Prescient Technologies Introduces PrescientQA Family of Software
14 September 1999
Prescient Technologies, Inc., Introduces PrescientQA Family of Software for Engineering Quality Assurance
BOSTON--Sept. 13, 1999--New Additions to the Software Suite - DriveQA(TM) and CertifyQA(TM)
-- Provide Management Tools for Engineering Process Improvement
Prescient Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of software to manufacturers for assuring engineering quality, announced today the PrescientQA family of software tools. PrescientQA software quantitatively assesses the quality of digital design data and electronic product models created during the engineering design stage of product development. Attention to design quality during product development allows manufacturers to monitor and improve the overall design process, reduce costly design errors, minimize design iterations, and accelerate the time to market for their products.
"Our customers have discovered that quality in the digital design of products is just as important as quality in the manufacture of products," said Gavin Finn, president and CEO of Prescient Technologies. "Companies understand the value of quality assurance programs such as Six Sigma and ISO9000. But product quality is not exclusive to manufacturing. Quality control should begin where a product starts - in engineering design. PrescientQA is a design quality assurance system companies can rely upon to improve their engineering data and their product development process."
PrescientQA software features two new tools, DriveQA(TM) and CertifyQA(TM), that are intended specifically for key decision makers in manufacturing industries. These software tools enable management teams to plan strategic improvements to the engineering process and to maintain the quality of engineering data throughout the enterprise. The Prescient solution also includes two other software tools, DesignQA(R) and GeometryQA(TM), and a service for auditing data quality called AuditQA(TM).
PrescientQA software tools work in, interact with, and obtain information from many different engineering design environments. Leading design systems supported include CATIA(R) from Dassault Systemes ; Pro/ENGINEER(R), Pro/PDM(TM) and Pro/INTRALINK(TM) from Parametric Technology Corporation ; and Unigraphics(R) from Unigraphics Solutions .
DriveQA and CertifyQA - Unique New Management Tools
Developed specifically for management teams, new DriveQA and CertifyQA software tools offer companies the ability to measure, improve, and control the quality of engineering data released to downstream systems in the enterprise. Combined with the error detection, assessment, and correction capabilities provided by the other tools in the software suite, Prescient QA offers a complete enterprise solution for digital data quality control. This solution controls data quality for both internal applications and external supply chain management.
"A crucial issue for management in the manufacturing industry today is data interoperability, " said Finn. "Interoperability is one of the key issues relating to data quality. Companies recognize that their success depends on how effective the enterprise is at sharing accurate data. As companies begin addressing the issue of interoperability, they are realizing that, in many cases, they are moving incomplete or inaccurate information to downstream applications. The new management tools in the PrescientQA software family ensure that the engineering information moving through data management systems meets the quality standards required for process excellence."
DriveQA is software that acquires and summarizes data gathered on the quality of digital product models. The software analyzes the data and provides graphical reports depicting engineering quality metrics, which help managers assess the health of an engineering organization and decide how to improve the effectiveness of its design process. DriveQA provides valuable quality measurement data that a company can use to improve the product development process, institute training, review standards, and take other corrective measures to solve costly and time-consuming errors in design quality.
"DriveQA provides management with a snapshot of how well the engineering design resources in the organization are working," said Daniel Walker, product manager for Prescient Technologies. "Using DriveQA, managers can gain quick insight into overall engineering performance. This gives them the opportunity to identify quality issues and to institute process improvement initiatives such as employee training programs and better design standards."
CertifyQA is another new management software tool for process improvement. The software assures the integrity of information in product data management (PDM) systems by assessing the quality of legacy data and preventing the submission of substandard models. Certifying the design quality of product data enables the organization to maintain a high level of quality throughout the product life cycle. CertifyQA is currently available for Pro/PDM and Pro/INTRALINK.
PrescientQA products are available on virtually all major engineering platforms including Windows NT, IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, HP-UX and SGI-IRIX workstations. Site license pricing for PrescientQA products is available.
About Prescient Technologies, Inc.
Prescient Technologies, Inc., is the premier provider of engineering quality software solutions, which enable companies to minimize design iterations, reduce costs, and accelerate time to market. Prescient Technologies software solutions are found in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and other industries with complex design, manufacturing, and assembly processes. Prescient Technologies provides technologies, products, and services that help manufacturing companies leverage engineering assets, protect design information, and facilitate electronic design-to-manufacture interoperability. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Prescient Technologies sells and supports its products and services directly with several field offices in the U.S. and through international partners outside North America. For additional information about Prescient Technologies, Inc., visit our web site at: www.prescienttech.com
DesignQA is a registered trademark of Prescient Technologies, Inc. AuditQA, CertifyQA, DriveQA and GeometryQA are trademarks of Prescient Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies.