Newly named software company Manugistics Inc of Rockville, Maryland has announced Version Six of its graphical analysis package Statgraphics promising a Windows version by next year. The company says it will not phase out the MS-DOS version but will help existing users wishing to convert to Windows. Other future enhancements to the package include: access to Oracle and Sybase databases – Statgraphics presently send and receive Lotus, ASCII, DIF and dBase files, and can send Meta files; and an interface with OS/2, Unix and Mac systems. It also has a new client-server version of its Finite Capacity Scheduling package, for organising production lines; and three complementary forecasting, distribution and manufacturing client-server packages. From 1969 until May this year, the company was called the Scientific Time Sharing Corporation Inc. It changed its name to reflect its new emphasis on manufacturing, logistics and support software. Manugistics customers in the UK include BP, ICI Pharmaceuticals, British Gas, Rolls Royce, Heinz, Lever Bros and Cadbury Schweppes, and it reckons that its products are used in over 50% top US Fortune 500 companies. The company markets its APL development tools, APL Plus, as well as providing consultancy services for clients in the areas of manufacturing, retailing, distribution planning. Following its acquisition of the Rover Technology Group in 1990, it was able to expand its activities in the area of transport planning products. The firm’s turnover last year was around $30m – up from $20m the previous year, and it has a worldwide distribution network of around 70 dealers. StatGraphics, originally introduced in 1984, is a personal computer-based graphical and statistical analysis support package designed for both expert and non-expert statisticians. So far, the company has sold 50,000 copies worldwide. Like its predecessors, Version Six runs under MS-DOS and requires a 640Kb minimum computer with a graphics board. It features over 250 statistical, mathematical, quality control and experimental design procedures and includes a new Lifetime Data Analysis module for parametric and non-parametric modelling.
New File Ulitities procedure
This is useful for the analysis of reliability data, and for biomedical trials, Manugistics says. There is a new File Utilities procedure that makes it it easier to navigate through data and mathematical expressions can now be evaluated according to standard rules rather than APL programming convention, making the system easier for the non-expert to use. Optional mouse support and a friendlier user interface are also included. There are new pull-down menus to reduce cluttering on screen optional for current users wanting to continue with the traditional system. A sidebar menu has been added to the graphics editor enabling users to change the colours and fonts of graphs without having to switch to another menu. Graphs are easier to edit and additional Adobe Systems Inc and bit-stream fonts are available with the new graphics editor. Worldwide shipment is scheduled for around Christmas. The standard Statgraphics product is $1,100; a higher performance version Statgraphics Plus, designed for 80386 and 80486 machines with 4Mb, is $16,100. Statgraphics Plus is four to five times faster than the standard system and can handle over 10 times more data, depending on available RAM. The company has done a major rewrite of its year old Finite Capacity Scheduling package, FCS V3.3 which, until now, has run only on IBM PS/2s. The new version, with a friendlier, icon-driven interface is client-server based enabling it to be used in multi-user, networked environment. The package combines manufacturing models with scheduling rules to help generate production schedules. Users can now view exception reports while adjusting production schedules, analyse graphs with supporting detail and access information on one screen. They can simulate production, use multi-scheduling to minimise work-in-progress and predict the time required for a manufacturing system to reach full capacity.
The system runs under IBM’s OS/2 2.2 Extended Edition and requires an 80486 with at least 6Mb and 200Mb hard disk. Over the next six months the system will be adapted for Hewlett-Packard Co’s HP-UX Unix, Digital Equipment Corp’s Alpha workstations and IBM Corp’s RS/6000. It is available now priced at around UKP35,000 for a single licence. Upgrades are available for current users. The other new packages are a Manufacturing Planning module that generates master production plans and line schedules; a Demand Planning module, a statistical forecasting package that accommodates marketing information like promotional events, quick response requirements; and a Distribution Planning module takes the demand forecast and turns it into distribution plans and inventory goals to guide manufacturing and purchasing. The three packages will be available by the end of January. Single user licences for each will start at UKP35,000.
