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EDS and A.T. Kearney to Launch Software
Suite Integrating eSourcing and Product Lifecycle Management Technologies;
New Solution Could Provide Companies' Cost Savings of up to 20 Percent
PLM WORLD, ANAHEIM, California (April 28, 2003) EDS and A.T.
Kearney today announced plans to launch a new eSourcing software
solution providing purchasing professionals input to design data
earlier in the product development process – potentially providing
companies with cost savings of up to 20 percent.
The "Lifecycle Sourcing" solution integrates the new 5.0i
version of the eBreviate® eSourcing suite of technologies from
the A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions unit into Teamcenter®,
EDS PLM Solutions' flagship product lifecycle management solution,
thereby creating a linkage between the engineering and procurement
functions. Procurement professionals would provide input to product
design data via Teamcenter, which delivers a company’s digital
enterprise backbone by uniting product knowledge with process innovation.
Incorporating purchasing earlier in the process could help companies
achieve product cost savings of up to 20 percent and reduce time-to-market
cycles 10% to 20%, according to Tim Minahan, vice president of supply
chain research at The Aberdeen Group, a leading IT market research
and positioning services firm.
"This new solution represents an innovative step forward as
it makes the interface between engineering and procurement more
efficient, providing significant improvements to production cycle
times," said Joe Raudabaugh, A.T. Kearney vice president and
head of A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions. "By aligning the
procurement process with the product development process, we engage
the entire supply chain, enabling a collaborative environment to
maximize cost management as the product design evolves."
Reducing purchasing costs
Global companies spend more than $13 trillion on purchasing direct
materials every year, according to the Aberdeen Group. Coupled with
the fact that 80 percent of a product's cost is fixed by the time
the design process concludes, the opportunity for savings is significant,
Minahan said.
"Our most recent E-Sourcing Index (ESI) study found sourcing
managers are getting involved in the design process too late to
have maximum impact on product costs, quality and time-to-market
cycles," Minahan said. "When sourcing managers are involved
earlier in the product design cycle, companies are able to drive
greater cost savings of up to 20 percent. By pulling together the
eBreviate eSourcing suite and EDS PLM technologies, companies are
offered a platform to accelerate the integration of procurement
and development operations, which positions them to drive product
and cost improvements for competitive advantage."
"We primarily meet with the CEOs of Global 1000 companies who
have two top-of-mind concerns—revenue growth and cost reduction,"
said Dietmar Ostermann, A.T. Kearney CEO. "The implementation
of the eBreviate suite into the PLM Teamcenter solution addresses
both of these issues. If companies can shorten the design process
by integrating sourcing earlier, they can release new products more
quickly and cost-effectively, thereby improving the top and bottom
line simultaneously."
Leadership in eSourcing
A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions earlier this month launched its
new eSourcing Suite 5.0i, a fully-integrated web-based application
powered by eBreviate that transforms strategic sourcing to enable
complete sharing of data across supply management modules. EDS and
A.T. Kearney expect the new "Lifecycle Sourcing" solution
to be available during the third quarter of 2003.
The negotiation process between engineering, purchasing and suppliers
is enhanced by the "Lifecycle Sourcing" solution because
the intellectual assets in the design process, including specifications
and requirements, are visible to the entire enterprise, ensuring
that all parties have access to the information they need. Additionally,
pre-determined workflows trigger cross-organization events, increasing
the efficiency and effectiveness of global teams.
A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions will continue to make the eBreviate
eSourcing Suite 5.0i, including RFP, Auction and Spend Management
solutions, available to clients for strategic sourcing efforts.
Both Teamcenter functionality supporting "Lifecycle Sourcing"
and eBreviate eSourcing solutions supplement A.T. Kearney's recognized
leadership in strategic sourcing. With this announcement, EDS and
A.T. Kearney intend to offer a complete solution from requirements
through after-market phases.
Cross-Line of Business Collaboration
"This initiative marks a significant accomplishment in leveraging
multiple EDS lines of business to create solutions that solve mission-critical
issues for EDS customers, and represents the continuing strategy
to maximize the intellectual assets within its business portfolio,"
said Tony Affuso, president of EDS PLM Solutions. "By making
sourcing professionals key stakeholders throughout the process,
we'll enable engineers to make more informed decisions that have
a better impact on savings. This will result in stronger internal
partnerships and faster time-to-market for products."
About A.T. Kearney
A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions (www.atkearneyprocurementsolutions.com)
provides comprehensive strategic procurement services to clients
with needs that range from tactical cost savings to outsourced strategic
sourcing services to complete procurement transformation. A.T. Kearney
Procurement Solutions augments the strategic sourcing expertise
of A.T. Kearney (www.atkearney.com),
one of the world's largest and fastest-growing management consulting
firms. With a global presence that includes more than 60 offices
in 37 countries, spanning major and emerging markets, A.T. Kearney
provides strategic, operational, organizational and technology consulting
and executive search services to the world's leading companies.
A.T. Kearney is the high-value management consulting subsidiary
of global services leader EDS.
About EDS
EDS, the leading global services company, provides strategy, implementation,
business transformation and operational solutions for clients managing
the business and technology complexities of the digital economy.
EDS brings together the world’s best technologies to address
critical client business imperatives. It helps clients eliminate
boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their customers’
trust and continuously seek improvement. EDS, with its management-consulting
subsidiary, A.T. Kearney, serves the world’s leading companies
and governments in 60 countries. EDS reported revenues of $21.5
billion in 2002. The company’s stock is traded on the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE: EDS) and the London Stock Exchange. Learn
more at www.eds.com.
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