Vendor Summary
Made2Manage Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MTMS) is a provider of enterprise-wide software solutions for small and midsize discrete manufacturing operations. Founded in 1986 with headquarters in Indianapolis, IN, USA, Made2Manage generated $31.1 million in revenue in fiscal 1999. Approximately 56% of the company's sales come from consulting, maintenance, and other support services, while almost its entire revenue is derived from the North American market. Made2Manage Systems went public in 1997.
Its flagship product, Made2Manage, is designed to meet the needs of small and midsize discrete manufacturers engaged in engineer-to-order (ETO), make-to-order (MTO), assemble-to-order (ATO), make-to-stock (MTS), and mixed styles of production. The product is an application suite designed to be the only business software these manufacturers need to effectively manage their operations. It includes applications in sales and marketing, engineering, materials management, production, quality management (through a partnership with Powerway, Inc.), finance and accounting, human resources (through a partnership with Best Software) and web-based applications for customer and supplier collaboration. The Made2Manage solution also offers advanced planning & scheduling (APS) and decision support-executive information system (EIS) capabilities.
Since its founding, Made2Manage Systems has evolved its product while remaining committed to Microsoft technology. With the release of Made2Manage for Windows in late 1995, Made2Manage became an early adopter of Windows NT and was the first manufacturing software application to receive the "Designed for Windows 95" endorsement. In 1998, Made2Manage acquired Bridgeware Inc. to deliver advanced planning and scheduling capabilities.
Vendor Trajectory and Strategy
Made2manage began with a vision to produce business management software that was very intuitive and, therefore, easy to use and implement. Realizing early the importance of business use of the Internet, Made2Manage was in 1997 one of the first ERP suppliers to offer web-based applications for small and midsize manufacturers. During 1999 it embarked on a strategy to provide e-commerce solutions for its target market. Made2Manage has been completing its evolution from a vendor of traditional MRP software to a provider of holistic business applications, including integrated front office, back office, business intelligence and e-business capabilities for its target market - small-to-medium manufacturing enterprises (SME).
Made2Manage has shown a good understanding of the needs of its customers, who typically wish to acquire most of their business applications from a single source while coping with very limited IT resources. To that end, Made2Manage still offers its core ERP solution, which has recently been enhanced with extended enterprise capabilities like advanced planning & scheduling (APS) through the Bridgeware acquisition, and customer relationship management (CRM), both through in-house development and the partnership with Interact Commerce. The company has also made a notable effort to provide e-business solutions with the launch of m2mEport site in March 2000, a Web-based community offering information, tools, and services to meet the e-business requirements of SME manufacturers. Recently, the following three separate portals have supplanted the m2mEport.com site, each providing a more focused set of functionality:
* m2mvip.com - provides manufacturers with customer relationship, collaboration and e-commerce applications
* m2mexpert.com - provides 24x7 customer support, education, and information
* m2mexpress.com - provides a subscription-based hosted service for smaller customers
In addition to improving Internet usability of its products, Made2Manage has also begun an international expansion by opening its first overseas subsidiary in the UK in 1999. By the end of 1999, the company had more than 1,300 customers, primarily North American discrete manufacturing SME organizations. The company distributes its products and services through a multi-channel sales and marketing approach that encompasses both a direct sales force and a network of business partners (VARs) throughout North America and the recently added distribution for Europe.
We expect Made2Manage to continue its focus on the lower-end of the ERP mid-market (companies with $5 million - $100 million in revenues), by rounding-up the functionality of its solution. The product might be enhanced also through third-party alliances in the area of Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) & Transportation, Plant Maintenance, and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
We also expect the company to further pursue alliances for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, Internet trade exchanges and supply chain collaboration within its industries of interest like its recent alliance announcement with Click Commerce, Inc. (for more information, see How Has Made2Manage Systems Been Managing Itself?). Additionally, Made2Manage will invest more aggressively in marketing, international business expansion through distributors, and will seek to become more vertically focused. It is very likely that it will also start pursuing alliances with more ASPs to further its penetration into this increasingly popular marketplace.
