ISM Silicon Valley

HarperCollins Publishers and RR Donnelley (Nasdaq:RRD - News) today announced their intent to enter into a breakthrough global supply chain agreement. The agreement is the first of its kind for a major general trade publisher. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, beginning in November 2011, RR Donnelley will handle the fulfillment of all HarperCollins new releases from its Harrisonburg, VA facility. Additionally, beginning in July 2012, RR Donnelley will handle fulfillment of all frontlist and backlist titles for Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers. RR Donnelley will also provide global Print on Demand (POD) services to HarperCollins, enabling most titles to be printed anywhere HarperCollins holds publishing rights. The agreement also renews and expands RR Donnelley's role as the printer, binder and distributor of HarperCollins' conventionally produced titles.

The Fourteenth Edition of Purchasing and Supply Management provides a comprehensive introduction to the purchasing and supply chain management field, supported by over 40 case studies. Cases cover purchasing and supply chain issues in a variety of settings, from process industries to high tech manufacturing and services as well as public institutions. The text focuses on decision making throughout the supply chain. Based on the conviction that supply managers, in concert with suppliers and distributors, have to contribute to organizational goals and strategies, this edition continues to focus on how to make that mission a reality.

One of the more pervasive changes in the manufacturing environment is the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Manufacturing planning and control (MPC) is now embedded in ERP systems in a great number of organizations. This both increases the opportunities for effective management and the complexity of integration required. No MPC activity can now ignore the pervasiveness of ERP systems.

Salesforce.com continues to make acquisitions. The on-demand CRM vendor paid $276M in cash and $50M in stock to acquire Radian6, a social media monitoring firm