Manugistics and Centric promise manufacturers faster design cycles, reduced costs and slashed obsolete inventory

Reduced manufacturing design cycle times, lower operating costs and cut obsolete inventories are being promised by supply chain management and pricing optimisation software firm Manugistics, and collaborative product knowledge management applications company Cenric Software, which announced a strategic alliance yesterday. Manugistics says it will integrate Centric Software’s ‘collaborative product innovation’ application, Centric Innovation, with its own NetWorks supply chain optimisation and execution software to provide a completely Internet-based system for handling the product life cycle across co-operating companies – from product design and materials supply, to purchasing. “Savvy manufacturers recognise that collaborative-commerce (c-commerce) is no longer a competitive differentiator, but a competitive necessity,” says Neil Mitchell, vice president of marketing and strategic alliances for Centric Software. And that’s what Centric Innovation does. It helps engineering organisations that want to collaborate to do so over the web, particularly during the conceptual design and specification phases – harnessing the attributes of extended supplier networks. Manugistics NetWorks, meanwhile, handles the materials sourcing side, rationalising vendors and parts and streamlining purchasing process. Clearly, it’s aimed at OEMs and bigger players where the return on what will be a considerable investment may well be justifiable. SMEs, however, where they are becoming part of engineering design networks need to take note and be aware of the existence of this kind of application set: you may well find it expedient to get involved sooner than you might expect.