analytics, companies may want to invest in custom database software that can hold this necessary data.

With the Supreme Court upholding the Obama Administration’s landmark healthcare legislation known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, many changes are sure to work their way into the healthcare industry. The most recent began on August 1 with the introduction of a new provision that allows women to access birth control and other reproductive screenings and treatments for free – something that has been a hot topic between political parties.

But, another market sector that is expecting major changes due to the new bill is the nursing homes industry – technically referred to as skilled nursing facilities (SNF) – which, according to the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, will expect to see a $4 billion budget reduction between 2009 and 2014.

“The staggering level of SNF Medicare cuts resulting from budgetary actions and regulatory changes since 2009 has brought one of America’s most important health sectors to the brink of operational viability, and is at a tipping point,” said Alan Rosenbloom, president of the alliance.

As the Affordable Care Act’s productivity adjustment is projected to cut $34 billion from SNFs over 10 years, it becomes clear that these important aspects of the healthcare industry may need to make some large changes in the near future.

While making these changes, facilities may benefit the most from using custom database software to manage crucial information. Keeping a sharp eye on expenses such as payroll, overtime and operational costs can be key in times of change and something that can be fulfilled with custom software.

In addition, consulting a FileMaker developer to create this database software can allow companies to implement a program that can grow and contract with the business, maintaining necessary information as the industry changes and adapts.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Amherst exposed that today's commonly used medical devices may need better security and tracking methods as well as an updated means of maintaining important information in case of malfunctions. Most of these problems can be alleviated through the use of custom database software.

By combing through the Food and Drug Administration's databases, the group of researchers determined that the industry needs a more effective reporting system for medical devices and increased cybersecurity efforts.

According to Kevin Fu, a computer scientist and medical device security expert at UMass Amherst, hospitals should "rethink how to effectively and efficiently collect data on security and privacy problems in devices that increasingly depend on computing systems susceptible to malware."

With the increasing dependence on medical devices to monitor illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, the safety and maintenance of these devices is becoming very important. While working through the FDA's databases the researchers found that, while security concerns are relatively low, the way the administration stores and records important device information needs tweaking, as it is not well suited for handling modern malfunctions and repairs.

By using custom database software, hospitals and medical professionals can create a database that holds important user information that will allow them to keep an accurate account of specific device locations. In addition, custom database software can be used to file reports of incidents involving these devices for authorities and aid with any subsequent investigations. Administrators can later track the need for possible repairs and determine how much this work would cost.

Having an online retail site can be critical for companies in this day and age. As technology progresses, more consumers are not only purchasing items online, but on their mobile devices and cell phones, as well. This drastically increases the importance of not only having a high-quality website, but also providing excellent customer service.

According to Inc. Magazine, quick and easy is the name of the game for increasing online sales. While most of this comes down to efficient website design that allows for seamless browsing and clear product pages, much of it also takes place after the customer has selected an item.

By storing necessary customer information with custom database software, companies can use this to automatically refill billing and shipping information, which is often seen as a nuisance by repeat customers.

Also, maintaining account information in custom database software can not only be useful for allowing forgetful customers to access their login or password information, but also prove an effective for marketing tool. By tracking customer behavior data, companies can increase the effectiveness of targeted internet marketing initiatives.

In addition, after a customer has purchased something, it can be helpful to send them to a "thank you" page, as this is where visitors are most responsive, says Entrepreneur Magazine. By putting a call to action on this page, businesses can increase the effectiveness of that call to action, and introduce an excellent opportunity for customer satisfaction surveys.

These surveys can help companies gain valuable insight into what's working with the site and what may need work. By tracking this data, companies will have a comprehensive picture of what they need to do to create the best online shopping experience for their customers.  

Customer interaction has always been an area of business that can make or break a company. Most often, a company is either too reclusive or too intrusive, not finding the right balance of when and how often they should engage in customer interaction – on both the customer service side and the sales side. This can have a huge effect on how happy clients are and, thusly, the bottom line of the business.

In his interview with Entrepreneur, Richard Branson – the eclectic CEO of Virgin Inc. – says that when it comes to customer service and meeting consumer expectations, her prefers to rely more on individual experience than on market trends or big data analysis.

But, while this method may work well for Branson and his business ventures, it can oftentimes produce varied results that depend largely on uncontrollable elements. In order to help boost sales as well as customer satisfaction in a more reliable manner, many companies should provide their employees with software that can aid with current and potential customer interactions while still giving them the freedom to add that human touch that Branson suggests.

Inc. Magazine recommends that companies make their processes more efficient for their employees. This can be done by using customer relationship management software that allows workers to access and store essential information about anything from product details, client information, cold calling scripts and recent sales figures. This information can complement a salesperson’s own ability to gauge customers interest and encourage a sale.

In addition, boosting morale is always a great way to increase productivity, as motivated employees are more likely to take extra steps to help customers. This can be done by using custom database software to track an employee’s progress toward reaching a sales goal or even the overall team’s improvement. This can help give hardworking representatives a tangible way to look at the importance of their role in the company.

A new study by RapidBlue, an analytics software company, shows that tracking and analyzing customer behavior data as well as advertising analytics can greatly improve the insight businesses have in their marketing campaigns.

