CIMdata and Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Report Continued Demand for Design Collaboration Solutions

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, October 29 2002—The demand for design collaboration solutions and tools will continue to increase over the next twelve months, according to a recent survey jointly conducted by consulting and research firm CIMdata, Inc. (www.cimdata.com) and investment banking firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey (www.fbr.com). This survey covered companies in multiple industry sectors with aerospace and defense, automotive, electronics and high tech, and consumer products representing the majority of the respondents.

Over 180 companies, ranging in size from less than $50 million to greater than $2.5 billion in annual revenues, responded to this survey with over 79% reporting they currently support design collaboration practices and 84% planning to begin new design collaboration projects within the next 12 months. Further, as shown in Figure 1, 70% of respondents expect to maintain or increase funding levels for design collaboration solutions in 2002 versus 2001 "Design collaboration solutions remain one of the top priorities among Global 2000 manufacturing organizations during this turbulent spending environment", explains David Hilal, equity research analyst for Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. "The increased complexity of product designs has forced many enterprises to explore collaborative software as a means to cut costs and create efficiencies."

According to the survey, the top justifications for investing in collaborative design projects are to:
1) Shorten the design process
2) Achieve faster time-to-market
3) Reduce design errors
4) Improve communication with suppliers

About CIMdata
CIMdata helps companies develop innovative and profitable products in the evolving global e-business environment. The company accomplishes this through its worldwide strategic consulting services and in-depth research, targeted for industrial organizations and suppliers of technologies and services.

CIMdata provides world-class knowledge and expertise on the use of collaborative Product Definition management (cPDm) solutions that utilize best-practice methods, and related technologies. These include product data management (PDM), visualization, collaboration, collaborative product commerce (CPC), document management, component supplier management (CSM), configuration management (CM), software configuration management (SCM), enterprise application integration (EAI), computer-aided design/manufacturing, and numerical control (NC).

In addition to consulting, CIMdata provides industry education through international conferences in the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific which focus on management of the product or plant definition lifecycle. The company also conducts focused research and produces several commercial publications.  CIMdata serves clients worldwide from locations in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim.

For more information, contact CIMdata at:
3909 Research Park Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108, U.S.A.
Tel: +1(734) 668-9922. 
Fax: +1(734) 668-1957