09 February, 2021 ICG’s sales team is led by Roger Weidel and we’d like to share a bit about him. Roger joined the ICG team about two years ago and serves as our Sales Director. Roger spent over four decades working in an IT capacity within the manufacturing industry. Before his time at ICG, Roger spent 21 years at Fourth Shift, SoftBrands, and Infor. At each, he held a variety of consulting, sales, and implementation roles. Roger brings decades of manufacturing experience and knowledge to ICG. Because he grew up in manufacturing, he has vast expertise that he can share...

03 February, 2021 In part one and two of this series, ICG CEO Jeff Bronson shared why relying on one “IT Super Guy” is a risky undertaking. It doesn’t matter whether the person in question is internal or external to your organization. Today’s technology is too diverse, multifaceted, and complex to be tackled by a single resource. It’s important to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of all your resources. From there, you can build a cohesive team to support the technology needs of your organization. Meet Super SystemSometimes the “expert” is not a person at all, but is rather a...

25 January, 2021 Tennessee is a hotbed of manufacturing. We are so proud of our state! As of 2017, nearly 350,000 Tennesseans were employed in manufacturing. During this time, the state exported nearly $32 billion worth of manufactured goods. Additionally, at a national level, U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders totaled $383.8 million in October 2020, an increase of 3.7% from September 2020. “All metrics point to a continuation of economic recovery in the manufacturing technology sector,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT (the Association for Manufacturing Technology). The past 24 months have seen an even greater shift to onshore manufacturing....

05 January, 2021 Putting all your IT eggs in one basket is risky. And it often delivers poor results for the business. Therefore, a strong team approach is critical to success. Meet External Super GuyOften, the “guy” is a technology contractor or vendor.  They are branded as both an expert in business AND an inexpensive outsourced solution. The problem is that 99% of IT companies only focus on IT components. They don’t know how a manufacturing company works. They also don’t know what is required to deliver the ERP and business software. Business software is the foundation of the business....

15 December, 2020 As 2020 wraps up, we wanted to share some year-end best practices for closing out your Fourth Shift ERP. This has been an exciting and productive year in manufacturing! The below checklist will guide you through items that will help get your business set up to hit the ground running in 2021! Fourth Shift ERP:Lot Trace: — Review Retest and Expiration dates for lot numbers and move them to corresponding location — Purge Lot Trace history as needed, keeping in mind compliance and retention requirements: LHIP (Perform Fourth Shift Backup prior to any purge) Purchasing: — Review...