CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
22 August 2007
Product News
SigmaQuest Debuts Suite of ROI Calculators to Help Manufacturers and Service Centers Build Business Cases for Product Performance Intelligence Investments
SigmaQuestT Inc introduced two return-on-investment (ROI) calculators designed to help high-tech manufacturers and service centers make informed provisioning and procurement decisions regarding Product Performance Intelligence. Both of these web-based calculators are now available online at http://www.sigmaquest.com/ .
The SigmaQuest ROI calculators were created in response to the growing demand from chief information and chief financial officers for business cases from their business units to justify technology expenditures. The calculators provide Original Brand Owners (OBOs) and their suppliers with a credible and realistic method for predicting the payback ROI that can be achieved from implementation of the SigmaSure Product Performance Intelligence solution for global enterprises.
"Many business unit managers realize automation benefits outweigh the costs, but don't know how to quantify or justify it to their CXOs," said Nader Fathi, CEO at SigmaQuest. "Our new ROI calculators were developed through work with industry leaders to help highlight to senior management the quick and substantial payback possible from utilization of SigmaQuest's SigmaSure Manufacturing & Test Insight and Return Material Authorization (RMA) & Warranty Insight products."
ROI Calculators
The new SigmaQuest ROI Payback calculators are the result of multiple industry studies conducted by SigmaQuest to develop comprehensive return-on-investment models for its solutions. Leveraging data from numerous industry leaders, the models create detailed assumptions about varying types of organizational improvements. These assumptions form the basis of the simple-to-use, yet in-depth analysis and are available from the calculators. Users simply launch either one of the online calculators, fill in the required data and these web tools automatically calculate the potential savings possible from using SigmaQuest Product Performance Intelligence software.
Manufacturing Test Calculator
SigmaQuest's Manufacturing ROI Calculator calculates total annual spending in comparison to the annual savings possible from using SigmaQuest's Manufacturing Test Insight. It is available in two options:
Cost-of-Goods-Sold (COGS) - This calculator measures the impact of poor quality to bottom line. It takes into consideration variables such as low yields, manufacturing cycle times and supplier performance as well as warranty field returns and recalls. It then highlights the possible savings based on actual results achieved from other industry leaders utilizing Product Performance Intelligence solutions like Manufacturing Test Insight.
Impact of Automation - This calculator uses an organization's combined hours of manual labor spent by engineers and managers in data collection, analysis and knowledge transfer. It then highlights the possible savings based on actual results achieved from other industry leaders utilizing Product Performance Intelligence solutions like Manufacturing Test Insight.
RMA/Warranty Calculator
SigmaQuest's Return Material Authorization (RMA)/Warranty Calculator enables users to calculate total annual RMA costs in comparison to the expected annual cost reduction possible using SigmaQuest's RMA Insight & Warranty Insight. It is available in two options:
Percent of Revenue - This calculator option measures annual RMA and technical support costs based on historical data. It then calculates the reduction of these events with faster visibility and analysis based on assignable cause.
Percent of Units Shipped - This calculator option measures annual RMA and technical support costs based on planned shipping volume and historical RMAs. It then calculates the reduction of these events with faster visibility and analysis based on assignable cause.
SigmaQuest Product Performance Intelligence Offerings
SigmaQuest's Manufacturing & Test Insight and RMA & Warranty Insight products work as follows. SigmaSure, the foundation of Manufacturing & Test Insight, provides continuous collection, monitoring and analysis of manufacturing data associated with a product's quality. That data can span multiple geographic locations and organizations. The software also enables cost reductions and performance improvements by providing real-time intelligence that enables data-driven decision making, giving users the means to upload and analyze product, supplier and manufacturing test and repair data using any web browser.
SigmaQuest's RMA & Warranty Insight are utilized after manufacturing and are initiated following a product's return. Rather than having OBOs face the difficult challenge of uploading RMA and warranty data into spreadsheets and trying to analyze the information manually - an error prone process that can take weeks to correlate - SigmaSure RMA Insight enables customers to pull together data from disparate RMA databases and quickly drill down to get a 'single view of the truth,' in terms of what, when, where and how failures occur. With this type of information, OBOs can more quickly make product upgrades and notify their supplier and customers faster when recalls are required. Also, they can ensure that the right amount of spare parts or replacement inventory is available.
For more information regarding SigmaQuest's new calculators or to schedule an in-depth analysis of your environment, contact us at info@sigmaquest.com .
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