An Interview with Mark Keenan, President of Technicon: Discussing Bill of Material Configuration and CPQ

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An Interview with Mark Keenan, President of Technicon: Discussing Bill of Material Configuration and CPQ

About sixteen years ago, I joined Technicon.  At that time, we came out with one of the leading CPQ products for large manufacturers in North America.  My background revolved around some of the aspects that can be associated with CPQ such as CAD and mechanical engineering.  By selling Intel products, I also got a good feel for the complexities and issues in generating quotes and the proposal process for manufacturers.  Since then, for the last sixteen years, we have been deploying systems for very large manufacturers in North America.  Companies like Eaton, Borg Warner and Phillips are Technicon customers.  Today, Technicon is a leading CPQ provider in North America. 

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Aras’ Change Management and Impact Matrix

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Aras’ Change Management and Impact Matrix

The change management application breaks into three parts.  There is our CMII compliant change package that is the most comprehensive.   It includes the PR, ECR and ECN processes which are typical industry standards.  We also have a midline called the Express package that includes the ECO, DCO and something new called the EDR.  And finally, we have a simplified version that moves the change process along much more rapidly.  An important enhancement we just released is the Impact Matrix.  The current tool gives users the ability to see the impact of their proposed change.  So, if they were releasing say a part, they would be able to see the possible impact on other parts or assemblies.   With our upgrade they could also see what models, drawings, and/or documents might be affected.  Instead of a user having to dig through the various relationships, the Impact Matrix does that work to help the user make a decision.

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Pursuing the Promise of PLM – Part 1

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Pursuing the Promise of PLM – Part 1

Personally, one of my go-to content sources is TED talks.  In particular, I have enjoyed Simon Sinek.  He’s an author best known for popularizing the concept of "the golden circle" and to "Start with Why.”  In one of his talks, Sinek encourages us to understand “why” we pursue an idea, and then dig into the “how” and “what” later.  By doing so, the result is a vision and energy that transcends the morass of tactical details.  A prime example … Steve Jobs is the iconic “why guy.”

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Requirements Management - An Interview with Dave Ewing of Aras

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Requirements Management - An Interview with Dave Ewing of Aras

Requirements Management is another one of our applications that pairs with Aras Innovator and is part of the subscription model.  Its primary capabilities are twofold.  You can create individual requirements and requirement documents that are a collection of requirements.  Typically, you are generating a requirements document or documents as you are designing a product or perhaps documenting regulatory requirements.  That is the type of usage we see from our various customers.

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