KEIPER Reduces Costs, Improves Engineering Productivity with Agile PLM

Leading Global Manufacturer of Seating Structure and Components for Automotive Industry Standardizes on Agile to Manage its Enterprise Product Record

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26 -- Agile Software Corporation , a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, today announced that the KEIPER Group, a global tier-one supplier of automotive vehicle seat components has standardized on Agile PLM. KEIPER is using Agile PLM to manage product development at its 19 locations worldwide. As a result of its Agile implementation, KEIPER has achieved significant cost savings by eliminating support requirements for multiple legacy systems and has improved engineering productivity by providing easier access to product information.

Founded more than 80 years ago, the KEIPER Group develops and manufactures advanced metal seat components and structures for automotive industry suppliers and manufacturers. KEIPER works directly with both car manufacturers and other major automotive system suppliers as a provider of components and structures, as a system partner for seat structures, and as an engineering partner for seating concepts.

KEIPER is using Agile PLM to address a range of product development processes, including technical document management for CAD files (2D and 3D), project management, materials management, and bills of material (BOM) management. KEIPER has implemented an integration between Agile PLM and Dassault Systemes' CATIA V5 3D solution for product design, creation, simulation and optimization. Agile's CATIA V5 connector links mechanical design activities throughout the design and supply chains, allowing users to create a complete view of the entire product record. In addition, CATIA V4 is integrated and running in parallel at KEIPER as well, which ensures the depth of data exchange with OEM partners using both CATIA versions. With Agile PLM, KEIPER now has a single view into their exchange of CAD-files, which has resulted in reduced development time and costs, as well as a reduction in the development cycles required to develop a standard seat structure for different automotive manufacturers.

"KEIPER has long recognized the strategic value of product lifecycle management. We adopted PLM technology years ago in order to share and manage product record information across our company and with suppliers and customers. Since then, we've seen a tremendous return on our investment in Agile's software through greater engineering productivity and reduced development costs," said Matthias Meyer, head program director of PLM, CATIA and CAD integrations, KEIPER. "We are very pleased with the recent successful integration of CATIA V5 with our existing Agile PLM implementation. The fact that we can run our CATIA V4 and V5 systems in parallel, gives us an extreme advantage when dealing with our vast number of OEM partners. This capability frees our engineers and designers from having to manually manage complex design content, across multiple formats. Now they can devote more time to the innovative product engineering for which our company is known worldwide."

"KEIPER, one of the top automotive suppliers in world, is at the forefront of adopting PLM technology to achieve a competitive advantage," said Jay Fulcher, Agile president and COO. "After nearly a decade of using innovative PLM solutions, KEIPER has recognized a clear return on its investment, including greater product profitability through shorter product development cycles and reduced costs. With the recent Agile-CATIA integrations, KEIPER will expand upon these returns. We look forward to working with KEIPER to achieve further success."

About KEIPER

For over 80 years, the name KEIPER has been synonymous with innovative concepts in vehicle seating systems. Today KEIPER develops and manufactures advanced metal seat components and structures for automotive industry suppliers and manufacturers. Operating on an international scale, the KEIPER Group is currently the world's market leader in standardized seat recliners. With its highly specialized engineering services for front and rear seat systems, KEIPER is now the leading independent seat developer in Europe.

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, GE Medical, Haemonetics, Hitachi, Johnson and Johnson, 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 have realized high impact results through their use of Agile solutions. For more information, call 408-284-4000 or visit www.agile.com.

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