Reengineering—sometimes called business process reengineering, or BPR—originated in a 1990 article in the Harvard Business Review by former MIT professor Michael Hammer, who followed up in 1993 with the seminal book Reengineering the Corporation.

The core of reengineering is a change in organizational structure, in which people who were formerly organized by function (“functional silos”) are instead organized by process or product.

The yen has slid to its lowest level in almost seven months compared to the US dollar. The latest exchange rate is 104 yen to one US dollar, a 5% depreciation from last month. Less than a year ago, the exchange rate was 80 yen to the dollar. Year-over-year, the value of the Japanese yen declined more than 30%.

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- IDC Manufacturing Insights today predicted 3D supply chains will be one of the top developments in the coming year. The research group made its comments as part of its annual top 10 predictions for manufacturing.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- After a decline in the second quarter of 2013 and a tepid expansion in the third, demand for touch-screen panels used in notebook PCs is set to rebound to double-digit growth during the last three months of the year. Shipments of touch panels for notebooks will amount to 4.9 million sheets in the fourth quarter, up 10% from 4.4 million in the third quarter, according to data from IHS. This follows a marginal 2% increase in the third quarter and a 5% drop in the second.