EAC Product Development Solutions (EAC), a leading provider of product development technology and services, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the Arbortext Business Unit of TerraXML. This acquisition makes EAC unique in providing a complete end-to-end systematized solution set for managing product information, executing processes within that system, and publishing relevant information both inside and outside the enterprise.
March 19, 2014 — EAC Product Development Solutions (EAC) expands capabilities and services through the acquisition of TerraXML’s Arbortext Business Unit. This acquisition aligns EAC with industry trends toward Service Information Management (SIM), Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), and automated publishing of technical information. The Arbortext Business Unit will operate as the EAC Product Development Information Services group or PDIS, and provide implementation, customization, development, and support for the Arbortext product line.
Thane Hathaway, President and CEO of EAC said: “Small and medium businesses (SMB’s) need to manage and publish accurate product information in real time, across multiple platforms just like the Fortune 500’s, but they’ve never had a world class and affordable solution. With this acquisition, we’ve gained the unique ability to implement and support an end-to-end PLM and publishing system specifically tailored for SMB. We look forward to satisfying this market need while continuing to grow and develop these tools.”
Cory Huey, Vice President of Services at EAC said: “This acquisition opens the doors to many new possibilities. In the future, we will develop integrated dynamic publishing products that small companies can more easily afford and deploy. I’m excited to see where the market takes us from here.”
Acquiring the Arbortext Business Unit of TerraXML enables EAC to enter new markets and provide end-to-end solutions to the product development and manufacturing industries. Arbortext allows product companies to easily create products and technical publications and make that information available to customers, dealers, and service staff.
The timing, the mood, and the purpose all align to produce one perfect moment. It’s the moment you realize that you’ve sparked a partnership that will truly last. We’re talking about a business partnership, naturally.
All joking aside, a true partnership is really a beautiful thing. Many companies similar in nature to EAC talk about their customers as just that, customers. We believe it is much more than a buyer and seller relationship — we believe in partnerships.
Business to business service and technology providers that focus only on selling, tend to miss the mark when it comes to actually listening to their customer’s woes. The mentality of “I’ll say I’ll do this, but really I am going to do that” is dismally common regardless of the industry or service. I’ve heard horror stories from our patrons about other vendors failing to live up to their end of the bargain.
“We had been looking round and round for a good partner, it was hard because we had been beaten up pretty bad [by previous relationships with VARs].” Said Linda Cave, from Mott Corp. By using honesty and integrity as a foundation, EAC has built a strong relationship with their organization.
EAC is different. And we have a portfolio of hundreds of patrons that prove it. Here are a select few:
“I haven’t worked with anyone else — but I don’t think I’d want to. We couldn’t ask for a better partner, honestly.”
– Ahmed Kansara, Generation Brands
“I get a statement of work — and that is it! It is not only fair, but it’s 100% accurate. It is perfect every time.”
– Linda Cave, Mott Corp.
“It is nice to have someone there for support… In all, I like how you guys do business.”
– Todd Anderson, Morgan AM&T
“There was a big investment right away on EAC’s side to listen. What sold me was that there was an appropriate amount of time spent [by EAC] up front understanding our business needs.”
– Kevin Caskey, MGK
We don’t mean to brag (ok, maybe a little bit) but why wouldn’t we want to shout this from the rooftops? In the end, it is truly your success that makes us thrive as an organization. In order to do that, we must work together as partners to achieve a common goal. It is as they say, “you complete me”.
I have the great privilege of talking with many of our customers about their experiences with technology and our service options. During many of those conversations I hear customers talk about how challenging adopting technology has been for them. In fact, I hear the same few phrases over and over again. “It takes so much time to get spooled up.” “We don’t have time to learn new technology.” “It’s such a hassle to send everyone through training with new releases.” And, I’d bet that many of you have also said something along those lines.
Many organizations hesitate to update or change technology, especially CAD technology, because it can dramatically impact time to market and project capacity. It simply isn’t realistic to stop or slow production to allow for your CAD users to become familiar with a new tool.
I’m not surprised that this is a common thread among organizations. Many of our customers have told me stories about weeks of downtime and months of a brutal tug of war between man, computer, and the worst enemy of all — change.
But don’t worry; I’ve got some good news. Our customers who have upgraded from versions of Pro/ENGINEER to the new and improved Creo Parametric are seeing a major difference when it comes to adoption. Simply put, it’s easy and fast. I’m not talking about just a few customers who have experienced this — it’s all of them.
Dan Gage, Mechanical Engineer at JR Automation, said, “The transition to Creo Parametric 2.0 was much easier than moving from Wildfire 3.0 to 5.0. The interface is incredibly user friendly, the modeling portion is a lot more intuitive, and the ribbon interface makes it simple to navigate. Everything is right at your fingertips.” JR Automation was able to ramp up and get moving 50% faster than any other CAD release before it.
Imagine what that could mean for your business. It certainly makes the idea of adopting a new technology much, much brighter. So, if you haven’t done so already, try out Creo to see what our customers have been bragging about.
The saying “nobody is perfect” also applies to companies because no companies are perfect. Many organizations struggle with issues like getting their processes documented and their data management under control. Sometimes it is the members of the team that manage to hold it all together and enable substantial growth. However, this approach typically is neither scalable nor sustainable.
