Andover, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/01/2007 -- According to Stephen Carson, executive vice-president of Visibility Corporation, “ETO/MTO manufacturers require sophisticated tools to manage and track service materials and personnel over the long, detailed lifecycles of their products. Visibility provides the visibility and control of all project lifecycle costs-from the suppliers through manufacturing, out to customers and into the aftermarket including continual product developments and enhancements.”

Visibility a leading provider of extended ERP solutions for engineer-to-order and high volume manufacturers, has announced the development of a powerful yet flexible solutions framework that supports the actual ways in which Engineer-to-Order (ETO) and Make-to-Order (MTO) manufacturers operate-including concurrent or progressive engineering and simultaneous mixed modes of operation. Visibility software reacts to project changes immediately to rebalance supplies, resources, and demands to keep projects moving forward.

The advantages of utilizing Visibility to support ETO/MTO manufacturing environments.

Managing Bid & Estimate Process

• Superior estimating tools for manufacturing and service projects
• Respond quickly to Request for Quotes with bids that accurately reflect customer needs
• Life cycle costing-including standard, actual, and average-and cost visibility
• Define and track your sales proposal activities and convert data into orders
• Quote, sell and deliver complex configured products

Project Management & Analysis

• View costs by project regardless of fiscal period or by fiscal period for one or more projects
• Project accounting for accurate visibility and control of project performance
• Control of integrated project definitions for any type of project no matter how complex
• Seamlessly integrated with Microsoft Project using a bi-directional interface, which helps you develop and analyze project plans, create reports and coordinate activities
• Multi-level planning tools including date synchronization, impact analysis and simulation

Design & Engineering

• Progressive engineering cuts months and months out of lead times
• Centralized, integrated product information repository ensures quality and reduces costs
• Powerful estimating and simulation capabilities for fast, accurate sales quotes and bids
• Local structures reduce costs and risks of product and engineering changes
• Supports design, engineering, manufacturing, post-sale service and financial accounting processes to provide you with total control of the entire product lifecycle

Controlling & Planning Key Resources

• Coordinate the lead times of your suppliers with your manufacturing processes-including sub-components-to maximize efficiency and responsiveness
• Total flexibility in supplier relationships-as manual or as automated as you want them to be
• Match supplies with demands-helps you negotiate contracts with committed pricing but flexible delivery schedules
• Complete visibility into materials as well as the flexibility to define and track both materials and locations, including full lot and serial number traceability
• Plan and re-plan activities and tasks; synchronizes dates, and performs impact analysis and simulations to improve on-time completion

Post Sale Service & Support

• Plan and manage services just like materials
• Manage the delivery and procurement of services and monitor costs more efficiently
• Visibility into both existing and planned field service engineer and material availability
• Plan and execute successful product installations by managing the coordination and delivery of materials, services and other resources including sub-contractors
• Respond promptly and profitably to customer needs for repair-manage the entire service and repair cycle

Visibility Corporation (www.visibility.com) is a leading developer and supplier of business software solutions designed for the unique needs of project-based, engineer-to-order and to-order manufacturers. Visibility's Enterprise Application solutions help midsize manufacturers of complex products operate their businesses effectively. Visibility has an extensive customer base throughout North America and Europe and has the strongest representation of ERP among complex manufacturers.