CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

15 December 2004

Implementation Investments

Successful Companies Growing with Arena's On-Demand PLM Solution

Arena Solutions, Inc. highlighted growing customer confirmation of Arena's ability to help companies scale their use of PLM to support rapid business growth. The customers - Color Kinetics, Align Technology, Sierra Wireless and Infinera - are using Arena's on-demand PLM solution to manage complex product information during periods of rapid expansion in their product lines, design and manufacturing teams, supplier relationships and businesses.

Companies grow more easily with Arena because its on-demand service allows them to expand their use of PLM - without the cost, complexity and limitations of maintaining client/server applications. Arena allows them to leverage PLM across their growing organizations, outsourcing partnerships, supplier relationships and new mergers and acquisitions as their businesses grow. Because Arena PLM is operated as a highly secure, web-based service, companies can concentrate on business success and growth, not on infrastructure maintenance, software upgrades, fixes or the complexities of securely communicating with partners. Without any costly re-engineering, Arena PLM scales with companies as they grow.

Color Kinetics, a global leader in advanced solid-state lighting systems and technologies and now a successful public company, was named to the Inc. "500 Fastest Growing Companies" two years in a row. It turned to Arena three years ago to support its expansion.

"Over the past few years, Color Kinetics has grown from a ten-person team to an 80-person, global company," said Fritz Morgan, vice president of engineering for Color Kinetics. "As we grew, our product lifecycle management needs grew as well, and we certainly could not have scaled so quickly without the powerful and flexible PLM functionality that Arena provided us. It makes communication with our suppliers and contract manufacturers effortless, and helps enable our product innovation. We would not have been able to achieve this level of growth without Arena."

Align Technology, ranked as the 8th Fastest Growing Technology Company in North America on the 2004 Deloitte Technology "Fast 500", is a medical device company. Align chose Arena to automate its document control function and found Arena to be in sync with its product development process, aiding Align's rapid growth.

"As Align has grown into one of the world's largest mass manufacturers of a highly customized medical product, we've relied strongly on the functionality of Arena PLM," said Len Hedge, vice president of operations for Align Technology. "We now have more than 850 users logging in to Arena PLM to access the latest product information and operating procedures. By automating our document control function through Arena PLM, we were able to deal with a larger volume of changes and have reduced our change implementation cycle time without increasing headcount."

Sierra Wireless, a leading developer of an industry-leading wireless PC card line for portable computers, needed a comprehensive PLM system that would manage product data and coordinate changes between Sierra and AirPrime, a company that Sierra acquired in June 2003. In addition to the thousand-plus miles separating them, the two companies used different processes and systems to manage product development, part numbering and engineering changes. To remain competitive in today's tight fiscal conditions, Sierra Wireless needed to drastically reduce its joint product development cycle.

"Arena has shortened the time to merge the two engineering departments. It provides the freedom to do things that cannot be done with other traditional systems, and we were up and running within five days," said Christian Garrett, configuration manager for Sierra Wireless. "Engineers from both sites have access to the combined product database in real time. In parallel, we can share product data and start building products with suppliers from our combined supplier base. With Arena, it is easy to track product changes, and the amount of work we are able to achieve with Arena is unbelievable. Since November 2003, we have developed 173 new SKUs for sale."

Infinera, a provider of Digital Optical Networking systems to telecom carriers, wanted a PLM solution from a vendor with proven expertise in the on-demand PLM space so as to avoid potential hardware or software "headaches". Infinera's growth path was reliant on innovation at the component level and the integration of that technology into a carrier-class telecommunications system. To achieve rapid time-to-market within a highly controlled and predictive environment, Infinera sought a sophisticated data and process management infrastructure.

"What Infinera does for optical networks - simplifying engineering, accelerating revenue and enabling maximum flexibility - Arena does for us," said Tom Fallon, vice president of operations for Infinera. "We deployed Arena PLM instantly with no hardware or software issues, and were impressed by the ease-of-use and consistent expertise we experience with Arena as we've expanded our user base within Infinera and with our contract manufacturers."

A full-featured and easily scalable PLM platform with a subscription model that lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO), as evidenced by the four implementations discussed above, the Arena solution enables any size organization to manage and ensure the quality of the entire product development lifecycle initiative in real-time. There are no additional hardware or IT management costs, and the speed of deployment is significantly faster than competing solutions. Additionally, it provides a sophisticated and innovative infrastructure with cost-efficient levels of scalability, security and uptime.

"Our solution dramatically increases our customers' ability to keep pace with fast growth by getting their product development infrastructure in place and operating quickly. Yet it does so without requiring large upfront or long-term expenditures," said Michael Topolovac, chief executive officer for Arena Solutions. "And the fact that more and more companies are using Arena to help them grow is a true testament to its numerous benefits, including advanced workflow, collaboration and, most importantly, security. With our technology, companies large and small have an unparalleled mechanism to safely and confidently manage their product initiatives on-demand."

Align Technology designs, manufactures and markets Invisalign, a proprietary method for treating malocclusion, or the misalignment of teeth. Invisalign corrects malocclusion using a series of clear, nearly invisible, removable appliances that gently move teeth to a desired final position. Because it does not rely on the use of metal or ceramic brackets and wires, Invisalign significantly reduces the aesthetic and other limitations associated with braces. Invisalign is appropriate for treating adults and older teens. Align Technology was founded in March 1997 and received FDA clearance to market Invisalign in 1998.

Color Kinetics Incorporated is a pioneer in the design, marketing and licensing of intelligent solid-state lighting systems and technologies. The company's line of products applies the practical and aesthetic benefits of LEDs to transcend the limits of traditional light sources for use in high-performance lighting and OEM and licensing applications. Its products and technologies leverage a patented layer of digital intelligence, called Chromacore®, to generate and control millions of colors and dynamic lighting effects. Color Kinetics holds 37 patents and has over 120 patent applications pending that apply to many aspects of solid-state lighting technology. Founded in 1997, the company is headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in the UK, China, and a joint venture in Japan.

Infinera provides Digital Optical Networking systems to telecommunications carriers worldwide. Infinera's systems are unique in their use of a breakthrough semiconductor technology: the Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC). Infinera's systems and PIC technology give optical networks simpler engineering and operations, faster time-to-service and more flexible networking.

Sierra Wireless is a leader in delivering highly differentiated wireless solutions that enable customers to improve their productivity and lifestyle. Sierra Wireless develops and markets the AirCard, the wireless PC card line for portable computers; embedded modules for OEM wireless applications; the MP line of rugged vehicle-mounted connectivity solutions; and Voq, a line of mobile phones with easy-to-use, secure software solutions for mobile professionals.

 

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