ANALYSIS
Vendor Strengths
* Made2Manage has from its early days had a sole focus on the low-end of the ERP discrete manufacturing market. The company has long demonstrated a deep understanding of this market dynamics and its requirements of inexpensive products, fast and simple implementations, and good service and support. These risk-averse requirements have traditionally been entry barriers for larger vendors. Made2Manage has been quite competitive in speed of implementation and total cost of ownership (TCO). It has also achieved good experience with its indirect channel, which is an important criterion for long-term success in the SME market segment.
* The company has, gradually, either developed in-house or incorporated through partnerships a line of integrated e-business, customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence, and advanced planning and scheduling (APS) components within its core ERP solutions. It also embarked early on web-enabling its product and recognized the need for hosted applications within its target niche. This promotes it as one of the first of the smaller ERP vendors with the ability to embrace customer and supplier activities tied to a core transactional back-office system. Made2Manage can, therefore, often offer one-stop-shop functionality for small assembly-to-order (ATO) or make-to-stock (MTS) discrete manufacturers.
* Made2Manage has long embraced concepts of component technology in designing its product. The object-oriented product architecture has been devised entirely from scratch in-house within the Microsoft context, which provides for flexibility and ongoing agility. End users of smaller enterprises have also been impressed with its intuitive user interface, which provides ease of system navigation ("Navigator" feature) and of information retrieval ("Locator" feature), and with underlying workflow & messaging system capabilities ("Notifier" feature).
* Possibly differentiating Made2Manage from its main competitors is the company's readiness to provide smaller discrete manufacturers with the above-mentioned portals that offer a broad range of collaborative, interactive, and communications applications including collaborative engineering design, tools, trading exchanges, and access to information resources. Made2Manage has also been proactive in service and support cost reduction by harnessing the latest technology, like CBT, to deliver inexpensive users' training. The www.m2mexpert.com site hosts a full range of education, consulting and support services, and includes a virtual classroom capability for delivering instructor-led classroom education over the Web. While manufacturers usually prefer to keep their ERP systems in-house, many may opt to use Made2Manage hosted applications for collaborative commerce, which is available through www.m2mexpress.com portal.
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/made2manage-systems-inc-m2m-from-a2z-for-smes-16275/
Made2Manage Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: MTMS) is a provider of enterprise-wide software solutions for small and midsize discrete manufacturing operations. Founded in 1986 with headquarters in Indianapolis, IN, USA, Made2Manage generated $31.1 million in revenue in fiscal 1999. Approximately 56% of the company's sales come from consulting, maintenance, and other support services, while almost its entire revenue is derived from the North American market. Made2Manage Systems went public in 1997.
Its flagship product, Made2Manage, is designed to meet the needs of small and midsize discrete manufacturers engaged in engineer-to-order (ETO), make-to-order (MTO), assemble-to-order (ATO), make-to-stock (MTS), and mixed styles of production. The product is an application suite designed to be the only business software these manufacturers need to effectively manage their operations. It includes applications in sales and marketing, engineering, materials management, production, quality management (through a partnership with Powerway, Inc.), finance and accounting, human resources (through a partnership with Best Software) and web-based applications for customer and supplier collaboration. The Made2Manage solution also offers advanced planning & scheduling (APS) and decision support-executive information system (EIS) capabilities.
Since its founding, Made2Manage Systems has evolved its product while remaining committed to Microsoft technology. With the release of Made2Manage for Windows in late 1995, Made2Manage became an early adopter of Windows NT and was the first manufacturing software application to receive the "Designed for Windows 95" endorsement. In 1998, Made2Manage acquired Bridgeware Inc. to deliver advanced planning and scheduling capabilities.
Vendor Trajectory and Strategy
Made2manage began with a vision to produce business management software that was very intuitive and, therefore, easy to use and implement. Realizing early the importance of business use of the Internet, Made2Manage was in 1997 one of the first ERP suppliers to offer web-based applications for small and midsize manufacturers. During 1999 it embarked on a strategy to provide e-commerce solutions for its target market. Made2Manage has been completing its evolution from a vendor of traditional MRP software to a provider of holistic business applications, including integrated front office, back office, business intelligence and e-business capabilities for its target market - small-to-medium manufacturing enterprises (SME).
