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We are a manufacturer/distributor of consumer products, with significant operations in Asia. We have our own support office in Shanghai, and use up to 12 different Chinese factories for our production. We own some of these, and some are joint ventures.
Our biggest issue is telecommunications reliability with both our China office and our factories. We have significant and protracted delays in communication with China Telecom in the greater China region, in the following areas:
Ø E-mail, especially in sending fairly large engineering drawings and files to/from Asia; and
Ø ERP and other database access.
Our server is located in Washington State, and our Shanghai personnel are entering transactions on this server via terminal services. Delays between keystrokes, uploading modules, and so on are extensive.
I would love to hear how others have dealt with these challenges.
Brian Shea (Brian.Shea@pmi-worldwide.com )
Response:
We have three subsidiaries in China, and implemented a Web-based ERP system, Intacct, early last year. All subsidiaries input their data online, in local currency, and we get it real-time. Through a very simple process, the data is converted to U.S. dollars and consolidated. We are also transitioning some data-entry functions to China to take advantage of its cost-effective resources. Our experience has been very good.
Kallen Chan (kallen.chan@aicent.com )
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