Servigistics and Click Commerce say merger forms the largest service lifecycle management company
Two companies acquired by the same venture capital firm become one entitiy
-- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/7/2009 11:26:34 AM
Atlanta and Chicago — Servigistics and Click Commerce's Service Network Solutions (SNS) division, both recently acquired by private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners, have been merged to form a new company to solve the planning, optimization, execution and analytics challenges associated with delivering world-class post-sale service. The new company will retain the Servigistics name and deliver a long-awaited total solution specifically designed to manage all aspects of the post-sale service process - what the market is now referring to as service lifecycle management (SLM), the companies said in a July 7 announcement.
Because today's troubled economy has caused product-based revenue and profits to diminish in mature industries, Servigistics says, companies are turning to service-led strategies for growth. This requires effective collaboration across global functions, new decision-making capabilities and an underlying integrated service technology solution to support those processes. The merger provides one solution designed to meet complex SLM business needs, which should help companies capitalize on the post-sale service opportunities to increase revenue and profits, and enhance customer loyalty, Servigistics says.
"The combination of Click Commerce SNS and Servigistics brings together the pioneer in service parts planning with the leader in strategic service management," said Bruce Richardson, chief research officer at AMR Research. "This pairing also brings strong vertical expertise. Click Commerce SNS dominated aerospace and defense, while Servigistics owned high tech. Together the two will be a strong force in the emerging opportunities in life sciences, consumer goods, retail and logistics."
Danny Hale, deputy of the business operations division, Air Logistics Center, United States Coast Guard, says, "For more than a decade, aerospace and defense organizations have experienced tremendous inefficiencies and rising costs, bolting together multiple point solutions to plan, optimize and execute programs in their extended service chain. With this announcement, Servigistics and Click Commerce SNS have taken the first step in making a single platform approach to service lifecycle management a reality."
The new Servigistics SLM solution will enable asset-intensive service organizations, such as manufacturers, to optimize all components of the complex SLM process, including contract and warranty management, workforce management, service parts management, knowledge management, warehouse management, sourcing, repair and returns, and service analytics, the company says.
Eric Hinkle, CEO of Servigistics who will continue as CEO of the new company, says, "Industry reports indicate 87 percent of all manufacturers still use spreadsheets to manage their mission critical, post-sale service resources, leading to the sub-optimization of enormous investments in field technicians, mobile fleets, spare parts and service knowledge. Our newly combined company is now the clear market leader and uniquely positioned to deliver unprecedented business value to our clients."
Dave Barboro, former president of Click Commerce SNS and executive vice president of the new company, says, "Together, Servigistics and Click Commerce SNS will enable companies to adopt a single technology solution to access the significant value hidden in their service businesses, rather than piecing together disparate components from different sources to manage service operations. The new solution, which will provide planning, optimization, execution and analytics tools, will enable companies to transform their global service operations by dramatically increasing service revenue and profitability, cash flow and customer loyalty."
The new company says it will serve a global client base of more than 240 marquee companies across motor vehicles, aerospace and defense, heavy equipment, high-tech, consumer and industrial products, and utilities. The new company will be headquartered in Atlanta with operations worldwide, including regional headquarters in Tokyo, Japan; Bristol, UK; Gurgaon, India; and field offices in Austin, Texas; Warwick, UK; Rochester, N.Y.; Irvine, Calif.; McClain, Va. and Chicago, Ill.
The companies provide more information about the merger of Servigistics and Click Commerce Service Network Solutions (SNS).
- Edited by Mark T. Hoske, electronics product editor, MBT www.mbtmag.com