RapidBlue tracked participating stores’ Google AdWords campaigns and then implemented analytics tracking at these companies’ in their brick-and-mortar locations. RapidBlue continued monitoring customer traffic after the AdWords campaigns ended to cultivate comparison data.

“We’re not really tracking the individual person,” said RapidBlue chief operating officer Sampo Parkkinen to VentureBeat, a major industry blog. “We’re installing our solution, which tracks mobile phones in retail outlets. Then we look at the sales metrics and how they’re fluctuating.”

While tracking both the progress of the online ad campaigns and the customer behavior in the stores, the company found that AdWords contributed to a double-digit increase in both foot traffic and the average amount of time a customer spent in each store. These behaviors can provide sales associates with more opportunities to facilitate customer interaction and sales

While the study clearly shows the effects of running a well-targeted internet marketing campaign, it also demonstrates how important analytics can be for companies – especially in the digital age.

By using custom database software, small businesses will be able to effectively monitor customer analytics and behavior. This can lead to increased insight into what customers may be responding to – whether it’s a certain Google AdWord campaign or social media activity – and how they’re responding to it.

In addition, custom database software can help business owners track valuable customer data that can provide information on the identity of their key demographic as well as any other consumer trends that can facilitate more effective communication between the customer and sales associate.

According to Bloomberg, the Washington-based technology giant Microsoft experienced a higher multiyear gain than analysts had predicted last quarter. This may be because most companies that either subscribe to or use Microsoft's business software are beginning to update or renew software subscriptions.

But, while corporations may be benefiting from software updates, a new survey from videoconferencing software provider Skype shows that roughly 40 percent of consumers from the United States, England and Germany do not regularly update their software when given the opportunity.

In addition, about 25 percent of respondents in each country say that they don't clearly understand why they need to update their software. And, more than half said they needed at least two to five reminders before they installed the software updates. Ultimately, most of the responsibility may lie on the shoulders of the software developers to make sure their customers understand the value of software updates.

"Only by regularly updating, are consumers able to enjoy the benefits of improved voice and video calling quality, longer mobile battery life and bug fixes, in addition to new features that we regularly add across our portfolio," said Linda Summers, director of product marketing at Skype, describing the value of updating her company's software.

In order for smaller software companies to accurately notify their customers of available updates, they may want to use custom database software to store the appropriate customer contact information as well as each individual's product information.

While also tracking when a product update is available, database software can allow customer service representatives to track how many free updates the customer may have left if such a program exists. In addition, if a company is using a loyalty program, this software can track how long an individual has been a customer and what rewards they may qualify for, including free updates.

According to a new survey from OfficeTeam, 41 percent of office managers believe their workplaces to be somewhat more competitive than last year. In addition, 8 percent say their workforce is significantly more competitive than it’s previously been. This shift to a more competitive workplace may also mark an overall increase in office productivity, something that can be measured by managers with custom database software.

“A little friendly competition in the office is healthy if it inspires great individual and team performance,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. “Rivalry between co-workers can become more intense when the economy is uncertain and people feel pressure to prove themselves. Although it’s natural for employees to want to stand out among their colleagues, it shouldn’t be at the expense of others.”

While competition requires a form of measurement, one group of HR managers are trying to create a national standard that gauges the value of a workforce. According to BusinessWeek, a group of 600 HR managers, academics and advisers are creating a way to measure workforce productivity, diversity, job training, turnover and other human resource issues.

In addition, this group is creating a template for a way that companies can communicate this information with shareholders, to help these important board members who are typically away from the workforce understand how productive and efficient the organization is running.

While this national metric is still in development, having a standard performance metric is a great way to induce healthy workplace productivity. By using custom database software to not only measure the standard but also rank and track employees’ progress and standings among each other, companies can help turn a normally dull work environment into one of competition and striving for excellence.

According to a new survey from staffing agency KPMG, 76 percent of Minneapolis-based business owners feel that their profits will increase throughout the year. This statistic is up from 67 percent last year, showing increased confidence in the economy.

This confidence is also translating into new jobs, as 48 percent of respondents plan to expand their workforce in the year, which is up 13 percent from last year.

"Although business leaders continue to voice concerns about economic uncertainty, they are moving their businesses forward in this 'new normal,' post-recession environment and are voicing more confidence as a result," said KPMG Minneapolis managing partner George Kehl.

As a result, these companies may need to use custom database software to maintain an accurate account of their employees, payroll and tax information. If not, they may end up in hot water much like a Chipotle branch based in Minnesota. In May, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) forced the company to terminate roughly 450 workers due to invalid documents.

Throughout the investigation, which started in 2010, Chipotle was able to produce over 300,000 pages of documents for ICE's review, according to BusinessWeek. Throughout all documents, the company could still not provide sufficient proof for the validity of 450 employees' documents.

This probe also came at the same time that the Mexican restaurant chain was suing the Department of Homeland Security's E-verify program, which also validates the documents that are provided by potential citizenship.

Clearly, the importance of maintaining appropriate and verified documents is huge not only in Minnesota, but anywhere. Companies that want to ensure they are able to do so may want to consult a FileMaker developer to create custom database software that's designed specifically for their company's needs.