PTC Acquires 4CS
Perspectives on the Acquisition
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Bill Berutti
EVP, PTC Business Units -
Kevin Wrenn
Division General Manager, Arbortext Business Unit -
Brian Lindauer
SVP, Arbortext Product Development
NEEDHAM, Mass., September 6, 2011 – PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company®, today announced it has acquired 4C Solutions, Inc (4CS), a developer of warranty management and service lifecycle management software. The acquisition broadens PTC’s portfolio of solutions for product support and service organizations, and supports PTC’s vision for solutions that span both product and service lifecycles. 4CS was privately-held and terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often lose valuable insight into product performance and service effectiveness once their products have been sold. As a result, they fail to capture value throughout the entire service lifecycle where a majority of product-related profits can be realized. To address this challenge, 4CS has developed an approach to warranty and service lifecycle management that leverages a product-centric data model to capture service history and product updates in the form of an “as-maintained” bill of material (BOM). Bringing this important data back into the enterprise enables continuous product and service improvement.
"OEMs are increasingly recognizing the revenue and profit opportunity in managing effective service operations," wrote Joe Barkai, practice director, Product Lifecycle Strategies, IDC Manufacturing Insights. "Moreover, they realize the broad value of maintaining an insight into the operation of the equipment they sell throughout its useful life. By collecting and sharing warranty data and other product support history across the enterprise, an OEM can close the loop between service and engineering. This not only increases service profitability, but also leads to better products and higher total customer satisfaction."
4CS's technology complements PTC's existing service information solutions which empower an OEM's product-support ecosystem with intuitive, configuration-specific service procedures, 3D parts lists, and interactive training materials. It also complements PTC's quality lifecycle management solutions which manage every aspect of product quality, reliability, and safety to ensure products meet the requirements set for them. The combination will enable greater visibility into product knowledge across the product and service lifecycles.
- “This is an exciting time for 4CS. PTC’s leading market position in product lifecycle solutions provides tremendous new opportunities for our products, customers and employees.”
Ashok Kartham
CEO, 4CS