aPriori, a provider of enterprise product cost management solutions, today announced that its software platform has been selected by Komatsu’s European Technical Center located at Komatsu Hanomag GmbH. The European subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd. will implement the aPriori solution to provide its design teams with a fast, repeatable and consistent method to estimate product costs from the earliest stages of new product design. Komatsu expects the increased cost visibility to help it meet new product cost targets while also accelerating product development cycles, producing higher quality products and increasing profitability.
“By deploying aPriori, we’re providing our engineering team with the detailed cost information they need to develop more cost-effective products for our customers,” said Joerg Hermanns, Deputy General Manager at Komatsu Hanomag. “This will also reduce the amount of value engineering required after a product goes to market, further enhancing the productivity of our design teams and profitability of our company.”
Initially, Komatsu will deploy the aPriori platform in its European Technical Center (EUTC) in Hannover, Germany where it will focus on soft tooled sheet metal and welding processes. The aPriori software leverages CAD and intelligent cost models to quickly determine feasible manufacturing methods and product costs while generating detailed manufacturing analysis and cost estimates that quantify the impact of changes to product design, materials, manufacturing processes, volumes and location in real time. The software also enables users to leverage product cost data hosted in other enterprise applications including complex engineering Bills of Materials (BOMs) from ERP, PLM and other enterprise applications. aPriori also incorporates enterprise quality business intelligence capabilities that provide intuitive, role-based insights for design, engineering, manufacturing, value-engineering and sourcing executives and managers.
“Komatsu has established its position as one of the leading manufacturers of construction, mining and utility equipment by consistently providing its customers with high quality, leading-edge products and technology,” said Stephanie Feraday, President and CEO of aPriori. “With our product cost management platform, they extend that advantage by optimizing their new product designs from the start, getting them to market faster and significantly improving their product profitability.”
