Tempe, AZ — April 14, 2003 — Agile Software is working with a division of Arrow Electronics to develop and market a joint solution intended to deliver real-time access to electronic industry data throughout the product lifecycle.
Agile is working with Global Information Business to combine the software company's product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions with the Arrow unit's Ubiquidata electronic components database.
Ubiquidata is a database containing detailed information on more than 23 million electronic components from Arrow franchised and non-franchised manufacturers. The database is a source for the electronics industry's functional, commercial and lifecycle reference data.
Integrating Ubiquidata with Agile PLM solutions provides access to supply chain intelligence to help drive better component sourcing decisions and enable partners to recognize and share the component product record across extended supply networks.
The combined offering therefore will provide original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and electronics manufacturing service (EMS) providers with a tool to better manage, define and maintain, evaluate and communicate the component product record throughout the product lifecycle and among global supply networks, the two partners say.
"Never before have OEM and EMS manufacturers been armed with this real-time information they need to make the best 'design for manufacturability' decisions within a software environment laser focused on maximizing their actions," said Chris Henry, vice president and general manager at Global Information Business.
The two companies said the joint offering targets manufacturers that are looking for solutions to help them make better design and sourcing decisions to drive product quality improvements and better margins. The potential benefits include reduced costs and accelerated time to market, according to the providers.
"In order to bring products to market more swiftly, engineers must have access to real-time information on electronic components designed into the product," said Ray Hein, vice president of product strategy at Agile. "Partnering with Arrow's Global Information Business and integrating Ubiquidata into our product suite, allows for accurate information at every step of the product lifecycle. Together with Arrow, we can offer our customers premier technical and commercial reference data solutions that extend the value of Agile's PLM solutions in product development, sourcing and change management processes."
This partnership is part of Agile's initiative to work with third-party component and supply chain information service providers, and part of Arrow's efforts to establish access to the Ubiquidata database on various supply chain and electronic design automation (EDA) software platforms. Agile is the first PLM software provider to integrate Ubiquidata.