At EAC, we have a service called the Product Development System Assessment (PDSA). In short, the assessment helps identify areas within an organization that could improve — whether it be processes, data management, communication, or organizational change. We have helped companies across the country identify areas of their organizations that may not be reaching their full potential and provide them with a personalized roadmap for improvement.
One such company, Thermos (yes, Thermos — the company that made your really cool Spiderman lunchbox as a kid), has worked with EAC to identify areas where their organization could improve. “Hot Matters. Cold Matters. It Matters,” Thermos’s corporate mantra, not only identifies with their well-known product, but also refers to their high standards of quality, safety, living green, and giving back.
Over the last decade, Thermos has experienced tremendous growth. But as VP of Marketing Julie Ryan said, “We’ve got a great team and what we’ve been doing for the last 10 years has been working. But what’s making it work is the people — not the process.”
EAC was able provide a roadmap that included implementation of a project management system. This would allow Thermos to begin building a foundation that will support and sustain growth. Because let’s face it — Hot Matters. Cold Matters. It Matters.
By the time you have invested in a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system, you are ready to overcome the inefficiencies of your current processes, and reap the benefits of improved business operations and profits. The key to maximizing those benefits lies only partially in the program itself. The other part rests firmly in the hands of those who will implement the new program. Making sure your employees know how to use the system to its best advantage will put your company well on its way to achieving its goals.
Employee Training as an Investment
Change, by itself, is often frustrating. Employees using one system for years grow comfortable even with features that do not operate as intended, sometimes designing elaborate work-arounds just to get the job done. Suddenly presented with a new PLM system, these employees may dread the unknown and cling to a subpar system for its familiarity alone. Getting employees involved with the new PLM system early in the process when bringing a new system on board is important in maximizing its efficient use in your company.
When introducing your new system, start with a reminder of what you learned from your employees about the old system: what problems they were having, where there were inefficiencies or delays, and what impact that had on their ability to get their work done. Then invite them to see how the new system will help alleviate those issues. Once they see how they will benefit from your new program, they will be ready for their next step: learning how to use it.
Certified Training Opportunities
Training is available for product design and management programs including Windchill, Creo, Arbortext and more. Options include public or group training events, private training sessions and remote or eLearning opportunities. Web modules offer further employee development.
Whether they breeze through free tutorials and are completely comfortable with the new program, or whether they require more hands-on training, each member of your team will need full access to instruction that will make them experts in using the new PLM program.
You should also consider having a system available for experimentation. Each employee should be able to get the feel for how Creo, other CAD platforms, Microsoft Word, and company procedures work within a system like Windchill. Finally, get feedback from your teams to understand how they feel and what additional assistance they want. Knowing that you want to give them all the tools possible to make the new program work will remind them that they are important players in helping your company achieve its goals.
How Training Your Employees Helps Your Business
Investing in your employees and their training is time well invested. Employees who are happy in their positions and feel appreciated are likely to stay at your company and take it to a higher level of productivity. Employees frustrated by not understanding a new system, on the other hand, may look for greener pastures. Implemented correctly, a new system can enhance not only work efficiency but employee satisfaction as well.
The highest quality, most advanced PLM products on the market are only as good as the employees that use them. Remember to invest in your employees as much as you invest in your technologies. And when you feel thankful for that new program and the efficiencies it has brought, this time of year is a great time to show thanks to your team for ensuring your business success.
At EAC, we’ve developed a framework that looks at product development as a system. We call this framework the Product Development Operating System — the PDOS. (Shown above.) To understand how the PDOS framework functions, you must first understand the elements of a competitive system.
The first element of a competitive system is information. Competitive systems have both generalized and specific information. Generalized information covers the full suite of potential strategies and tactics — a playbook. Specialized information is general information that is selected to appropriately address the specific competition — the game plan.
The second element in a competitive system is preparation. Like any sport, practice tends to be a primary contributing factor in who wins the game. In the system sense, behaviors used in competition are rehearsed to develop deeper skills. As learning occurs during practice, ideas, strategies, and tactics are then added to the playbook.
Naturally, the competition itself is the final piece in a competitive system. All skills and knowledge developed through the first two parts of the system are then applied during the competition.
Looking at the framework, you notice that the three components of a competitive system comprise the rows of the PDOS framework. The columns represent the three tiers of the organization. Each tier of the organization has responsibilities that impact the systematic operation of Product Development.
The PDOS thrives on the flow of information. Knowledge is the value medium of product development and information is what flows through the system. A knowledge base that includes Product Development specific information technology tools like PLM systems, design tools, and simulation tools serves as the foundation supporting the other layers of the PDOS.
The preparation layer is where the “important” work happens. This is a sanctuary for continuous improvement. This layer is a core part of the Japanese system. In Stephen Covey’s book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he talks about the division of the urgent work and the important work. He notes avoid letting the urgent work overwhelm the important work because, if that happens, the important work never gets done.
The preparation layer is what is missing from the western approach to product development. We have made an orphan out of feedback, which is the learning element that is critical to continuous improvement.
In Product Development, the competition layer represents the “urgent” part of our charter, the execution of product development or projects. Process thinking organizations see the upper right hand box as “Product Development”. Organizations that shift to a Systems Thinking perspective of Product Development put themselves in a stronger competitive position.
