Becton, Dickinson and Company Deploys A2i in Healthcare Industry; Successful Enterprise Deployment of Second-Generation Product Content Management System.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers LOS LOS Length of stay, see there ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003 A2i, Inc., the leading provider of solutions for enterprise-wide product content management, today announced that BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : BDX BDX Bordeaux (France) BDX Becton-Dickinson and Company (stock symbol) BDX Business Document Exchange BDX Burst Detector X BDX Beacon Data Extractor ), a multi-billion dollar medical technology manufacturer, has chosen A2i's xCat system for its second-generation enterprise product content repository solution. This announcement follows by several weeks the Web-based rollout of BD's solution. The decision to engage A2i and deploy the xCat system followed an exhaustive evaluation of potential solutions. BD needed a next-generation system that provided an enterprise-wide repository for all of its non-transactional product information. In addition, they needed native support for a multi-lingual, multi-country catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. , automated au·to·mate v. au·to·mat·ed, au·to·mat·ing, au·to·mates v.tr. 1. To convert to automatic operation: automate a factory. 2. print publishing that leveraged existing data, and finally, the flexibility to syndicate custom product data based on the requirements of various channels and audiences. The xCat system was chosen to manage BD's product content repository of over 25,000 products based on its openness and strong support for these requirements, as well as A2i's deep understanding of the technologies and issues associated with implementing a global system of this magnitude. With a well-articulated technology roadmap The context of product management The existence of product managers in the product software industry indicates that software is becoming more and more commercialized as a standard product. and vision, and a keen awareness of their requirements and the technology needed to fulfill ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. them, BD's launch represents the first phase of BD's deployment of the A2i xCat system, and subsequent phases are planned through the end of 2004. BD is using a phased approach to address its product migration issues, global business requirements, and print catalog objectives. "We knew precisely what we wanted and needed but we weren't sure it existed," said Paul Peloquin, Director, Advanced Concepts Development for BD. "Creating a globally accessible, centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. , and harmonized har·mo·nize v. har·mo·nized, har·mo·niz·ing, har·mo·niz·es v.tr. 1. To bring or come into agreement or harmony. See Synonyms at agree. 2. Music To provide harmony for (a melody). product information repository An information repository is an easy to deploy secondary tier of data storage that can comprise multiple, networked data storage technologies running on diverse operating systems, where data that no longer needs to be in primary storage is protected, classified according to captured has significant business value and impacts every aspect of our business, from optimizing BD's inventory levels to improving BD's customer experience and satisfaction levels. We chose A2i after an in-depth evaluation because they offered the broadest and deepest set of capabilities for managing and publishing product information across our entire enterprise." "BD truly understood the challenges of product content management because they already had previous experience with a competitive system under their belt, and they continue to set the bar for not only healthcare companies but also any product-centric business," said Paul Weinberg, president of A2i. "BD's successful enterprise deployment of xCat within a company of this size within the healthcare industry is yet another successful proof point of A2i's superior technology and products, and the horizontal applicability of the A2i xCat system across a broad range of verticals." About A2i, Inc. A2i develops and markets the xCat system for enterprise-wide product content management. xCat efficiently creates and manages a centralized repository of product content containing from thousands to millions of products, supports both printed and electronic output from a single data source, and delivers performance that is 100-1000 times faster than traditional systems. A2i customers include many of the largest distributors in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. such as Applied Industrial Technologies and Digi-Key, large manufacturers such as GE Appliances and NIBCO, and others. Founded in 1993, the company has offices in the United States and Israel. For more information about A2i, please visit www.a2i.com. About BD BD is a medical technology company that serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment and diagnostic products. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, BD reported total revenues of $4.528 billion. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion