May 15, 2013

Autodesk, NetSuite partner to transform manufacturing industry

051413netsuite

051413netsuite

End-to-end cloud software manages product lifecycle, enables real-time visibility across borders

3D design and engineering software giant Autodesk Inc. and NetSuite Inc., the fastest growing financial management software vendor in the world, said Wednesday they have teamed up to offer manufacturing firms integration of Autodesk’s product lifecycle management (PLM) software and NetSuite’s cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.

“More than 50 percent of product costs are locked in during the design phase,” said Brenda Discher, Autodesk’s vice president of manufacturing industry strategy. “The integration of our technologies will empower manufacturers to reduce overall costs and improve quality, while better understanding and adapting to fast-changing customer demands.”

The bi-directional integration of Autodesk’s PLM 360 software, which debuted in 2011, and NetSuite’s business management software, including NetSuite Manufacturing Edition, gives manufacturers a single, closed-loop solution to accelerate product design and development, reduce risk of errors and delays, streamline supply network collaboration, and gain critical real-time visibility into costing, scheduling, capacity and profitability.

NetSuite’s solution for manufacturing and product-centric companies includes a full portfolio of capabilities including production routings and scheduling, complete financials for manufacturing with standard cost and WIP accounting, inventory management with available-to-promise (ATP) and supply chain integration, seamless B2B and B2C ecommerce and many other key business processes specifically built and optimized for manufacturers.

“Nimble manufacturers are disrupting the industry with technologies and techniques to accelerate product development and delivery and drive customer-centric innovation while controlling costs,” said Roman Bukary, NetSuite vice president of manufacturing and distribution. “NetSuite and Autodesk’s integrated PLM/ERP offers manufacturers the broadest cloud-based business management solution, enabling end-to-end visibility and tremendous gains in speed, efficiency and, most importantly, innovation.”

More specifically, integrating the two products allows manufacturers to:

Speed the cycle from concept to design to delivery, and finally recycle. Product concept, design and engineering data in Autodesk PLM 360, once released, feeds into NetSuite manufacturing to assemble bills of materials (BOMs), source components, assess capacity and more, with role-based authorization across both PLM and ERP systems. Autodesk’s leadership in design, engineering, visualization and simulation software provides an incredible advantage for customers.

Bridge the gap between PLM and ERP. Though leading manufacturers depend on both PLM and ERP solutions, integration between the two has traditionally been one way, depriving companies of the opportunities to improve performance and profitability. Autodesk and NetSuite bridge the gap between PLM and ERP with a seamlessly integrated closed-loop solution.

Sharpen costing and pricing. On-demand visibility into component and production data, as well as forecasting and demand planning, shared across PLM and ERP systems enables manufacturers to optimize costing and pricing to maximize profitability.

Enable intelligent change management. Seamless integration between Autodesk PLM 360 and NetSuite ERP gives designers, engineers, and multi-tier partners as well as other stakeholders a massively scalable platform to ensure that changes are properly documented, propagated and managed in both PLM and downstream manufacturing.

Drive post-production efficiency. NetSuite’s acclaimed inventory, order management and fulfillment capabilities help manufacturers improve customer satisfaction, while NetSuite SuiteCommerce supports sales at physical locations (with integrated Point-of-Sale) and through Ecommerce, enabling easy creation of multiple branded or geo-specific websites and expansion into direct-to-consumer Ecommerce.

Enable a virtuous circle of innovation. Feedback from customers and partners captured in NetSuite CRM, service and PSA modules gives designers and engineers essential insights to understand customer acceptance of a product, assess criticisms and issues, and to adapt accordingly. The integrated solution also supports closed-loop quality corrective action with suppliers.

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