Agile Software launches innovative ‘product chain management’ software

Agile Software today unveiled its much vaunted complete ‘product chain management’ (PCM) vision for manufacturers, and the first of an integrated suite of applications to deliver it. Its aim, says the firm, is to reduce time and costs of ramping new products to volume production and of ongoing sales and support. Similar in concept to product lifecycle management (PLM), its entirely about providing integrated product views and data for every stage of development, sourcing, manufacturing, sales and ultimately service – and managing and automating the associated processes across disparate functional systems, departments and partners. Agile says the point of its PCM is to tightly link all internal and external organisations “so that a company delivers the best products at the highest profit at every stage”. The three suites are Product Collaboration (out now), Product Sourcing (in beta, with general availability in December) and Product Service and Improvement (first half of 2002). Product Collaboration manages a total product description-centric view (specifications, e-drawings, BOMs, approved manufacturers, suppliers, component data, cost information, service, warranty, etc) across internal departments, suppliers and the rest, with workflow, change management and so forth for new product development. Agile says early users “have reduced new product introduction times by as much as 40%, while reducing the amount of scrap material by as much as 50%.” Meanwhile, Agile’s Product Sourcing is a new version of its earlier Agile Buyer, completely revamped and covering web-based direct production materials, components and assemblies sourcing (again with BoMs, specs, etc) and product and supplier cost management and analysis. With claims for the module of “materials cost reductions of more than 5%, and reduced sourcing cycle time of 90%”, it does look interesting. As for Product Service and Improvement, Agile says the point is to tie manufacturers’ product sales and service groups right back to the dynamic, BoM-based product information, “providing closed loop processes that go right out into the field.” It means product enhancements, bespoke products and the like are all there online in detail at the point of use – a sort of CRM (customer relationship management) for engineering. Agile, which started out providing product and production definition software for the electronics and high tech industries, expects its new suite to appeal to all manufacturers faced with complexity (multiple systems, outsourcing, etc) and steadily shrinking product lifecycles and profit windows. Greg Schott, Agile’s senior vice president of marketing, says that as these characteristics become increasingly common across more of the manufacturing landscape, its market will grow. He accepts that the firm is competing with the larger ERP system players on the one hand (SAP, Oracle, etc), and the PDM (product data management – MatrixOne, SDRC, Dassault, etc) on the other. But he argues that on the CAD/PDM side, systems are not focused so well on networked management across manufacturing, sales and service, while ERP and supply chain management systems are primarily transactional. However, he agrees that “they are a threat”, commenting specifically on SAP with: “SAP’s PLM is putting the right spin on it, but they don’t do nearly the job we do outside the four walls [of a manufacturing enterprise]. Schott: “There are other collaboration tools around for all sorts of functions. But this is about recording and maintaining what the product was, is and will be. It’s next to impossible with the multiple systems across internal departments and divisions and external partners to manage this level of detail any other way. We’ve done 500 ERP integrations: our system sits on top of all of these to give this essential dynamic product view.” Andy Cook, managing director at Fujifilm Imaging, gives it the thumbs up. “In a global business environment with shorter profit cycles, effectively managing our products is complex and has significant implications. Within FujiFilm, areas as diverse as customer service, product management, business management, engineering and operations leverage Agile to provide visibility to vital product information and enable better decision-making. “By keeping the organisation focused on making the best product decisions, we are able to speed new product introduction processes, increase customer responsiveness and sustain competitive advantage.” And Navi Radjou, senior analyst with Forrester Research, is also positive: “The completeness of Agile’s PCM approach – linking manufacturing, engineering, purchasing, suppliers, service organisations and others – is a critical next step for company’s faced with managing their products through ever shorter profit cycles.”