San Jose, CA - November 17, 2003 - Agile
Software Corporation, a leading provider of
product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions,
today introduced Agile Environmental ComplianceTM,
which enables companies to manage environmental
compliance throughout the product lifecycle while
minimizing related risks, compliance costs, and
business interruptions.
According to a March 2003 AMR Research Report
titled "Electronic Waste Processing: Manufacturers
Running Out of Time," as a result of the EU
environmental regulations: Waste of Electronic and
Electrical Equipment (WEEE) and the Restrictions
on Hazardous Substance (ROHS), manufacturers are
now responsible for monitoring their products'
entire product lifecycle from cradle to grave, or
from product design to disposal. The business cost
to a manufacturer for noncompliance could reach
several hundred million dollars. Although the
support costs of the EU regulations are high, the
business risk of noncompliance is even higher. At
worst, noncompliance will result in exclusion from
the EU market and loss of market share. At best,
it will mean delayed shipments and possible
penalties. Both consequences spell bad news for
high-tech producers. Compliance strategies are
lagging, placing high-tech producers at risk for
missing January 2005 deadlines.
"Environmental compliance is a growth engine for
the PLM market," said Bruce Richardson, senior
vice president, AMR Research. "Agile continues to
play a market leadership role by redefining PLM to
address the needs of companies whose
constituencies, because of expanding environmental
legislation, now include environmental regulators
and customs officials."
Agile Environmental Compliance addresses the
growing number of environmental regulations and
corporate environmental policies that impact
product content, import, export and disposal. It
enables manufacturing companies to comply with
regulations regarding the WEEE directive, ROHS
regulations, and End of Life Vehicle (ELV)
reporting requirements — along with the many
international and regional variations of these
mandates. The solution also supports the "design
for environment" processes that manufacturers are
being encouraged to adopt. With Agile
Environmental Compliance, companies can:
- Collaborate with suppliers to collect
material data for supplier material
declarations.
- Generate an environmental view of the
product to analyze it for environmental risk-and
make "what if" changes to bring the product into
compliance.
- Manage regulatory documentation and
specifications.
- Track recovery manifests and disposal
certificates of destruction.
- Manage compliance of outsourced recovery
partners through proactive audits and
closed-loop corrective actions.
"Managing hazardous materials throughout the
product lifecycle is both a regulatory issue and a
corporate responsibility," stated Koichi Kunimasa,
chief innovation officer, Hitachi, Ltd. "Hitachi
is committed to meeting the regulatory
requirements and fulfilling its responsibility as
a global manufacturer and corporate citizen. We
are extending our Agile PLM foundation to address
this complex, environmental compliance
initiative." Mr. Kunimasa is delivering the
presentation "Hitachi's PLM Strategy and the
Environmental Compliance Imperative" today at
Agility 2003, Agile's annual customer conference.
"Products define the competitive advantage and
profitability of manufacturing companies, and the
product record plays a central role in an
organization's ability to comply with the
government regulations and industry standards that
shape environmental business practices today,"
said Chris Wong, Agile executive vice president of
products and strategy. "With Agile Environmental
Compliance, we are extending the enterprise's
ability to harness the product record as a key
intellectual asset for proactively managing
corporate compliance practices to ensure the trust
of customers, business partners, investors and the
communities where products are delivered and
used."
About Agile Software Corporation
Agile Software Corporation (NASDAQ: AGIL) helps
companies drive profits, accelerate innovation,
reduce costs, and ensure regulatory compliance
throughout the product lifecycle. With a broad
suite of enterprise class PLM solutions,
time-to-value focused implementations, and a
unique Guaranteed Business ResultsSM program,
Agile helps companies get the most from their
products. Alcatel, Boeing, Dell Inc., Flextronics
International, Hitachi, Leapfrog, Lockheed Martin,
Magna Steyr, Playtex, Siemens, and QUALCOMM are
among the nearly 1,200 customers in the
automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer
products, electronics, high tech, industrial
products, and life sciences industries that use
Agile solutions. For more information, call (408)
284-4000 or visit
www.agile.com.
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