PTC Announces Net Markets Strategy
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2000--
--Windchill Netmarkets Business Unit Created to Deliver Collaborative Product Development Capabilities to Burgeoning Online
Exchange Marketplace--
PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), a leading provider of collaborative product commerce (CPC) solutions, today outlined its strategy to deliver collaborative product development solutions for the business-to-business (B2B) exchange industry. Recognizing the growing need for collaboration services on manufacturing-related B2B exchanges, PTC has created the new Windchill Netmarkets business unit to focus exclusively on this new opportunity. The new Windchill Netmarkets solution will enable B2B exchanges to benefit from PTC's collaborative product development solutions and industry expertise. Using Windchill Netmarkets, online exchanges will deliver unique Web-based project services that facilitate effective product development collaboration among trading partners -- original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, contract manufacturers, partners, and customers.
C. Richard Harrison, president and chief executive officer of PTC, commented, "The B2B exchange market is progressing beyond its initial focus on procurement toward a higher value proposition that includes a range of collaboration services that facilitate B2B processes between trading partners. One of PTC's expertise is in using the Internet to facilitate the sharing of product-related information between design chain partners so they may quickly deliver innovative products that are exactly what their customer requires. Leveraging this experience to help manufacturing-related exchanges and marketplaces thrive is a natural evolution for us and our new Windchill Netmarkets business unit allows us to focus on this outstanding opportunity."
"Manufacturers are increasingly shifting product development activities to suppliers, contract designers, and contract manufacturers to take advantage of their trading partners' expertise and capacity," said Jim Heppelmann, executive vice president and general manager, Windchill Netmarkets, PTC. "Exchanges that are based on Windchill Netmarkets will allow corporations to easily collaborate beyond the firewall and across their dynamic design chain, thereby driving productivity, innovation, and ultimately competitive advantage for both the hosting exchange and the parties using the exchanges' services."
"The value of collaborative product commerce to the manufacturing industry is being proven by the success of PTC's Windchill," said Bruce Jenkins, executive vice president, Daratech. "Now, its new Windchill-derived solution for engineering collaboration over B2B exchanges promises to powerfully complement the automated procurement tools which have previously dominated this arena."
The Cornerstone for Flexible, Project-based Collaboration Portals
To date, B2B exchanges have concentrated on simple procurement, with few additional value-added services. Windchill Netmarkets targets exchanges that recognize the need for higher value services like collaboration and support the direct goods markets; estimated to be worth $5 trillion (U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, February 2000). Direct goods are components that are included in an end product, and are often designed in collaboration between the OEM and one or more trading partners.
Windchill Netmarkets directly addresses the complexity inherent in direct-engineered goods, allowing exchanges to offer unique services that enable real-time product development collaboration and streamlined workflow-managed processes. By removing the barriers of organization and geography, Windchill Netmarkets powered exchanges foster innovation and provide much sought-after visibility into the progress being made on the design project.
Based on PTC's proven Windchill technology, the industry-leading Internet-based collaboration solution for extended enterprises, the Windchill Netmarkets solution is scalable and easy-to-deploy, delivering collaborative product development services for public and private exchanges and marketplaces. Windchill Netmarkets was created for use by three main types of exchanges interested in offering collaborative product development services on a project basis:
--Private Exchanges that are private portals used by manufacturers to collaborate with their community of trading partners.
--Industry-Sponsored Exchanges, typically new ventures backed by established industry players (aerospace, automotive, high-tech, etc.) who recognize the value of offering collaboration services to the trading partners within their industry.
--Independent Exchanges such as manufacturing-related vertical e-communities that realize by offering value-added collaboration services they will differentiate themselves from procurement-only marketplaces that merely match buyers with sellers.
Windchill Netmarkets enables exchanges to offer flexible project-based collaboration services that allows potential trading partners to be evaluated and their expertise leveraged to bring innovative products to market faster. Processes and interaction are managed through workflow and the burden on IT departments is eased with self-serve administration.
Because the Windchill Netmarkets solution is designed specifically toward facilitating collaborative product development over the Internet, it has all the necessary standards-based security and directory support. Windchill Netmarkets also leverages PTC's patent-pending federated data model that ensures smooth management and integration of data from diverse sources. This capability is of particular importance to existing exchanges or marketplaces that currently offer supply chain management and/or procurement services and are interested in seamlessly integrating collaborative product development capabilities.
BuyPlastics.com: Design Collaboration e-Community
Windchill Netmarkets solution customer BuyPlastics.com (http://www.buyplastics.com) is the first neutral design collaboration and product management e-community for the plastics industry. BuyPlastics.com is using the Windchill Netmarkets solution as its primary technical infrastructure and collaboration engine to facilitate real-time design collaboration for key members of the plastics design chain - OEMs, resin suppliers and the mold processing community.
"Our partnership with PTC and use of Windchill Netmarkets will enable us to provide the first truly collaborative environment for the plastics industry," said Chuck Hoar, president of BuyPlastics.com. "We are pleased with our work with Windchill Netmarkets and are excited about the extraordinary value PTC will bring to the trading partners who will soon be using our unique services."
About PTC's Net Markets Solutions
PTC's Windchill Netmarkets solution enables manufacturing-related public, industry-sponsored and private exchanges, and marketplaces to offer collaborative product development services based on the industry leading Web-based Windchill. Windchill Netmarkets allows all members of a globally dispersed design chain - customers, suppliers, partners, and an internal product team - to easily connect on a project-by-project basis on an exchange, tapping key collaborative product development capabilities that leverage exchange security mechanisms and provide additional security measures and scalability. Exchanges offering Windchill Netmarkets services differentiate themselves from procurement-only exchanges by delivering value-added collaboration services that break down the enterprise, geographical and system boundaries that exist among design chain partners. For more information on Windchill Netmarkets visit ptc.com.
About PTC's Web-based Collaboration Solutions
Focused on all phases of a product's lifecycle -- from concept and definition to production, service, maintenance, and retirement -- Windchill advances collaborative product commerce (CPC) initiatives by allowing manufacturers to collaborate over the Internet with their customers, suppliers, and partners throughout the product development and delivery process. Windchill's unique Web-based approach springboards manufacturers into the Internet age, enabling them to capitalize on enterprise expertise, customer knowledge, and supplier innovation while accelerating the global introduction of innovative products to market with reduced risk and lower costs. |
