Cimnet Systems and Direct Logix showcase front-end automation solution at APEX

Solution allows PCB manufacturers to fully automate front-end operations

Cimnet Systems Inc., a business unit of Made2Manage Systems and a leading global supplier of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and services for the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, and Direct Logix, a leader in engineering procedure management solutions, will showcase a bundled, PCB-specific front-end automation solution during a joint press conference today at the IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and Designers Summit in Los Angeles at 1:30 p.m. local time in Conference Room 308A.

At the press conference, speakers Mehul Davé, general manager of Cimnet Systems, and Leigh Eichel, vice president of Direct Logix, will give attendees a chance to learn more about how to completely automate front-end operations, from quoting to pre-production engineering and design. 

The bundled front-end automation solution begins with i-Quote from Cimnet Systems, an intelligent, Web-enabled quotation system designed exclusively for the PCB industry. i-Quote automates the quoting process by capturing customer specifications and using predefined workflows and a rules-based costing engine to calculate an immediate quote. Cimnet Systems complements its i-Quote offering with comprehensive business process outsourcing services. Several leading PCB companies already use Cimnet Systems' office in Mysore, India, to execute their time and resource-intensive quoting operations.

The solution continues with the CAM Automation, Design Rule Check (DRC) Analysis, and Engineering Flow Control tools of Direct Logix, which gather raw customer data in order to automate the computer automated manufacturing (CAM) process. Engenix, a pre-production engineering solution from Cimnet Systems, then extracts and analyzes the CAM data to generate stack-ups, travelers and reports that can be integrated with any ERP system-including Paradigm from Cimnet Systems. The combination of Direct Logix and Engenix is balanced by services from Cimnet Systems, where both pre-CAM and CAM activities may be outsourced to Cimnet Systems' development center.

"This is a very powerful solution backed by two vendors that are directly focused on the unique needs and business requirements of leading PCB manufacturers around the world," said Davé. "The product and service combination we'll be discussing at the press conference has the power to dramatically impact the front-end operation of any PCB manufacturer, including shortened cycle times, reduced costs, improved quality, and faster throughput."

Eichel agreed. "The partnership between Cimnet Systems and Direct Logix allows both existing and future customers to have access to perhaps the strongest enterprise-class offering in the global PCB manufacturing arena," he said.