Harley Davidson Division Employs Product Development Solution

May 1, 2003
Pleasanton, California, May 07, 2003 think3, Inc. continues its rapid growth and sales momentum, announcing today a major North American customer win.

Pleasanton, California, May 07, 2003 — think3, Inc. continues its rapid growth and sales momentum, announcing today a major North American customer win.

Buell Motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson Company and leading manufacturer of performance motorcycles, has entered into a long-term partnership with think3 and will standardize on think3's products and services as its primary product development platform.

Buell expects the implementation to help unify its design, engineering, purchasing and manufacturing teams through the simplification, integration and automation of key portions of the overall product development process. It is anticipated that this will result in a more efficient design cycle and improved delivery performance.

Buell's selection of think3 completes the company's two-year quest to implement a product development solution that supports its long-term vision to automate and optimize its design-to-delivery process. Prior to selecting think3, Buell was unable to identify a single vendor that could address its need for an integrated product development environment, and after a thorough review, think3 emerged as the only vendor capable of making its vision a reality.

As a core part of the agreement, Buell has engaged think3's professional services to help improve its product development process and accelerate time to benefits. think3 will provide process diagnostic and optimization services, integration and customization services, and implementation and deployment services. These services are all part of think3's Integrated Product Development Environment (IPDE) solution offering. The Buell relationship represents a significant endorsement of think3's professional services. The agreement also includes a total of 88 seats of think3's award-winning thinkdesign MCAD and thinkteam PDM products.

"We selected think3 because they are fully invested in our success and have a compelling product development solution that fits our needs," said Erik Buell, founder, chairman and chief technical officer of Buell Motorcycle Company. "think3 is the only company we've evaluated that shares our vision for integrated product development and offers a complete solution to support our aggressive growth objectives."

A growing list of companies has turned to think3 because of frustration with high costs, complex products and lengthy or unsuccessful implementations of product development solutions that often failed to deliver ROI. In 2002, think3 added more than 8,000 subscriptions of its MCAD and PDM products. think3's recent success can be attributed to its award-winning products and innovative business delivery model that removes all of the barriers to adoption and enables faster time to benefits.

"In today's increasingly competitive market, mid-size manufacturers demand solutions that improve product development effectiveness and drive increased profitability," said Joe Costello, president and CEO of think3. "Partnering with a savvy manufacturer like Buell both validates our unique offering and accelerates our continued effort to provide product development solutions and technological innovation that are one-step ahead of the industry."