ProductFactory Launches to Address the Design and Development Needs of Global 1000 Companies

    MAYNARD, Mass.--May 28, 2002--

    Company Improves the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Product Development Organizations with First Deliverables-Based Program and
    Portfolio Management Suite

    Responding to the product development needs of the Global 1000, ProductFactory launched today as the first company to provide a phase-gate, deliverables-based product development program and portfolio management solution. Leveraging the Internet, ProductFactory accelerates supply chain dependent product development programs for globally distributed teams. The Company plans to capture a portion of the $20 billion market for collaborative product development management solutions by selling to companies with complex supply chain, design and development environments including those in the aerospace, automotive and high tech industries.
    Founders, Edward Fields, CEO; Steve Bowler, vice president of product management; Neil Maguire, vice president of automotive operations; and Jon Fenner, vice president of engineering, started ProductFactory and designed the suite based on their decades of experience in product development and the frustrations they experienced working with traditional program management products.
    "Companies today are under constant pressure to do more with less," said Edward Fields, ProductFactory's CEO and founder. "They're pushed to bring the highest quality products to market -- and to do that more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively than ever before. When companies miss launch dates or deliver flawed products because of poor product development process compliance, revenue and shareholder value suffer. ProductFactory builds predictability and measurement into the product development process providing everyone from design engineers to suppliers and senior executives with an exact picture of where the programs and the portfolio stand."
    Major companies in the aerospace, automotive and high tech industries have deployed the ProductFactory suite and seen a significant return on their technology investment by being able to deliver their products in a more timely and efficient manner. One aerospace program of more than 275 team members including 80 suppliers and 180 geographically distributed engineers reduced supplier selection and issue resolution from weeks to hours.
    "ProductFactory's suite provides us with a complete program management solution that is only limited by our imagination," said Mike Brown, CIO for Eclipse Aviation. "It provides a great framework for solving all kinds of collaborative product development and supply chain issues, delivering real, measurable value back to Eclipse Aviation."
    The Company's ProductFactory suite - consisting of the pfDeliver, pfPortfolio and pfConnect applications - is the industry's first phase-gate, deliverables-based product and portfolio management suite that allows for real-time access to program information across the supply chain using an internet browser. It is the only solution that not only increases the efficiency of product development teams, but delivers decision support to senior management for optimizing product development investments. Senior executives get succinct, easy to understand data on product programs enabling them to quickly see which programs are not meeting expectations or which need increased resource allocation.

    About the founders:

    CEO, Edward Fields was formerly vice president of marketing and strategic alliances with Workgroup Technology Corporation. Steve Bowler, ProductFactory's vice president of product management, served as a division director of quality and a program manager at Raytheon Electronic Systems. Neil Maguire, vice president of automotive operations, was previously president of Automotive Systems Consulting. Jon Fenner, vice president of engineering, was previously president of Elite Resources.

    About Product Factory:

    ProductFactory, Inc. is headquartered in Maynard, MA with offices in Detroit and Los Angeles. Formed in 1999, ProductFactory is an industry leader in product development program and portfolio management. The Company is run by a management team with decades of experience in PDM, systems engineering and related technologies. ProductFactory sells to companies with complex supply chain, design and development environments including those in the aerospace, automotive and high tech industries. The company's products interface with Parametric Technology's Windchill and other PDM systems.

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