Agilent

Agilent Technologies (spin-off of HP) is a global, diversified technology company focusing on high-growth markets in the communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare industries. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California; Agilent supports its operations in 40 countries with customer base in 120 countries.

Agilent was experiencing difficulties with its sales forecasting and achieving high customer relationship management levels.  In particular, Agilent faced inaccurate, complex, and untimely sales forecast numbers:

• Aggregation:  Improperly rolled up per corporate/regional structure
• Analysis:  Complex; multiple data sources with lack of central repository for data and sales resources
• Feedback:  Untimely communication (if any) between corporate and field

Acuity Dynamics helped Agilent achieve a higher customer relationship management accuracy and responsiveness to deliver an overall better product and sales experience to clients.

RAPID Value Management Solution

Acuity Dynamics developed an Internet-based global sales forecasting application for the CSG (Communications Solutions Group) field sales force.

The Project Scope targeted forecasting and opportunity funnel management.  The Acuity Dynamics solution automated a manual forecasting process and collected sales information in a timely manner across national and international sales group in South America, USA, and Asia.

Business Value Realization

Increased sales scenarios achieved primarily through mitigation of Lost Deals, greater business responsiveness and proactive global sales management

Client Feedback to Acuity Dynamics

• Impressed with timeliness in delivering the application.
• Worked effectively with Agilent's diverse global sales organizations in obtaining local requirements and achieving the organizational change required to implement the solution.
• Client sponsor will present the sales force automation application to the Agilent corporate Board of Directors as proposed future development across all of Agilent.

CIENA

CIENA is an optical networking equipment company which offers products for tele- and data-communications service providers worldwide including long-distance carriers, competitive local exchange carriers, Internet service providers and wholesale carriers. CIENA develops optical transport, intelligent switching and multi-service delivery systems that enable service providers to provision, manage and deliver high-bandwidth services to their customers.

CIENA is a relatively new company that has been rapidly growing per quarter.  Acuity Dynamics helped the Services Division of CIENA to obtain an understanding of its business, systems, and processes to make recommendations for addressing the current operational issues and anticipated operational issues as growth continues. Acuity Dynamics identified requirements and desired features of future systems

RAPID Value Management Solution

Various different projects have been proposed to improve the processes within the divisions of Ciena. In these cases Acuity Dynamics recommended
Configurator/cost estimating tool for the Engineering division that will:

• Use itemization of Ciena products being proposed and builds itemized list of associated fees for Ciena Services Installation efforts, based on Labor and Additional parts needed to support given Ciena Products
• Feed costing data to other systems for modification and comparison against Actual results (open architecture)
• Pass List of Parts into the Engineering process to begin the building of the L.O.M. part of the Specification Package

Project Management Suite

• Track personnel locations, equipment ownership, qualifications, and schedules.
• Manage resources (used for both internal and external personnel)
• Track issues
• Support graphical status (“electronic whiteboard”)
• Support planning and scheduling (Gantt type)

Purchasing/Warehousing/Logistics

• Allow Engineering to be able to use information from the parts list in the proposal as an input to build an additional parts list of materials that are needed to complete the Installation (L.O.M.)
• Address the need to collaborate with suppliers (either an internal stock warehouse or external vendors)

Business Value Realization

The Configurator/Cost estimating tool helps Engineers Assist the sales team in developing the Services portion of pricing in the proposal thereby improving the internal process as well as customer relations

• By supporting the creation of rules used to create the pricing and budget for a given component sold (or proposed) enhances sales forecasting
• Issue Tracking system results in improving the quality of the final product to the customer and improves internal communication between divisions to resolve issues
• Site surveys increase communication between internal divisions to improve processes

Trane

The Trane Company is a worldwide leading supplier of indoor comfort systems, with annual sales approaching $4 billion.  Its products include modern, efficient equipment for residential, commercial, institutional, industrial and process applications. Trane has offices, service operations, joint ventures and manufacturing facilities around the world. In addition, Trane offices offer a working knowledge of local business practices, building codes, languages and currencies.

Trane wanted to extend their “Service First” marketing program to their external distribution network using the Web to quickly give Trane added brand visibility and give their distributors added value. Acuity Dynamics recommended the development of a Web-based extranet application that could give Trane's aftermarket parts division a presence on the Web, and at the same time allowed their distributors to quickly and easily establish their own Web sites with a custom Web Site Wizard. Trane brands and hosts these easy-to-construct sites, and also has the ability to approve distributors' content before they go online.

RAPID Value Management Solution

Acuity Dynamics performed an Internet Vision and Strategy Session for Trane consisting of a series of focused exercises and discussions for a cross-functional team of Trane Employees and a Trane distributor. The team was assembled to devise a new Internet Strategy for the Company, concentrating on the particular needs of the vast
network of distributors.
An application matrix was developed that suggested six main areas in which Internet-based solutions could be implemented to fill a business need:

• On-line parts catalogue
• Template-based distributor web site creation
• Trane Extranet for distributors
• Intelligent on-line phone directory
• “HVAC.com” or “HVACparts.com” for an online technical resource service
• Focused search engines/marketing strategy to improve information flowing both in and out of Trane

Business Value Realization

• Improve customer relationships with On-line Phone Directory, Technical Support, and product search capability
• Save operating costs by automating tasks
• Enhance Trane corporate and product branding
• Trane controls consistency of product information distributed
• Enhance aftermarket sales
• Improve customer satisfaction
• Provide distributors, dealers, and servicers easy access to information
• Enable efficient online ordering
• Increase market share within parts sector

Seagate

Seagate Technology is a leading provider of technology and products enabling people to store, access, and manage the world's information.   Seagate has partners in the Americas, Asian Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa.  It is considered the world’s largest manufacturer of disk drives, magnetic disks and read-write heads.

Seagate wanted to improve its new product development time-to-market for all products and develop strategic customer relationships with its top customers. There was a sense of urgency as Seagate is returning to privately-held corporate status.  Acuity Dynamics engaged with Seagate on a new product development initiative.

RAPID Value Management Solution

Acuity Dynamics dveloped the ‘MyU5 Portal’ new product development capability.  ‘MyU5’ will drive the development workflow process by:

• Reducing engineering development cycle time
• Streamlining qualification and hand-off to manufacturing
• Integrating timely data for more efficient decision making by the engineers responsible for Disk Drive Development
• Providing accurate data in order to track trends and highlight alerts and priority for the engineers

Business Value Realization

• Accelerates time-to-market for products.
• Integrates disparate data stores, legacy applications, ERP systems, other web applications, internal and external systems to automate data flow and ultimately reduce production cycles.
• Enable the Core Team to review reliability information more inefficiently, thereby enabling quicker decision making.
• Streamline qualification and hand-off to manufacturing.
• Reduction in engineering development cycle time.