Jim Brown

One-to-One: Filling PLM Gaps (can you say compliance?): Synapsis
June 13, 2008

I had the chance to talk with ... Andrew Wertkin earlier this week. Andrew is one of the founders of Synapsis Technology, and we had the opportunity to talk about their specialty applications that extend the power of PLM. Synapsis does not provide core PLM capabilities, but provides deep solutions that either extend the capabilities or fill the gaps in larger PLM solutions - most notably to address product compliance.

What do they Do?
Synapsis doesn't make PLM systems, they make PLM systems better. Thanks to Dow Chemicals for that snappy phrase, by the way, it works everywhere! Synapsis is what I like to call a "specialist" software vendor. Some will call them niche or "best of breed." Whatever you call this class of vendors, they are an important part of the PLM ecosystem. Where the large suite providers provide basic functionality for many areas, some companies need to go further to support their businesses. That is where the specialists come in. Synapsis embraces this strategy. Andrew was very clear that Synapsis does not want to become a PLM vendor. But, Synapsis is an important player in the PLM market because they serve as specialists to those that need to go beyond the basics.

EMARS: The Product Compliance Solution
Synapsis' main offering is EMARS. The solution helps companies develop and manage products that comply with the many compliance issues that face companies today. On the heels of the RoHS legislation that made companies scramble to ensure a number of specific substances were eliminated from their products (lead being the most visible one) come even more compliance demands. RoHS continues to extend to new countries, and now REACH is forcing companies back through the exercise of understanding what's in their products. In fact, many companies took a surface-level approach to RoHS and simply collected statements from suppliers that the components of their products didn't contain the specific substances found in the RoHS legislation. Others followed the approach that Synapsis promotes and supports - know what is in your products. 

Beyond new legislation companies also face green mandates and customer demands that go beyond specific regulations. The trick is:

• Knowing the regulations and how they apply
• Knowing the contents of your products
• Flagging the exceptions between product contents and regulations
• Reporting and proof of compliance

Synapsis actually goes beyond this to help companies develop a "bill of impact" for their products. Beyond product contents, the bill of impact addresses the full environmental implications of a product, including energy consumption, recyclability, hazardous/controlled substances, and more. The goal is to allow companies to better understand (and report) a more complete view of the environmental impact of their products, and ensure compliance with existing customer and regulatory demands in a way that also prepares them to rapidly evaluate compliance to new regulations. An example that Andrew mentioned was that Seagate needed to evaluate the impact of a major customer's demand for halogen-free products, they were able to use the Synapsis toolset to answer the question in a matter of hours. How many believe their company could get an answer that they could trust at all, let alone in less then a day or two? Not many that I know.

Who do they Work with?
Synapsis works with a who's who of large companies. The founders come from Motorola, who is a big user. They also work with IBM, GE, Seagate, Sony Ericsson, and others. But they also work with smaller companies, and are offering a SaaS (software as a service) solution although it is not well publicized yet.

Beyond their direct customers, EMARS is also the compliance solution that is embedded in Siemens PLM's Teamcenter, one of the most broadly implemented PLM solutions in the market today. Other partners include IBM and Oracle. Although Synapsis is small, they keep very good company in the industry - a common trait of the specialist vendor.

So that's what I hear from Synapsis. I hope you found it useful. What do you think? What else should I have asked them?

Posted by Jim Brown on June 13, 2008 | Comments (0)