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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Richardson, CEO, CIMNET Inc.
(610) 790-1800 x1807, johnr@CimnetInc.com
CIMNET Succeeds Siemens on Tyson MES Project
Robesonia, PA, October 6, 2006
By Stephanie Neil, Managing Automation Editorial Staff
CIMNET Inc. has succeeded Siemens Energy & Automation on a multi-year contract with Tyson Foods Inc. to deploy manufacturing execution system (MES) software at the food processor's 100-plus plants worldwide, Managing Automation has learned.
Tyson originally selected Siemens and its SIMATIC IT over CIMNET about two years ago, because it was a bigger player with a stronger balance sheet, according to sources. However, Siemens' size may ultimately have worked against it in this case, sources said.
The project, sources indicated, suffered from a lack of coordination and execution between Siemens' European and North American operations. This hurt the MES provider's ability to deliver an integrated system. In fact, after 18 months, only one Tyson plant was functioning with Siemens software, one source said.
CIMNET and Tyson officials both declined to comment on Siemens' previous involvement with the project. Siemens, however, did confirm that it is no longer engaged in an MES project with Tyson.
"Some time ago, there was an IT reorganization at Tyson and all IT projects were put on hold," according to Tom Varney, vice president of communications at Siemens Energy & Automation. "At that time, [Tyson's plans] included the Siemens SIMATIC IT initiative and implementation. In the end, they chose not to continue with our project."
Varney did not acknowledge any missteps on the part of Siemens. He noted the company maintains a strong position with manufacturers in the U.S. "We do have several larger projects that are currently being implemented at major processors in the U.S.," he said in an e-mail. "This clearly demonstrates our penetration and influence into the meat/poultry processing industry continues very strongly."
CIMNET, meanwhile, is getting a boost by its new Tyson business — although the company declined to specify how much the deal is worth. And Tyson is already seeing results. Back in February, the two companies began collaborating on an initial design and proof of concept using CIMNET's Factelligence Industrial Portal at Tyson's Green Forest, Arkansas plant. The team took just two months to deploy and integrate the Factelligence suite with existing equipment and business systems.
The overall Factelligence implementation — to be rolled out to Tyson's other 100-plus sites over the next five to six years — includes user interfaces for hand-held wireless devices, browser-based operational reports including key performance indicators, overall equipment effectiveness, genealogy, yield and consumption reports.
"We have highly configurable MES software that can be configured to operational parameters instead of having to change the process to fit the application," said CIMNET CEO John Richardson, in an interview. "It is our ability to do rapid deployment at low cost," that won Tyson's business, he said.
AMR Research Inc. MES analyst Alison Smith observed that CIMNET — while a smaller MES player — is "laser focused on customer satisfaction." And ultimately, the ability to get the job done is what manufacturers require from their vendors. CIMNET offers a "packaged product" that doesn't require a lot of configuration, she added.
CIMNET has invested about $8 million in its MES product over the last few years, reengineering it around Microsoft's .NET technology. Factelligence can be offered in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and it is also one of the few MES products that layers intelligence and analytics into the suite.
The vendor's customers seem to be responding favorably. In August, CIMNET reported that second quarter revenues surged to $1.3 million, up 58% from the like period last year.
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