San Jose, Calif.-April 2, 2003-Agile Software Corporation (Nasdaq: AGIL), a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of ProductFactory, Inc., a product portfolio management company. The acquisition reinforces Agile's investment and commitment to its Product Portfolio Management offering, Program Execution, giving customers accelerated time-to-market, reduced costs and improved quality across the product lifecycle. Agile also named ProductFactory's CEO, Edward Fields, senior vice president of marketing.
"Program and portfolio management is one of the fastest growing categories in the PLM market because companies are focused on doing more with less. This acquisition builds upon our relationship with ProductFactory and accelerates the launch of Agile's Program Execution," said Jay Fulcher, president and COO, Agile. "ProductFactory shares Agile's commitment to delivering measurable results, fast time-to-value and delighting customers. We're pleased about this addition to our enterprise product lifecycle management solution and to our management team."
Founded in 1999, ProductFactory has been helping companies do more with less by delivering phase-gate portfolio management solutions to the aerospace, automotive and high-tech industries. Agile licensed the ProductFactory solution in June 2002 to extend Agile's PLM footprint from concept to end-of-life with a comprehensive expansion of Agile's product record, quality and cost management solutions.
"The acquisition of ProductFactory further cements Agile's leadership to deliver on its promise to customers - accelerated time-to-market, improved product profitability and quality across the product lifecycle," said Dick Lefebvre, vice president of information technology and CIO, Metaldyne. "With the increasing demands we face, the Program Execution functionality provides us with a single environment in which to manage all key project data including timelines, deliverable documents, issues, and product change information. This acquisition clearly illustrates Agile's commitment towards the development and expansion of its product line."
"With manufacturers' design and product chains extended across an increasingly diverse and globally dispersed group of stakeholders and suppliers, program and portfolio management capabilities have become a must-have for success," said Tim Minahan, vice president of Aberdeen Group's Supply Chain Research practice. "Considering the pre-existing relationship between Agile and ProductFactory, this acquisition should quickly deliver measurable results for existing Agile customers. The deal also reaffirms Agile's commitment to providing solutions aimed at enhancing product innovation, reducing costs, and speeding processes across the complete product lifecycle."
The appointment of Edward Fields to senior vice president of marketing reflects Agile's ongoing commitment to strengthen its leadership team and increase market awareness for its PLM offering. Fields will lead Agile's global product, industry and corporate marketing efforts. Prior to his role as founder and CEO of ProductFactory, Fields held senior management positions in marketing and strategic alliances at Workgroup Technology Corporation and The Learning Company. He has been involved in the engineering, product data management and product lifecycle management market for more than a decade adding a wealth of domain expertise to the management team.
"With over 850 customers, Agile is a PLM industry leader with comprehensive solutions, customer satisfaction and enterprise class scalability," said Edward Fields, senior vice president of marketing, Agile. "This is the perfect environment for the ProductFactory team to continue developing and delivering product portfolio management solutions. We're excited about joining Agile and helping its customers get the most out of their product portfolio."
Details of this transaction, which was completed on March 27, 2003, will not be released.