Saturn Electronics and Engineering Deploys Agile in 12 Weeks
Leading Automotive Supplier's Use of Agile's Product Lifecycle Management Solutions Results in Reduced Product Development Time and Increased Cost Savings
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 13 -- Agile Software Corporation , a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, today announced that Saturn Electronics and Engineering Inc. successfully deployed Agile PLM solutions Agile Product Collaboration(TM) and Agile Product Cost Management(TM) in 12 weeks. Saturn, a supplier of automotive components and sub-systems to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers, implemented the Agile PLM solutions in order to reduce product development time, improve customer satisfaction, increase automotive business win rates and increase product profitability.
"The challenge of sustaining profit margins requires manufacturers to find new ways to reduce cost across the entire network of supply chain partners at every stage of a product's life," said Vasco Drecun, PLM research director, Collaborative Product Development Associates LLC. "Companies have realized that they have already reached their limit on savings from their eSourcing solutions, and are now looking for solutions like Agile's comprehensive PLM to reduce costs and improve profitability."
Saturn is a leading privately-held global provider of a wide range of automotive and electronic components, modules, and subsystems. Saturn has approximately 2,700 employees and eight manufacturing and engineering facilities, and has a centralized procurement staff that manages approximately 400 production suppliers worldwide. The ability to bring innovative, high quality, cost-competitive products to market quickly is a requirement for Saturn and its automotive customers. As a growth oriented company, Saturn selected Agile for its automotive supply chain leadership and proven product ability after a review of major PLM suppliers. With Saturn's products and bills of material becoming increasingly complex and customer expectation with respect to PLM capabilities increasing, the company sought a business-ready solution that manages all product lifecycle processes, synchronizes the supply chain and provides documentation throughout the product lifecycle. Saturn is using Agile Product Collaboration and Agile Product Cost Management to collaborate with suppliers and customers through a common process in order to reduce costs and strengthen effective collaboration across the global supply chain.
"Saturn is committed to consistently surpassing its customer expectations and delivering high quality products with great speed," said Larry Tomczak, vice president of global product engineering, Saturn. "Agile's rapid deployment, quick time to value, robust functionality, and user-friendly products provide a collaborative environment allowing Saturn to move more rapidly than the competition, producing bottom line benefits for both Saturn and its customers."
Saturn reports that it realized significant results with Agile PLM solutions including:
Reduction in customers' engineering request response cycles -- Saturn was experiencing up to 16- day turnaround times in answering customers' engineering requests. Since implementing Agile Product Cost Management, Saturn is now able to gather, manage and share quotes electronically, within a central location. Members of different departments including engineering and procurement are able to analyze designs and quote responses from suppliers in parallel, resulting in greater value-add and faster response to customer cycle times, down to a week or less.
Almost 50% increase in ability to quote customers -- Saturn has significantly reduced document revision confusion and improved responsiveness to their customers ever-changing design requirements. Teams located in the U.S., Mexico and Asia are now able to share the most current source of product information, engage a global supplier base in real time, and respond to customers with confidence knowing that they have identified the best product costs.
"As more manufacturers continue to outsource, the ability to provide dependable execution with responsiveness to demand changes will be a key differentiator for Saturn," said Jay Fulcher, president and COO, Agile. "Ensuring the success of our customers continues to be a key business goal. Agile's high quality, cost-competitive products will help increase Saturn's buying power and expand its international coverage."
About Saturn Electronics & Engineering, Inc.
Saturn Electronics & Engineering, Inc is a supplier of components and sub-systems to Original Equipment Manufacturers and their suppliers within the automotive industry. It offers its customers integrated, cost-effective solutions that are responsive to outsourcing needs and provides a broad range of services, including design and engineering, supply chain management, manufacturing and assembly, testing and qualification, and post-production support. Saturn's highly innovative products are designed, engineered, and manufactured worldwide. For more information on Saturn's products and capabilities, call 248-299-2707 or log onto www.saturnee.com.
About Agile Software Corporation
Agile Software Corporation helps companies drive profits, accelerate innovation, reduce costs, and ensure regulatory compliance throughout the product lifecycle. With a broad suite of enterprise class PLM solutions, time-to-value focused implementations, and a unique Guaranteed Business Results(SM) program, Agile helps companies get the most from their products. Alcatel, Boeing, Dell Inc., Flextronics International, Hitachi, Leapfrog, Lockheed Martin, Magna Steyr, Siemens, QUALCOMM and ZF are among the nearly 1200 customers in the automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer products, electronics, high tech, industrial products, and life sciences industries that use Agile solutions. For more information, call 408-284-4000 or visit www.agile.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act: This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Agile's product offerings, the performance and capability of Agile's products, the benefits derived by Agile's customers from utilization of its products and Agile's customer base. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements, and are based upon information available to Agile as of the release date. We assume no obligation to update any such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, continued declining economic conditions that could affect the overall demand for our software and services resulting in decreased revenues or lower revenue growth; cutbacks, reductions and delays by customers in purchases of our software; lengthening sales cycle for our products and increased number of transactions closing at the end of our quarters; problems in performance of our newly released products and delays and difficulties in introducing or integrating competitive new products and upgrades of products; introduction of competing products or programs that perform as well as or better than our products or programs; unforeseen problems in our software that delay implementation or affect the performance of our products, and inability of our products to deliver the return on investment or other benefits identified, unforeseen expenses in future quarters. These and other risk factors and risks associated with our business are discussed in the Company's quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC.
NOTE: Agile and Agile Software are registered trademarks and Agile Product Collaboration, Agile Product Cost Management, Agile Product Service & Improvement, Agile Product Portfolio Management, Agile Engineering Collaboration, Agile Product Governance and Compliance and the Agile logo are trademarks of Agile Software Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Guaranteed Business Results is a service mark of Agile Software Corporation. All other brand or product names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective holders.
