THE TOTAL EXPLANATION....National
Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI), the National Institute of Standards (NIST), RosettaNet
and IPC.
The Agile solution: Agile Anywhere
In response to the requirements of today's e-supply chain, Agile Software has launched Agile
Anywhere, a suite of solutions for the e-supply chain which utilizes XML-based technology. Agile
Anywhere is comprised of five innovative and interrelated products which allow partners to form a
virtual network for product introduction, manufacture, and change. A supply chain member does
not need to own Agile software to take advantage of Agile Anywhere benefits. Agile Anywhere is
designed to allow supply chain partners to manage product content information, publish that
information to supply chain partners, and collaborate on product content with partners-in real time
on the internet. Agile Anywhere is designed to provide the scalability, security, and open
standards required by the e-supply chain.
The components of Agile Anywhere include:
Agile eHub™. The eHub is comprised of one or more eHub Servers, and scales up and down the
e-supply chain to accommodate the needs of partners of all sizes. Agile eHub Servers provide
specific functionalities to define, change, and manage product content information. Patent pending
caching technology and supply chain security technology provide key benefits to supply chain
partners. Agile eHub Server options include:
Agile Product Definition Server manages parts, documents, Bills of Material, drawings, and
more.
Agile Product Change Server manages Engineering Change Requests (ECR's), Engineering
Change Orders (ECOs), Deviations, Stop Ships, and more.
Agile AML Server manages Manufacturers, Manufacturer Parts, Approved Manufacturer
Lists, and more.
PDX (Product Definition eXchange). PDX is the Product Definition eXchange standard for the
e-supply chain. The PDX standard provides a way to describe products (BOM's, AML's, Drawings,
etc.), ECR's, ECO's, Deviations and RFQ's in an XML format. This standard will enable dramatic
efficiency improvements throughout the supply chain since partners will have a way to exchange
product content and changes in a common language. Agile is working with the National
Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI), the National Institute of Standards (NIST), RosettaNet,
and IPC to advance the development of the PDX standard.
Agile eXpress Messenger™. Agile eXpress Messenger is an agent-based service that sends PDX
packages to and receives them from other systems. This enables Agile Anywhere users to
publish product content to other Agile Anywhere systems around the world. In addition, packages
can be published to non-Agile Anywhere users in a format that can be readily viewed and
processed with Agile eXpress Viewer. Agile eXpress Messenger knows:
Who to publish content to
What content to publish
Where to publish content
When and how often to publish
How and what delivery mechanism (e-mail, FTP, HTTP, etc.) to use
Agile eXpress Viewer™. Agile eXpress Viewer is a free viewer that can be used by anyone,
anywhere, to view PDX packages. Agile eXpress Viewer can be downloaded free of charge from
the Agile web site. With Agile eXpress Viewer, a supply-chain partner can send and receive
"packages" of information from another supply chain partner and be kept constantly up-to-date
and informed.
My Agile™. My Agile is a business portal that allows secure, personalized web access to
product content that is stored in any Agile eHub. My Agile is an intuitive, easy-to-use portal,
allowing users to link to any or all of their supply-chain information sources in a customizable,
meaningful interface. My Agile also enables partners to participate in product content-related
processes via the Internet.
Agile iCM™ (Internet Content Manager). Agile iCM is a 100% pure Java application designed for
individuals who have responsibility for managing a product and its content through its introduction
or other lifecycle processes. This role-specific application is geared toward users who spend most
of their day in Agile Anywhere applications.
Conclusions
Manufacturing today involves dynamic, widespread networks of OEMs, manufacturing service
providers, and parts suppliers. These integrated supply chains are under intense time-pressure
from consumers who demand mass customization of products and expect delivery in
"internet-time." To meet such demands, supply-chain partners need to achieve new levels of
speed and accuracy in the exchange product content information. Paper-based communications,
such as fax, email or even web pages that are not dynamically linked to the source of product
content, are no longer adequate.
To enable OEMs to communicate and collaborate with supply-chain partners in a way that limits
costs and increases responsiveness for all concerned, an e-supply solution must stand on three
pillars. It must be scalable up and down the supply chain from the largest to the smallest player. It
must be robust, reliable and, most of all, secure enough for companies to entrust it with their must
vital intellectual property. Finally, the solution must be based on standards that are broadly
accepted and sufficiently flexible to permit the rapid evolution characterizes today's business
environment.
By moving aggressively to implement such solutions, supply-chain partners can achieve good
return on investment, short time-to-benefit cycles, and other competitive advantages.
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