Agile Links Production And Service DataAgile Links Production And Service Data

Agile Software Corp. will fill a critical gap in its product-development data-management software with a module to let field workers use a Web browser to access updated information from manufacturers on the products they service.

The component, which is due early next year, will give Agile a jump on competitors such as MatrixOne Inc. and Parametric Technology Corp. "This shows some vision on their part in looking particularly at the high-tech market and realizing that production and service should be linked," says Gartner analyst Karen Peterson. Service personnel working with customers need to know whether a product has been discontinued or replaced, or whether components within the product have been replaced or modified.

Before year's end, Agile also will upgrade its component for automating the process of outsourcing parts manufacturing. SMTC Manufacturing Corp. in Toronto, which makes high-tech parts for other companies, is replacing QuoteWin from PolyDyne Software Inc. with Agile's upgraded component. SMTC already uses Agile's application for managing builds of materials--the list of all the parts contained in a product--and for tracking engineering change orders; QuoteWin doesn't integrate with Agile's tools and requires its own database manager. "I'm eliminating risk, reducing costs, and cutting down on the request-for-quote cycle time," says John Keogh, CIO at SMTC.

Agile sourcing will let SMTC maintain profiles of suppliers, facilitating the process of choosing a group of suppliers for a build of materials that's likely to provide the best deals, and then posting requests for quotes on the Web to that group. Currently, SMTC sends out the list of parts it needs via E-mail or fax and suppliers bid on the components. "It's a very manual process," Keogh says. The upgrade decreases quote cycle times by about a month.

Pricing for Agile's upgraded and new components hasn't been set.

The enhancements are the vendor's first major releases since this spring's failed acquisition of Agile by E-procurement company Ariba Inc. Last week, Ariba named Robert Calderoni, Ariba's CFO, as its president and CEO, its third in five months. He'll also serve as interim financial chief until a successor is found. Ariba plans to release analytics technology in a few weeks and tighten its focus on procurement management.