Competitive Advantage
With an impressive crop of home and office products that include the "Speed Grip Electric Stapler" and "Light Touch Heavy Duty Punch," Swingline clearly has a firm grasp on what constitutes product innovation. As a part of holding company ACCO Brands, which also makes Day-Timer personal organizers and Kensington computer accessories, Swingline could easily fall into the trap of being content with its dominant position in the marketplace. But with a renewed focus on its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) procedures, the company clearly has a vigilant eye cast on the competition.
"Our market is increasingly dynamic and competition continues to intensify, so we needed a PLM solution that is both affordable and flexible enough to easily adapt to the conditions," says Bruce Neapole, president of Swingline.
Determined to Deploy
In response, Swingline will deploy Aras PLM to automate its project portfolio coordination, new product launch and supply chain quality operations. Aras will help Swingline automate business processes critical to new product development and brand introduction providing dashboard visibility into the portfolio of ongoing projects. Browser-based progress reports are displayed in a single screen. Status details are based on roll-ups that provide the ability to drill down to the deliverables to take action. The capability to communicate specifications worldwide in a secure format over the Internet also drives down costs and reduces cycle times while protecting proprietary company information.
"This kind of flexibility means we can automate our own proprietary competitive practices and can easily change the solution to take advantage of new opportunities in the market," says John Lewis, vice president of operations at Swingline. "Aras PLM gives us the ability to assure our stringent quality levels in a cost effective manner by coordinating our new product introductions and international operations as we scale up production volumes."
Adapting to Change Swingline also believes that its new PLM strategy will not only reduce cycle times but also help the company leverage internal and external manufacturing engineering sources across the globe.
"We needed a content management solution that supports the needs of a rapidly changing environment and PLM technology is an excellent fit," says Lewis. "The grand idea is to get new, innovative products to market quicker but also with the same level of quality. Swingline is a very strong brand and quality is the foundation through which we compete on in concert with our innovation. As we continually progress into the higher end of electrical platforms we need to get more highly innovative products to the market quicker than our competitors."
Lewis says this approach is vital to maintain and increase market share. Swingline's new PLM system will enhance the company's flexibility, improve its cost structure and help improve the robustness of its systems and processes required to get products to market quicker.
"We're looking to automate our own proprietary business systems in a manner that is both time and cost efficient. After reviewing many of the leading PLM providers, Aras offered the overall best fit for Swingline's objectives, particularly in areas of adaptability, implementation cost and ease of use. For the size of our business, competitive nature and the strategic business goals that we have, the Aras solution really fit," says Lewis.
Phased Approach
Swingline met with Aras to obtain an overview of the company, the people behind the deliverables and how it differed from other providers. Swingline in turn communicated its business objectives and challenges. After considering a handful of Aras prototypes, the company deployed a Swingline pilot. At this juncture, Lewis says the ease of use and adaptability of Aras became readily apparent.
"They met our cost needs as well," says Lewis. "It's not a fixed system and they were definitely flexible enough and adaptable to our needs." Swingline is currently knee-deep in the first phase of the Aras rollout that includes areas of product change process and document control. The next phase will accommodate new product introductions that will directly affect Swingline's bottom line due to the rapid deployment of product.
Effect on the Value Chain
Lewis says that the Web-based features Aras offers is where the flexibility of the PLM system really shines. In essence, Swingline can expand the system through the Web to its global supply base including manufacturers, distributors and customers. Swingline has initially contracted 14 seats through Aras the locations of which are spread across the Far East, Central and South America, and North America.
"It allows the connectivity to tie in our customer's requirements, our configuration management control and new product development process with distribution centers and manufacturing locations," says Lewis. "The result is that our products get to market quicker with a higher degree of quality in a more cost-efficient manner throughout our entire value chain."