Leading Chinese equipment manufacturer looks to reduce product costs and optimize production processes

CONCORD, Mass. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 28, 2016 — aPriori, a provider of product cost management (PCM) software solutions, has been selected by Shandong Wuzheng Group, one of China’s largest agricultural vehicle manufacturers. Wuzheng will leverage aPriori’s software to optimize its product design, reduce costs and collaborate more effectively with suppliers. The solution will be implemented jointly with Beijing RAINFE Technology Co., Ltd., a leading product lifecycle management software developer, reseller and services provider in China, and a partner of aPriori since January, 2015.

Product cost management is key part of a broad modernization effort at Wuzheng that includes advancements in its development, manufacturing and sourcing processes. The company will deploy aPriori to manage product costs from the earliest stages of design. Wuzheng expects to be able to optimize design, reduce product weight and increase manufacturing production yield as a result. The company will also implement aPriori’s “should cost” capabilities to assist it in working with its over 600 suppliers.

“Wuzheng is very focused on product innovation and operational efficiency,” said Wenjuan Jiang, General Manager of Automotive Products at Shandong Wuzheng Group. “aPriori supports our goals by helping our product engineers understand cost and weight implications at the earliest stages of their designs so they can make more informed decisions before they go to production. This will provide our customers with better value products that also reach the market faster.”

aPriori entered the Chinese market in 2015 with a focus on helping manufacturers better manage development and supplier costs to offset rising labor rates, changing government regulations and new environmental pressures. The ability to provide real-time product cost data on demand across the enterprise enables Chinese manufacturers to drive new levels of efficiency and profitability in their businesses and compete effectively in the global market. Working with partners like RAINFE, the company has been able to quickly capitalize on growing demand for its solution and expand its presence in the region.

The aPriori product cost management platform leverages CAD and intelligent cost models to quickly determine feasible manufacturing methods and product costs while generating detailed manufacturing analysis and cost estimates that quantify the impact of changes to product design, materials, manufacturing processes, volumes and location in real time. aPriori also enables manufacturers to leverage product cost data hosted in other enterprise applications to communicate product cost information between all functional organizations involved in product definition and delivery. This includes the import of complex engineering Bills of Materials (BOMs) from ERP, PLM and other enterprise applications. aPriori also incorporates robust business intelligence capabilities that provide intuitive, role-based insights for design, engineering, manufacturing, value-engineering and sourcing executives and managers.

“With aPriori, Wuzheng will be able to optimize product design, weight, manufacturing process and sourcing before they get into production,” said Stephanie Feraday, president and CEO of aPriori. “That’s a huge advantage over their competition that will pay off in ROI from day one of their deployment.”

About Shandong Wuzheng Group
Shandong Wuzheng Group has grown from a tractor service station founded in 1961 to one of China’s leading machinery manufacturing enterprises with approximately 14,000 employees. The company is privately owned, with total assets of RMB 6 Billion Yuan. For more information, visit http://en.chinawuzheng.com/.

About Beijing RAINFE Technology Company Ltd.
Beijing RAINFE Technology Ltd. is a leading software developer, reseller and services provider for the Chinese aerospace, marine, defense, automotive and energy industries. The company has been serving manufacturers in China for over 15 years and has considerable expertise in conceptual design, CAD, CAE, PLM and specialty Test solutions. In a 2010 CIMDATA report, RAINFE was selected as one of the top 10 PLM solutions providers in China. They are also MSC’s largest reseller in the Aerospace industry. They hold numerous patents in the design space in the US as well as in China. For more information, visit http://www.rainfe.com/ or in China, call + 8610-82119375. In the US, call 617-943-4824.

About aPriori
aPriori software and services generate hard-dollar product cost savings for discrete manufacturing and product innovation companies. Using aPriori’s  real-time product cost assessments, employees in engineering, sourcing and manufacturing make more-informed decisions that drive costs out of products pre- and post-production. With aPriori, manufacturers launch products at cost targets, maximize savings in re-work projects and avoid overpaying for sourced parts. To learn more about aPriori and its product cost management solutions and services, visit  www.apriori.com or call 1.978.371.2006. To see an overview demonstration of aPriori,  click here.

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