Ares introduces Oracle Agile PLM for Unitech Electronics for faster product lead time

Unitech Electronics Co. Ltd., established in 2008 and the former ADC (Automatic Data Collection) business group of Unitech Computer Co. Ltd., has adopted Oracle Agile PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) with technical assistance from Ares International Corp. to shorten its product lead time and improve competitiveness.

Unitech has selected Ares for PLM introduction as the existing PDM (Product Data Management) system it adopted eight years ago is no longer sufficient for its use while maintenance costs are high.

Oliver Sher, associate vice president of Unitech, indicated the PLM system helped reducing the operational time for EC (Engineering Change) from 30-40 days to seven days, which significantly speeds up the lead time of its new products. As well, the new adoption of PLM has a positive and evident influence on Unitech's product pricing, gross margin and overall sales, Sher noted.

Oracle Agile PLM satisfies the two most important functional needs for Unitech—security and project control, Sher said, adding that its performance in TCO (Total Cost Ownership) is the best. Meanwhile, Unitech has chosen Ares to help it introducing Oracle Agile PLM for its flexibility, as Unitech has limited IT manpower. Originally, Unitech estimated it needed six months for the introduction while Ares estimated it would only take three months for the system to go live—the schedule went smoothly and was carried out on time. With the strong e-foundation, clear-cut process flow and basic concepts of Unitech, coupled with specific requirement specifications, Unitech is able to see Oracle Agile PLM system go live on time with the assistance of Ares. Such achievement strongly helped Unitech's R&D department to shorten product lead time while strengthening material control and cost bargain ability.

Already applying Oracle ERP and CRM systems, Unitech plans to connect its ERP, CRM, PLM, SCM and logistic systems in the future. Aggressively introducing green components, Unitech is adopting Oracle Agile PLM for directly connecting to the Oracle database for its R&D staff to have a complete control over the status of its components during the design process to find the choice with the lowest costs. In the meantime, Unitech can raise the proportion of shared material, which can reduce the material item number while improving the purchase volume for better bargaining power.

In the future, Unitech also plans to add new functions such as work log and web knowledge database.

Unitech Electronics Co., Ltd is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) products such as personal digital assistants, handheld terminals, barcode scanners, and RFID readers.

Introduction of Ares International Corp. and Oracle Agile PLM

Ares International Corp. is the first Taiwan-based software company to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). Established for nearly 30 years, Ares is a professional management information system software provider, with professional areas in product technical R&D and system integration. It also provides Oracle IT Solutions and professional consultancy service including introducing Oracle Agile PLM for the enterprise to effectively plan on its resources and speed up its production innovation, thereby improving profits and competitiveness. Ares already has various PLM best practices across the Taiwan Strait, with the customers including Acer, ADLINK, Advantech, amec, Cameo, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), D-Link, eedesign, Foxlink, ICP Electronics, LC net, Mustek, netconn, Promate, Sangfei, Shuttle, TTY and WINSTAR.