Finally Starship can ship LTL and FTL.  There will be two modules - Starship Parcel is what MAS 90 and MAS 500 users have now.  Then, the new module, Starship Freight, can be added on and allows freight rate shopping and shipping LTL and FTL.    Although Starship Freight is ready, V-Technologies and Sage are still working out the kinks as far as marketing and pricing.  But soon, Starship’s capaiblities will have much more diversity.

So what is the next step for MAS 90?  Version 4.30 is to be released in Summer, 2008, and the outlook is very promising.  First, the paperless office products are going to be embedded as a standard feature.  Second, SageCRM is going to be a bundled product.  What this means is that the integration is not only seamless, but it will basically be just another module.  Another exciting change is the integration of Sage Payment Services, which means MAS 90 will no longer be dependent on PC Charge.  Unfortunately, inventory and purchase order will not be upgraded to the business framework yet.  We are hoping for version 5.0 or above.

Lists:  the internet is full of them.  Not without reasons, since lists are fun, and little-known facts can be compelling.  For instance, did you know that:

• By triple-concentrating their detergent, Unilever has saved 1.3 million gallons of diesel fuel, 10 million pounds of plastic resin, and 80 million square feet of cardboard since 2005?
• Or that by redesigning the Hamburger Helper Box (reducing its size, without reducing the contents), General Mills has taken 500 distribution trucks off the road each year?

In their article 50 Ways to Green Your Business, FastCompany.com has listed these and 48 other interesting ways that some of the biggest companies are going green.  You might be surprised by some of the names on the list, everyone from Otis Elevators to the Philadelphia Eagles, from Bank of America to Columbia Records.

I address some of the top reasons for going green on the resources page of the ACI Consulting website, things like saving money, enhancing image, improving employee morale.  Just after writing it, the Orange County Register writer, Jan Norman, had a great article on profiting through lightening landfills.  Check out Jan’s blog for other small business stories.

But it occurs to me that there is something else going on here, too:  greening spurs innovation, creative problem solving that can have a ripple effect throughout your organization.  Something to think about.  Add it to your list.

We’ve moved from reality TV to reality journalism. UPS, Gap, Starbucks, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Apple Store get a surprise, undercover look at their employee training methods with the publication this month of the new book Punching In: The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee, by Alex Frankel.  This journalist spent two years getting himself hired on and trained by these big companies, and he offers a very frank evaluation of their employee training and who he feels is best at hiring and fostering loyal employees (UPS and the Apple Store, for instance) and which work environments he found stifling and uninspired (ahem, Gap.)

I wrote recently about the challenge of business training (on the main ACI Consulting website), and the difficulty of bringing together motivated employees and an effective training system.  It takes momentum and good technology to launch and maintain this kind of a program.

If you happen to read the book, let me know what you think.