Arena Solutions: Invented Cloud PLM & Revolutionized Electronics Supply Chain Excellence Date:   Tuesday , January 26, 2016 When Affirmed Networks suffered from paper-based engineering change orders (ECO) that resulted in product design confusion, versioning control issues and long shipping delays, the cutting-edge wireless technology company turned to Arena Solutions to ensure synchronization across the supply chain. According to Affirmed Networks technical engineer Ron Garron, Arena helped the company reduce product error delays dramatically. And the problems associated with spreadsheets disappeared. \"We\'ve seen dramatic improvement in our order accuracy,\" says Garron. \"Arena has been a remarkable change for us and every day we are trying to find new ways to use the tool to make us more efficient.\" Arena\'s centralized cloud-based solution provided Affirmed Network\'s supply chain team controlled access to the proper versions of the product record, slashing engineering cycle delays by 90 percent and eliminating the need for a costly five-person IT management team. In addition to listing hard metrics related to Arena, Garron offered this compelling business anecdote of how Arena helped the business: \"Recently, we had a team at a sales conference, and I got a message that we needed a product pushed through right away and needed a quote,\" said Garron. \"I created an ECO and pushed it through our ERP system. From the time I got the email - the quote occurred almost instantaneously. Without Arena PLM BOMControl, we would have never been able to do that.\" Affirmed Networks is one example of how Arena has helped companies achieve supply chain excellence through its suite of PLM and supply chain solutions. Inventors of Cloud PLM Arena\'s suite of PLM and supply chain solutions enable engineering, manufacturing and their extended supply chains to speed prototyping, reduce scrap, streamline their supply chain, improve margins, and collapse time to market. Based in Foster City, Calif., Arena\'s PLM applications simplify bill of materials (BOM) and change management for organizations of all sizes. The company has been ranked as a Top 10 PLM provider and Top 5 Supplier Collaboration solution by Business-Software.com. It\'s also recognized as the most affordable PLM solution. Arena delivers the promised benefits of a cloud-based PLM solution, namely cost savings, reduced security risks, ease of implementation, and a faster path to ROI. In addition, Arena is the most scalable PLM solution on the market able to meet the needs of cash-strapped startups, yet robust enough to satisfy the demands of a global enterprise. Unique Proposition Arena\'s ease of use and the fact that Arena is significantly less expensive while being deployed and some multiple faster than competing on-premise solutions is one of the key differentiators that has influenced companies, such as GoPro, Fitbit, and Beats by Dre to choose Arena. What also sets Arena apart from competing PLM solutions is their robust feature-set meets the unique manufacturing challenges facing companies today in differing sectors where an electronics supply chain is important. Since 2000, Arena has provided innovative companies with a product lifecycle management (PLM) solution that increases the speed of prototyping, reduces scrap, and streamlines supply chain management. The company invented cloud-based PLM applications that enable manufacturers to deliver quality products on time and on budget. Arena provides a collaborative environment for centralizing, controlling, and analyzing complex and constantly changing product information including bills of materials, part specifications, and change orders. Not a newcomer, Arena\'s patented cloud PLM applications have over 80,000 global Arena PLM users who have affected 2,000,000 change orders, 6,000,000 design files and 20,000,000 item records.