CHELMSFORD, MA -- February 12, 2001 -- Collaborative commerce software provider MatrixOne announced the release of a new application that the company says will allow project teams from different trading partners to work together online in private and public Net markets.
The application, Team Central, allows a company to define project teams; create team project topics to host threaded discussions and relevant documents; route information in folders among team members; and automatically notify team members of events and status changes.
Team members using the application can manage their personal profiles such as company affiliation, past project experience, current responsibilities and notification information, and they can view documents, drawings, models and tasks online.
Collaborative design is becoming more of a necessity as companies increasingly outsource the manufacture of products. A market study by Bear Stearns found that leading electronics industry original equipment manufacturers (representing, as a group, sales of $564 billion) were planning to outsource 72 percent of their cost of goods manufactured. Meanwhile, the U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook 2000 reported that "contract electronic manufacturers are increasingly involved in design and support services."
In such an environment, "virtual teams" that bring together the best available resources from within a company, its suppliers and other partners can be an important structure for product innovation and value creation.
