How test fuels product development (continued)
A continuation of our interview with Pascal Pilon, President and CEO of Averna, which appeared in the May 2008 Viewpoint column.
Larry Maloney -- Test & Measurement World, 5/1/2008
|
Q: After a company develops test systems with Proligent, how important is it to integrate those systems with a company’s enterprise functions?
A: Proligent is very scalable. It really is a test engineering tool, and many customers use it very well just as a stand-alone tool to create just a single test system for their company or a contract manufacturer. But larger organizations, especially those that outsource a lot of work to contract manufacturers around the world, use Proligent to synchronize product and test data for each of their remote manufacturing facilities. Proligent also allows you to build bridges to other enterprise functions, such as R&D, sales, quality control and supply chain. Our platform connects very well to such enterprise Agile and SAP.
Q: How much of Averna’s business can be attributed to Proligent versus your test engineering services business?
A: About two thirds of our customers are using Proligent. Often, we establish a relationship with customers through our engineering service work. Then, when they understand what this software platform can do, they begin to look for a pilot project using Proligent. From there, they typically will employ Proligent on a wider scale.
Q: In cases where Averna serves as the test arm of customer companies, when do you hand over responsibility to the customer?
A: Typically at the production stage. Once the design stage is completed, we disassemble the test system that we have developed and ship it to the production facility. We then reassemble and recalibrate the system at the production site, and we train the operating technicians. Thereafter, an operating team at the company uses Proligent to keep the system up and running. The platform gives them a means to catalog and manage all the test cases that have been written. That enables customers to identify the best test practices and maximize them across the company.
Q: What types of industries are prompting the biggest demand for Averna’s products and services?
A: Our customers produce complex products under tight time-to-market schedules in such industries as electronics, telecommunications, automotive and defense. As noted earlier, we see telematics in autos as a prime area of opportunity. By some estimates, in another five years there will be about $25,000 worth of electronics content in luxury cars.
Q: How has Averna’s partnership with companies like Agilent and National Instruments benefited your company?
A: Those companies are global organizations, and partnerships with them help us in our mission to become the IBM of test engineering. By this, I mean that we are seeking to offer a software platform that encompasses every test engineering activity that a company has. Secondly, we want to offer services that can fill any test void our customers might have. But we also serve as advisors to our customers, and we need to partner with companies that invest heavily in R&D, such as Agilent and National Instruments, so that we can provide a complete offering to clients.
Q: What were the chief factors that contributed to Averna being recognized in 2007 by Deloitte as one of North America’s fastest-growing companies?
A: The real keys to our growth are having a pool of very talented people, a focus on being number one in our market, and investing in R&D to help get us there. From the time we started the company in 1999, we tried to identify where we could make a difference, which led to investments in the development of Proligent and now in important tools like URT. Aside from engineering, we also are fortunate to have a sales and management team that focuses on the customer. We talk about the Averna experience, which means that we want customers to enjoy working with us from the moment that they learn about what we do until we deliver the end system.
Q: Are you looking to accelerate your growth through acquisition of test hardware companies?
A: No. We want to essentially remain a test software and services company. On acquisitions, we would look for companies that create virtual instruments. The SedNet 1394/FireWire product we acquired from Mindready, along with the URT, are good examples of established products in widespread use that will introduce more companies to Averna’s full range of solutions, including Proligent and our engineering services. Targeting aerospace, automotive, defense and industrial markets, typical applications for the SedNet board include high-throughput parallel testing of multiple devices and complex simulation of multi-node networks. We are not looking to become an instrumentation company, but we do have a hardware team that can develop products, such as special boards, if there is a market need to fill.
Q: What are your plans for expanding Averna solutions globally?
A: With Mindready, we acquired an established European operation, with a staff headquartered near Belfast, Ireland, where they are in a very good position to serve the UK and German markets. We will continue to focus worldwide on OEM clients, as opposed to contract manufacturers, particularly at their R&D centers. This is why we have an office in Silicon Valley, where there is so much innovation. We want to make a difference at companies who are designing innovative products and need to get them to market faster.
Read the first part of this interview.
