Datastream Announces Broad New Capabilities for Datastream 7i that Deliver on Asset Performance Management Strategy
Web Services and Asset Analytics Extend Technological Leadership of Company’s Flagship Enterprise Asset Management Solution
Greenville, S.C. – April 29, 2003 – Datastream Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSTM) announces the newest version of its industry-leading enterprise asset management (EAM) solution, Datastream 7i. This new version of the product delivers on the company’s recently announced Asset Performance Management strategy by providing a range of capabilities for helping companies analyze and act on asset data to improve enterprise performance.
Enterprises worldwide use Datastream 7i to drive down operating costs and improve productivity by automating the management and maintenance of capital assets. As a Web-architected solution, Datastream 7i can span multiple locations with a single server deployment, making it ideal for multi-site, asset-intensive enterprises seeking to standardize operating processes across regional or global locations.
The new version of Datastream 7i provides powerful new asset analytics technology called Datastream 7i Analytics that enables customers to derive valuable intelligence from their asset data so they can make better forward-looking business decisions. Using the Datastream 7i Analytics module, customers can identify trends and anomalies across the enterprise and forecast and model “what if” scenarios for optimizing asset performance.
“Automobile manufacturers worldwide rely on Premier Manufacturing Support Services to keep their plants up and running at peak efficiency,” said Eric Faith, manager, maintenance systems technology of Premier Manufacturing Support Services. “We will use Datastream 7i Analytics to analyze asset data across our customer sites in a brand new way. For example, not only can we compare equipment downtime across plants, we can also identify root causes of downtime by, for example, correlating inventory levels to equipment downtime. This type of information will enable us to significantly improve asset performance across our customers’ sites, enabling them to produce automobiles more efficiently.”
Datastream has also significantly expanded the flexibility of Datastream 7i with a new Datastream 7i Extended module, which utilizes a broad range of Web services technologies. These technologies facilitate interactive integration with complementary applications and user interfaces. Datastream 7i Extended also improves usability and minimizes complexity through a zero footprint, robust HTML interface. This makes Datastream 7i the only EAM solution that can be configured to meet the specific needs of each user in the enterprise.
Datastream 7i Extended also enables graphical HTML rendering of key performance indicators (KPIs), executive dashboards and other performance metrics derived from the use of Datastream 7i Analytics. This provides executives with “at a glance” information on cross-enterprise plant and asset performance, enabling them to make faster and more informed decisions.
“Datastream 7i is incredibly flexible with its new Web services capabilities. It is now relatively simple for us to configure Datastream 7i Extended to meet the specific work requirements of every end-user,” said John Kovalcik, division information technology analyst for the Consumer Packaging Division of Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation. “For example, plant floor workers can benefit from the robust functionality of the Java-based interface. Managers can use the HTML interface because they require role-specific functionality. And executives benefit from the dashboards and KPIs, because they only need on-demand information. With the new Web services and asset analytics capabilities, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation believes Datastream 7i could become an indispensable tool for our business.”
“Last month Datastream announced its Asset Performance Management strategy. This month we delivered the technology required to make Asset Performance Management a reality,” said Datastream President and CEO Larry Blackwell. “The combination of asset analytics and Web services makes Datastream 7i a truly strategic solution for enterprises seeking to gain a better understanding of their operations for optimizing asset performance. Datastream 7i accomplishes this by providing important functionality targeted to benefit every tier of responsibility across the enterprise.”
About Datastream Systems, Inc.
Datastream Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSTM) provides Asset Performance Management software and services to enterprises worldwide, including more than 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Datastream’s solutions combine world-class asset management functionality with advanced analytics to deliver a powerful platform for optimizing enterprise asset performance.
By using Datastream’s solutions, customers can maintain and manage capital assets – such as manufacturing equipment, vehicle fleets and buildings – and create analyses and forecasts so they can take action to improve future performance. Datastream’s flagship product, Datastream 7i, delivers a complete Asset Performance Management infrastructure by combining an Internet architecture with broad enterprise asset management functionality, integrated procurement, advanced analytics and multi-site capability.
Datastream was founded in 1986 and has customers in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit http://www.datastream.net/.