Made2Manage has shown a good understanding of the needs of its customers, who typically wish to acquire most of their business applications from a single source while coping with very limited IT resources. To that end, Made2Manage still offers its core ERP solution, which has recently been enhanced with extended enterprise capabilities like advanced planning & scheduling (APS) through the Bridgeware acquisition, and customer relationship management (CRM), both through in-house development and the partnership with Interact Commerce. The company has also made a notable effort to provide e-business solutions with the launch of m2mEport site in March 2000, a Web-based community offering information, tools, and services to meet the e-business requirements of SME manufacturers. Recently, the following three separate portals have supplanted the m2mEport.com site, each providing a more focused set of functionality:
* m2mvip.com - provides manufacturers with customer relationship, collaboration and e-commerce applications
* m2mexpert.com - provides 24x7 customer support, education, and information
* m2mexpress.com - provides a subscription-based hosted service for smaller customers
In addition to improving Internet usability of its products, Made2Manage has also begun an international expansion by opening its first overseas subsidiary in the UK in 1999. By the end of 1999, the company had more than 1,300 customers, primarily North American discrete manufacturing SME organizations. The company distributes its products and services through a multi-channel sales and marketing approach that encompasses both a direct sales force and a network of business partners (VARs) throughout North America and the recently added distribution for Europe.
We expect Made2Manage to continue its focus on the lower-end of the ERP mid-market (companies with $5 million - $100 million in revenues), by rounding-up the functionality of its solution. The product might be enhanced also through third-party alliances in the area of Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP) & Transportation, Plant Maintenance, and Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
We also expect the company to further pursue alliances for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, Internet trade exchanges and supply chain collaboration within its industries of interest like its recent alliance announcement with Click Commerce, Inc. (for more information, see How Has Made2Manage Systems Been Managing Itself?). Additionally, Made2Manage will invest more aggressively in marketing, international business expansion through distributors, and will seek to become more vertically focused. It is very likely that it will also start pursuing alliances with more ASPs to further its penetration into this increasingly popular marketplace.
ANALYSIS
Vendor Strengths
* Made2Manage has from its early days had a sole focus on the low-end of the ERP discrete manufacturing market. The company has long demonstrated a deep understanding of this market dynamics and its requirements of inexpensive products, fast and simple implementations, and good service and support. These risk-averse requirements have traditionally been entry barriers for larger vendors. Made2Manage has been quite competitive in speed of implementation and total cost of ownership (TCO). It has also achieved good experience with its indirect channel, which is an important criterion for long-term success in the SME market segment.
* The company has, gradually, either developed in-house or incorporated through partnerships a line of integrated e-business, customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence, and advanced planning and scheduling (APS) components within its core ERP solutions. It also embarked early on web-enabling its product and recognized the need for hosted applications within its target niche. This promotes it as one of the first of the smaller ERP vendors with the ability to embrace customer and supplier activities tied to a core transactional back-office system. Made2Manage can, therefore, often offer one-stop-shop functionality for small assembly-to-order (ATO) or make-to-stock (MTS) discrete manufacturers.
* Made2Manage has long embraced concepts of component technology in designing its product. The object-oriented product architecture has been devised entirely from scratch in-house within the Microsoft context, which provides for flexibility and ongoing agility. End users of smaller enterprises have also been impressed with its intuitive user interface, which provides ease of system navigation ("Navigator" feature) and of information retrieval ("Locator" feature), and with underlying workflow & messaging system capabilities ("Notifier" feature).
* Possibly differentiating Made2Manage from its main competitors is the company's readiness to provide smaller discrete manufacturers with the above-mentioned portals that offer a broad range of collaborative, interactive, and communications applications including collaborative engineering design, tools, trading exchanges, and access to information resources. Made2Manage has also been proactive in service and support cost reduction by harnessing the latest technology, like CBT, to deliver inexpensive users' training. The www.m2mexpert.com site hosts a full range of education, consulting and support services, and includes a virtual classroom capability for delivering instructor-led classroom education over the Web. While manufacturers usually prefer to keep their ERP systems in-house, many may opt to use Made2Manage hosted applications for collaborative commerce, which is available through www.m2mexpress.com portal.
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/made2manage-systems-inc-m2m-from-a2z-for-smes-16275/
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