April 16, 2008 10:17 ET

Leading Innovator in Bicycle Design and Engineering Selects Arena PLM to Streamline New Product Development

With Plans to Ramp Up New Product Introductions, Ritchey Design Will Use Arena PLM to Streamline Its Current Product Development Process, Boost Productivity, and Improve Global Communication and Collaboration

FOSTER CITY, CA--(Marketwire - April 16, 2008) - Arena Solutions, the leading provider of on-demand product lifecycle management (PLM) software for manufacturers of all sizes, today announced that Ritchey Design Inc. (www.ritcheylogic.com), a leading innovator in bicycle design and engineering, has chosen on-demand Arena PLM to streamline its current product development process, boost productivity and improve global communication and collaboration. Arena PLM will help the company speed the development and release of future products as well as enhancements to current products, including its highly innovative Break-Away Bikes, a line of ultra-light, racing-quality bikes that separate so they can be packed in a standard suitcase for easy travel. Ritchey will also integrate Arena PLM with its Box Solutions ERP system, further streamlining company processes by linking product planning with product execution.

An early innovator of advanced bicycle design and a longtime proponent of the sport of cycling, Ritchey has always been at the forefront of the cycling market. With products becoming increasingly complex and plans to ramp up the frequency of new product introductions (NPIs), Ritchey decided to modernize its design-through-manufacturing processes by replacing its manual methods for communication and approval -- faxes, emails and spreadsheets -- with Arena PLM. Not only will the company benefit from having its data protected by financial-grade security, but it also will gain the ability to have all product information and history -- including bills of materials (BOMs), suppliers, costs, quotes, specs, drawings, files, compliance records and much more -- tracked in a single, centralized, version-controlled product record. Ritchey employees and suppliers will be able to log into Arena PLM over the Internet, from anywhere in the world, to have real-time visibility into current product data. This will help them make better, faster design decisions, develop superior products and more quickly bring those products to market.

"Arena PLM offers us a tremendous boost in capability and efficiency. By adopting Arena PLM, we significantly reduce the time and distance challenges that result from me being in Taiwan while Tom Ritchey, our owner, is in the San Francisco Bay Area -- or on his bike somewhere else in the world. Because we can access Arena PLM online, no matter where we are or what time it is, we can communicate around 100-percent accurate data and continue moving our products forward," said Rick Hartwell, product development manager of Ritchey Design Inc. "We're all excited about using Arena PLM, knowing that collaboration from concept through production will be faster, easier and ultimately more effective with a world-class PLM system in place."

Arena Solutions offers Ritchey Design the lowest total cost of PLM ownership. Unlike traditional client/server PLM software, Arena PLM is an on-demand PLM service that is delivered over the Internet, so Ritchey has no software or hardware to buy, no expensive installations, no maintenance fees, no costly upgrades, and no incremental IT resources to hire. Because companies get up and running on Arena PLM in a matter of weeks (not months or years), Ritchey will quickly realize a positive return on investment.

"We're so pleased that industry leaders like Ritchey Design are choosing Arena PLM to help them manage mission-critical processes related to the design, and introduction of their products," said Craig Livingson, chief executive officer of Arena Solutions. "I have no doubt that Arena PLM will yield Ritchey some very positive results, not the least of which is the ability to more easily roll out high-quality products that delight even the most discerning cycling enthusiast."

About Arena Solutions

Arena Solutions is the leading provider of on-demand (SaaS) product lifecycle management solutions for manufacturing companies of all sizes. As the only true on-demand, secure Internet-based PLM service, Arena PLM provides a superior alternative to complicated, lengthy and expensive traditional PLM software deployments. Through its award-winning service, Arena enables product manufacturers and their global supply chains to streamline outsourcing, improve operational efficiencies, collaboration and speed time-to-market. Arena PLM has been adopted by more than 15,000 users across companies at all stages of development, including industry leaders Foundry Networks, Color Kinetics, Intuit, Sierra Wireless, Align Technology and more.

Arena Solutions' market-changing approach to PLM has received significant recognition in the industry, including Manufacturing Business Technology's Top 40 Emerging Vendors, the Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100, Industry Week's "Technology of the Year - Notable Innovators" and Start-IT Magazine's "Hottest" Companies and Top 50 Manufacturing Technologies.

Founded in February 2000, Arena Solutions is headquartered in Foster City, California. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.arenasolutions.com.

Arena PLM is a trademark of Arena Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names are the property of their respective holders.