Lawson Launches QuickStep Program for Asset Management

June 5, 2007 Alex Woodie

Lawson Software last week unveiled Lawson QuickStep Enterprise Asset Management, a new offering based on its M3 (formerly Movex) suite that arrives mostly preconfigured by Lawson, which can cut the implementation by up to 50 percent compared to traditional EAM applications.

The EAM application category is relied upon by organizations that make use of mechanical assets, including trucks, busses, cars, planes, trains, heating and air conditioning, and building equipment. Because capturing and tracking information about these types of assets can be a tricky business, organizations rely on this cousin of ERP to do the job for them, while generating all the requisite maintenance schedules and compliance reports at the same time.

With Lawson’s new QuickStep EAM offering, the company is hoping more organizations will see the benefit of EAM. According a recent Lawson report, two out of five EAM users aren’t happy with their current EAM solution. What’s more, three out of five say their EAM solutions aren’t generating any measurable return on investment.

Lawson’s plan is to capitalize on these downtrodden EAM users–not to mention the companies driving the consolidation in the outsourced maintenance services industry–by selling them its latest QuickStep offering. By preconfiguring 70 to 90 percent of the key EAM processes out of the box, the company says it can cut the implementation time in half. Lawson techs skilled in EAM implementations can do the rest, making for a relatively painless upgrade, Lawson hopes.

John Gledhill, global director of product development for Lawson and a former Intentia employee, says the need for organizations to take a more strategic approach to asset management is clear. “This change requires technology solutions that can be integrated across the organization and implemented quickly, but companies also need a solution that’s flexible and can scale with their needs,” Gledhill says. “QuickStep EAM delivers both the stability of standard software and the flexibility to incorporate additional functionality.”

QuickStep for EAM is the fifth preconfigured QuickStep product that Lawson has rolled out in the last seven months, and follows similar solutions for companies in the food and beverage industry, apparel manufacturers, distribution companies, and hospitals.