MSL Selects Agile For Direct Materials Sourcing Solution
San Jose, CA (ots)
Top Ten Global Electronics Manufacturing Services Provider Chooses Agile's Product Sourcing 8.0
Agile Software (Nasdaq:AGIL) today announced that MSL (MSV), a global leader in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry, has selected Agile Software's Product Sourcing 8.0 suite as its direct materials sourcing solution. Agile's Product Sourcing 8.0 will allow MSL to maximize customer responsiveness and drive improved customer satisfaction - a core component of its business philosophy.
MSL, headquartered in Concord, Mass., is a top ten global EMS provider with locations in North America, Europe and Asia. MSL's customers include industry leaders in the telecommunications, networking, computer, peripherals, industrial, medical and consumer electronics markets.
"Our customer responsiveness and our ability to manage a highly effective supply network is a key differentiator with customers," said John Boucher, vice president, supply chain at MSL. "Agile's Product Sourcing suite is fundamental to this capability. It gives us the means to help customers make the strategic sourcing decisions to bring products to market quickly and at optimal total cost, and assure ongoing availability of key materials and components. We reviewed the top offerings, and found Agile's Product Sourcing suite the best overall solution available today to help us deliver these critical benefits to our customers."
"We look forward to an ongoing strategic relationship with MSL," said Bryan Stolle, Agile CEO and president. "MSL has been a great partner and has done an excellent job in their rapid deployment of Agile's Product Sourcing suite. We are delighted to be viewed as a key part of their strategy to deliver world-class supply chain management and cost advantage to their customers."
Competitive Advantage Derived From Business Process Focus
According to AMR's eSourcing Field Review Report, November 2001, "The biggest benefits come to companies that manage sourcing as a strategic core competency." AMR reported that users deploying e-sourcing technology achieved:
- Cost reductions of 10 to 20 percent in addressed categories (two companies indicated that in just two selected sourcing events, the material cost savings alone returned their investment in the software).
- Sourcing cycle-time reductions of 45 to 65 percent (in some cases, cycle times were reduced from six weeks to less than two weeks).
Agile's Product Sourcing suite will help MSL:
- Enable strategic global sourcing of direct materials with an Internet-based solution that captures the best possible terms on direct materials purchases, and analyzes a variety of price and non-price factors.
- Manage complex data from disparate sources to enable optimal decision making throughout the product lifecycle--from selecting component suppliers to contract negotiation, to manufacturing and end of life.
- Enable real-time collaboration with the extended supply network to leverage the knowledge and expertise of supplier partners.
Capturing Direct Materials Sourcing Value Requires Tight Link to Product Chain DNA
Agile's Product Sourcing suite is the only sourcing solution that enables companies to fully leverage the Product DNA--the complete and up-to-the minute definition of a company's products, including bills-of-material, specifications, drawings, and approved manufacturers lists. This ensures that engineering, purchasing, and manufacturing efforts are streamlined, synchronized, and leverage the full expertise of suppliers.
According to Forrester Research's "Standalone Sourcing Apps Vanish" report from January 2002, "When procuring direct materials, firms have new product introduction processes that require tight integration between sourcing and design. Users are investing in sourcing functionality that provides sourcing modules that link with product design."
About Agile's Product Sourcing Suite
Agile's Product Sourcing 8.0 suite helps companies leverage direct materials spend across products, geographies, business units, and programs to achieve better economies of scale and establish more strategic supplier relationships.
The suite of applications delivers a powerful range of capabilities to improve a company's bottom line. It allows purchasing, development, and manufacturing organizations to quickly and effectively engage their supply base, and helps leverage contracts and sourcing history, address supply risks, and effectively analyze thousands of sourcing alternatives.
Agile's Product Sourcing suite offers sophisticated costing functionality to help companies drive down their cost of goods sold (COGS). The applications help manufacturers lower product costs throughout the product lifecycle, and leverage multiple tiers of the supply chain to identify and optimize both current and future product costs. And Agile's powerful reporting and analysis tools identify opportunities for reducing product costs. The fully internationalized solution can support global supply bases with multiple languages and currencies. In addition, sourcing decisions and information may be pushed to transactional systems for planning and execution purposes.
About the Agile8 Product Chain Management Application Suite
The Agile8 Product Chain Management (PCM) application suite helps companies manage their products through every phase of the product profit cycle. The integrated suite of applications helps companies communicate and collaborate internally as well as externally with customers and supply chain partners. Agile8 includes Product Collaboration, Product Sourcing and Product Service & Improvement solutions-which deliver significant bottom-line results by helping companies manage materials costs, rapidly introduce products to meet market demand, and substantially improve productivity and product quality.
About Agile Software
Agile Software Corporation (Nasdaq: AGIL) provides Product Chain Management solutions that enable manufacturers and their partners to build better, more profitable products faster. Agile has approximately 825 customers, including Armstrong Air Conditioning, B/E Aerospace, Bosch, Compaq, Dell Computer, Flextronics International, FujiFilm, GE Medical, InFocus, International Paper, Juniper Networks, Lucent, Nvidia, Philips, Precor, Sycamore Networks, Texas Instruments, and Zhone Technologies. Call 408-975-3900 or visit Agile at www.agilesoft.com
About MSL
MSL (MSV) is a leading global provider of full service electronics manufacturing and supply chain services to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company has established a global network of manufacturing facilities in the world's major electronics markets- North America, Europe and Asia. MSL has developed relationships with leading OEMs in rapidly growing industries such as wired and wireless communications, networking and storage equipment, computer systems and peripherals, consumer electronics, industrial equipment and commercial avionics. MSL provides integrated supply chain solutions that address all stages of the product life cycle, including engineering and design, new product introduction, materials procurement and management, testing, printed circuit board assembly, product assembly and systems integration and assembly, order fulfillment, distribution and after-market support.
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act:
This release includes forward-looking statements regarding Agile's financial results, business outlook, market conditions, long-term prospects, customer base and cash position. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements, and are based upon information available to Agile as of the release date. We assume no obligation to update any such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, declining economic conditions that could affect the overall demand for our software and services resulting in decreased revenues or lower revenue growth; cutbacks, reductions and delays by customers in purchases of our software; lengthening sales cycle for our products and increased number of transactions closing at the end of our quarters; unforeseen expenses in future quarters; delays and difficulties in introducing competitive new products and upgrades of products. These and other risk factors and risks associated with our business are discussed in the Company's Form 10-K filed July 25, 2001 with the SEC.
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Contact:
Agile Software
Ellie Javadi
Phone +1/408-535-7456
E-Mail: ellie.javadi@agilesoft.com