While many of his ERP competitors have jumped on the consolidation bandwagon, Randy Flamm, president and founder of IQMS, is sticking to his guns: He has no acquisition plans, nor does he intend to sell IQMS applications as stand-alone modules, independent of the company's manufacturing software suite. Its no-acquisition strategy and unwillingness to sell applications such as its real-time plant floor monitoring software as stand-alone products have cost IQMS a chance to grow faster, Flamm acknowledged in an interview with Managing Automation at IQMS's recent user group meeting in Las Vegas. But, Flamm says, the strategy is driven by a commitment to selling only suites of manufacturing applications, with all modules sharing the same database and development tools. "We believe this is a better way to support lean manufacturing," Flamm says. "And it also means companies don't have to maintain multiple systems, and that reduces IT costs dramatically." IQMS's practice of building its applications internally and integrating them around the Oracle database also means that, unlike many of the company's competitors, it doesn't need an elaborate service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategy. While IQMS is using Web services-based standards to enable its applications to share quality data and other information, "We don't need an SOA to integrate modules like warehouse management and CRM," Flamm says. IQMS's insistence on sticking with organic growth hasn't hindered the company's continued expansion. IQMS recently reported that its revenues as of September had grown by 26% compared to the same period a year ago. The number of IQMS customers has grown by 20% since 2004, officials say. Although IQMS won't be growing its applications through acquisition, the company is rapidly expanding the scope of its suite. Flamm previewed for customers several new features expected in version 9.15 of its manufacturing suite, which is now in beta test and is expected to be available by early February. Among the new modules will be an analytical tool that will allow manufacturers to calculate their cost of quality, as well as features for more effectively managing transactions between manufacturers and their suppliers and partners. The new release of the IQMS suite also will enable wireless access -- via a personal digital assistant -- to the company's CRM module and what IQMS will call RT Meters, an interface that will allow manufacturing operators and managers to easily track key production performance indicators generated by the company's real-time production monitoring system. IQMS, Flamm says, also intends to wirelessly enable its real-time monitoring system using mesh networking technology that is compliant with the Zigbee Alliance standard.