Manufacturing Operations Management: Savigent Releases Catalyst Platform v4.0


Traditionally a battleground for ERP, industrial automation, and pure-play solution providers, Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) solutions are evolving with the rest of the software categories serving the industrial value chain. Manufacturing IT architecture is rapidly modernizing and we’re seeing a clearer connection between line of business and IT. Vendors are offering software suites that are not only becoming broader, but also more specialized for specific functionalities.

manufacturing operations managementLNS Research has been covering Savigent as a MOM software provider for over four years now and unfortunately Savigent is still relatively unknown when compared to some of the larger players in the space. In this post we want to shed some light on the recent release of Savigent's MOM software, Catalyst Platform v4.0 and analyze its key enhancements, as well as provide a brief assessment of the vendor.

Strengthening MOM Software Capabilities

To help improve collaboration between line of business and IT executives, LNS Research advises companies to take a platform approach to Manufacturing Operations Management. This means companies should invest in solutions that provide:

  • Robust and extensible manufacturing data models
  • Workflow automation through Business Process Management (BPM) capabilities
  • Visualization and analytical capabilities through integrated Intelligence solutions
  • Packaged functionality that aligns with ISA-95 models like traceability, inventory optimization, quality management, and maintenance management

Market leading manufacturing companies that leverage these packaged MOM solutions with such an architectural approach have experienced significant financial and operational benefits already.

Highlights of Catalyst Platform v4.0

Based on our briefings with Savigent’s Executive Vice President of Business Development, Jay Mellen and CEO David Wicker, it appears that the strategic investments Savigent has made in its product continue to move the company towards delivering the vision of a complete MOM platform.

Notable enhancements of this release are as follows:

  • Ability to leverage a composite application development framework
  • Unified service architecture and a managed execution environment
  • Strong change control functionalities for the development environment with a SQL-based central repository
  • Easier enterprise level deployments and management with simplified change management capabilities
  • Rebranded and renamed software suite to clearly differentiate between platform, workflow, and data historian capabilities
What’s next for Savigent and MOM

Savigents continued success will greatly depend on the ability to invest in partnerships and added functionality. Specifically, Savigent needs to focus on large system integrators and a suite of packaged functionality that addresses the traditional areas of MOM functionality as described in the ISA-95 model.

It is important that Savigent customers and prospects continue to push the company in this direction. Over the past 6-12 months, LNS Research has been encouraged to see the progress Savigent has made in these areas. We hope over the coming year to hear additional announcements around new pieces of packaged functionality and system integrator partnerships.

It is also important that Savigent continues to look towards the future and where MOM software is going. It is not difficult to imagine scenarios where companies will start to take a hybrid approach to manufacturing IT. Eventually, almost every company will have a portion of processes that are mission critical and managed through on-premise solutions, while other supervisory processes run in the Cloud.

To address these issues, Savigent has already started making investments. With Savigent's simplified product portfolio and increased focus on embedding Windows tools, the Catalyst Platform is now poised to act as the foundation for moving the entire suite onto Windows Azure. By being Azure ready, Savigent is positioning itself as a potential leader in the Cloud MOM space as it emerges.

Finally, we’re encouraged to see Savigent mature as a software company. It should only work to the benefit of its customers if it's able to continue migrating away from being primarily a platform provider to offering a strong set of packaged software solutions.

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All entries in this Industrial Transformation blog represent the opinions of the authors based on their industry experience and their view of the information collected using the methods described in our Research Integrity. All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

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