CATERPILLAR IMPLEMENTS AKOYA CMA TO REDUCE ITS DIRECT MATERIALS SPEND
Posted on July 31st, 2006
Akoya, Inc., a product lifecycle analytics solution provider, announced today that Caterpillar has implemented Akoya Cost Management Analyticsō to help reduce its direct materials spend. Under the terms of the agreement, the software is being initially used to identify cost savings opportunities within Caterpillar's cast parts.
“Our goal is to help manufacturers increase their product margins by better understanding what drives the cost of their parts and determining how they can design, source and manufacture them more efficiently,” said Ted Greene, CEO of Akoya. “Our software provides critical inference into cost drivers and allows analysis across large amounts of individual parts in a fraction of the time currently required.”
Cast components represent one of Caterpillar’s largest part categories. The Akoya Cost Management Analytics software analyzes both the feature characteristics of the cast parts from their CAD data and the historical purchasing data on the parts to determine the key drivers that affect the cost of the parts and identify potential cost-savings opportunities.
Caterpillar developed the original technology behind the Akoya Cost Management Analytics software, and the company then spun out Akoya Inc. to develop and market this software technology. Caterpillar retains an investment in Akoya.
“Akoya’s software allows us to identify cost savings hidden in the design of the product faster and more efficiently,” said John Kreuser, business resource manager for Caterpillar’s Global Purchasing Division.
Caterpillar will use the software to analyze cast parts across all its divisions. Caterpillar plans to initiate the software on other part categories based on the successful implementation within cast parts.
