In a somewhat risky, yet strategic, move, Webplan, a maker of response-management software, has changed its name to Kinaxis.
The announcement came at the same time the company rolled out its new RapidResponse Deployment Service, a methodology for accelerating the installation of its software that maximizes customer service and responsiveness around product management, inventory and capacity.
The decision to change the 20-year-old company's name was a deliberate play for market awareness. While Webplan has some brand recognition among its current customers, the name didn't accurately represent the value the company's products deliver, said Randy Littleson, vice president of marketing, in an interview.
Since the software is based on the ability for quick decision-making, the word "plan" was misrepresentative, he said. On the other hand, Kinaxis is a blend of the words "kinetic," meaning action and motion, and "axis," being a focal point. Axis also represents collaboration, Littleson said. "One of the huge assets of our system is the ability for organizations to collectively come together and collaborate on the responses that need to happen. ...
The name is more representative of the value we deliver."
The company also introduced what it calls RapidResponse Deployment Services. These services, offered in partnership with software consultants, will enable Kinaxis to get its manufacturing performance management applications installed and customized within 12 weeks. That's becoming more important, the company has learned, because of shrinking IT departments and budgets within companies. The trend has been underscored for Kinaxis over the past year as it grew its customer base by 83%.
"We found repeatedly as we'd go in to large organizations that IT resources were tight," said Littleson. "So we worked hard to develop a set of software capabilities and documented methodology and services. ... Historically, products like supply chain planning [and ERP] have been a huge burden on the IT organization. We are trying to break that mold."
This article was repurposed from the July 2005 issue of Managing Automation magazine.