IBM and Aspect Development Announce New Relationship to Deliver the Value of Inbound Supply Chain Management to e-Business Customers
Joint Customer Newport News Shipbuilding Anticipates Benefits
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Aspect Development (Nasdaq: ASDV) today announced a global relationship that will leverage the strengths of both companies to improve customers' inbound supply chain management as they transform themselves into e-businesses. This relationship will enable customers to more rapidly apply Aspect's eBusiness solutions for managing inbound supply and eCommerce, accelerating the benefits and achieving deployments to unite manufacturers and their suppliers in effective e-business relationships.
The value proposition of inbound supply chain management is compelling, providing some of the highest returns and least risk of any enterprise solutions. Deploying Aspect systems as part of its integrated product development and e-procurement strategies, IBM has saved more than $500 million in the last three years. Similarly, leading companies in the manufacturing and technology arenas have collectively saved more than $2 billion.
"We're already a satisfied customer of both Aspect and IBM," said Steve Hassell, CIO, Newport News Shipbuilding. "We're using their combined systems to improve shipbuilding efficiency and reduce development costs. We believe this new relationship will provide increased opportunity and resources to enable us to continue accelerating the e-business transformation of our company."
In 1997, Newport News Shipbuilding began implementing a Shared Data Environment using Aspect's eCSM solution, together with IBM's Product Manager and Catia solutions and SAP R/3 to create a collaborative product development and procurement strategy.
IBM and Aspect share a vision for inbound supply chain management and will collaborate on strategy, marketing, sales and development. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly market and sell inbound supply chain solutions using Aspect's eXplore-based eDesign, eSource and eOperate suites, through their global direct sales forces, beginning initially in North America and Europe. Aspect will take advantage of IBM's technology, high-end scalability expertise and global resources. IBM will expand its existing Supply Chain Centers of Excellence to feature combined IBM-Aspect skills and solutions. The automotive, electronics, industrial, aerospace/defense, chemical/petroleum, consumer-packaged goods and healthcare industries will be the initial segments IBM and Aspect will focus on.
This relationship, building on the successes at Newport News Shipbuilding and others, will help customers throughout the extended supply chain create a digital enterprise and integrated e-business. This is done through bringing together experts who understand all areas of a customer's supply chain, especially the necessary streamlining of engineering processes, which must be developed and implemented early on so product gets to market sooner. Aspect will incorporate the relevant standards and technologies of IBM's Application Framework for e-business to deliver open, multi-platform e-business supply chain solutions that can operate with key solutions, such as ERP, Product Design Management (PDM) and Business Process Optimization (BPO). Aspect joins i2 Technologies, Industri-Matematik and EXE Technologies as a strategic supply chain partner for IBM. Aspect and i2 recently announced a jointly marketed solution for advanced product lifecycle management that addresses portfolio planning, resource planning, product transition planning and design optimization, which will also be included in this relationship.
"IBM and Aspect share a vision that will enable companies to make the transition to an e-business world, where companies work collaboratively with their suppliers to meet customer expectations," said Bill Paulk, general manager ERP and Supply Chain Management solutions. "Our relationship with Aspect will help organizations implement the next generation of supply chain solutions that will enable them to realize enormous competitive advantage and value."
"We're delighted that IBM has seized the opportunity to bring the value of inbound supply chain management to their global client base," said Romesh Wadhwani, chairman and CEO of Aspect. "In addition to providing the global breadth and depth large-scale customers need to harness the power of enterprise decision-support systems like eXplore, IBM brings true leadership to this space, having established proven best practices in this area that many current Aspect clients are already looking to leverage." |
