Leading Taiwanese manufacturers adopt Agile Solutions

Agile Drives Momentum for PLM in Taiwan with Customer Successes

Agile Software Corporation (Nasdaq: AGIL), a provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, announced several new customer implementations in Taiwan. Product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions like Agile's are playing a vital role as global companies outsource design and manufacturing to Asian companies.

New customers include: Aopen, Inc., Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Foxconn, and two divisions of Quanta. Chunghwa Picture Tubes, a worldwide manufacturer and supplier of display devices, picture tubes and plasma screens, sought an enterprise solution that would enable them to shorten time-to-market, time-to-volume, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. In conjunction with IBM Taiwan, Chunghwa implemented Agile Product Collaboration and Agile Product Portfolio Management to reduce its engineering change order cycle time and improve overall program and individual project visibility and execution performance.

"Agile's solution enables our distributed organization to always have the latest program and product information and to collaborate on deliverables," said Shih-Tsung Yang, business unit vice president, Chunghwa Picture Tubes. "The results have been measurable and substantial. Our first product launch after implementing Agile's solutions exceeded quality targets and was launched earlier than expected. Agile gives us a competitive edge in the rapidly growing plasma screen market."

Aopen, a leading computer component manufacturer, and a division of Acer, Inc., adopted Agile Product Collaboration to provide greater visibility and collaborative capabilities to their extended supply chain throughout the lifecycle, from concept, sample, test, mass production, service and end of life. Aopen has seen a dramatic reduction in its engineering change order cycle time, which has resulted in faster time to market.

Foxconn is the largest public company in Taiwan, with over $9 billion in annual revenue, and is one of the top three electronics manufacturing services (EMS)/original design manufacturers (ODM) providers in the world, behind Flextronics and Solectron. Foxconn manufactures connectors and cables for personal computers, and is using Agile Product Collaboration to manage changes to bills of material and engineering change orders across their global supply chain, including locations in Los Angeles, San Jose, Taipei, Kunshan and Shenzhen, China. With the adoption of the Agile solution, Foxconn reports that they have experienced shortened time to market and time to volume through improved product development times and reduced costs from engineering rework.

One of the world's largest computer manufacturers and a leading original design manufacturer, Quanta, implemented Agile initially in its PC division, and has expanded that implementation to include its storage and display divisions. Quanta uses Agile Product Collaboration to manage the design and manufacturing changes and requirements of their product lines throughout multiple facilities located throughout Taiwan and China. In addition, Quanta has adopted Agile Product Portfolio Management to improve visibility across their extended supply chain and their complete product portfolio.

"As companies move more and more to an outsourced manufacturing model, it is important to be able to react quickly and efficiently to their needs and the needs of their extended global supply chain," said Jay Fulcher, president and COO, Agile. "The adoption of PLM by companies such as Aopen, Chunghwa, Foxconn and Quanta in Taiwan serves to demonstrate the growing acceptance and momentum that PLM is gaining worldwide."

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