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This article was originally written for and published by Manufacturing Tomorrow.
VAST Data is the AI Operating System company – powering the next generation of intelligent systems with a unified software infrastructure stack that was purpose-built to unlock the full potential of AI.
The VAST AI OS consolidates foundational data and compute services and agentic execution into one scalable platform, enabling organizations to deploy and facilitate communication between AI agents, reason over real-time data, and automate complex workflows at global scale. Built on VAST’s breakthrough DASE architecture – the world’s first true parallel distributed system architecture that eliminates tradeoffs between performance, scale, simplicity, and resilience – VAST has transformed its modern infrastructure into a global fabric for reasoning AI.
As a fast-growing company, VAST relies on robust technology to streamline business operations. For its product lifecycle management (PLM) software, VAST required alignment and collaboration of materials, suppliers and contract manufacturers with product workflows like engineering change orders, to enable key stakeholders to collaborate effectively on innovative new products.
Before Propel
Looking to integrate all of its new product processes on a single platform, VAST was working with Arena PLM but the solution was limited in configurability to meet individual business needs. An overreliance on out-of-the-box features and functions left engineering teams feeling frustrated.
Making changes required Arena’s assistance combined with an additional expense for each request. This prohibited the company from moving quickly, while increasing spend each time a change was requested to streamline processes.
Propel Delivers Quick Wins; Creates Foundation for Future Business Growth
Propel’s JetStart implementation enabled VAST to get up and running quickly. With just five weeks of runway left to move from Arena to Propel, VAST began its implementation. Propel’s easy-to-use single platform enabled VAST to configure existing features or add new ones, like objects, without the worry of cost overruns.
VAST’s explosive growth requires some suppliers to quickly pivot according to market needs – and Propel has enabled the company to collaborate in real time with suppliers to address market demands. With Propel, VAST can generate engineering changes to its bill of materials (BOM) and communicate those changes seamlessly to contract manufacturers and suppliers so that they can keep product timelines moving forward on schedule.
“Propel’s single platform solution is a game changer for VAST,” said Karthik Jaikumar, Senior Manufacturing Engineer at VAST Data. “As a software defined storage provider it is essential that we align our bill of materials (BOMs) and engineering change orders with our suppliers and contract manufacturers so that we can launch products quickly. Our old PLM solution, Arena, could not offer the same unified platform solution that Propel is providing to future-proof our technology investment.”
Working with Propel, VAST quickly achieved productivity gains in manufacturing quality that sparked adoption interest across other business units, resulting in the following business improvements:
Instant Access to Order Updates
Real-time visibility gives factory managers instant access to new product introduction (NPI) order updates, boosting daily productivity - previously a 20-30 minute task.
Accelerated Change Orders
Implementing engineering change orders dropped from 50 days to less than 30 with streamlined collaboration and BOM visibility.
Enhanced transparency across components and BOM changes has enabled contract manufacturers to act faster and more accurately driving significant improvements in operational efficiency. Customized dashboards capture data summarizing improvements for both internal and external audiences keeping everyone informed in real time.
“What used to take us 50 days to implement a change order in other solutions, we’ve brought down to less than 30 days. That's a huge increase in the level of efficiency that we are seeing with our contract manufacturers as a result of moving our PLM solution over to Propel. I have implemented Propel at two previous companies and know that our results will only get better from here,” said Jaikumar.
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