I have a software application that I developed, and I need to figure
out how to best market it, or adapt it to a better audience.
The application simulates MRP, material requirements planning, more
typically today called ERP, enterprise resource planning. The purpose
is to enable a manufacturing business to be able to make ad-hoc
changes to its production plan (revise forecast or master schedule up
or down), run a simulation on a standalone PC (totally isolated from
the production database), and be able to quickly analyze potential
shortages and excesses at the end-item (buy) level.
A typical MRP run for a reasonably-sized business takes hours (it's
usually run overnight, or on the weekend). My application does it in
less than a minute, and it's a full regen, not a net change. All
calculations are in RAM. It would run on pretty much any PC less than
a year old, with 256K-512K RAM.
I've tried contacting businesses via newsgroups dedicated to the ERP
package that my application sits on top of (Kewill MAX). Generally,
businesses that use MAX are too small to either need this kind of
application, understand what it can do, or be able to afford more than
$495 or so. I've tried working through MAX consultants, but no
results, I think because of these same reasons. People generally try
it out, say Wow!, but never want to purchase it.
The only similar product I'm aware of is Manugistics Reflex.
I could try to adapt it to another MRP/ERP package, but that would be
a pretty large undertaking, and I would need the cooperation of the
company that produces it.
Or I could just throw it out as shareware and hope something happens.
I'm looking for the best approaches for the above options, or any
other options. |
Request for Question Clarification by
waldo-ga
on
25 Jun 2002 18:42 PDT
MRPGUY:
I think I can give you some help on this. To save me from duplicating
your efforts I have a few questions.
Have you estimated the market size?
What are the 'master' apps other than Kewill MAX that with funds you
could adapt your technology to? And what are their market shares?
Are you sure that Manugistics Reflex is the only competition?
How protected is the technology, i.e. can it be easily reverse
engineered and stolen?
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Clarification of Question by
mrpguy-ga
on
26 Jun 2002 14:56 PDT
The market size is around 1000-2000 companies. Of that, I've been
able to directly contact around 500 (for most, this is only sending a
demo CD, cold), and about six consultants. Trying to advertise to
reach the remaining ~1500 is not feasible, without the cooperation of
Kewill.
In theory, I could adapt my application to any other MRP system, but
there are really no obvious ones, there are dozens. But I would have
to have to cooperation of the company that makes it, because I would
need some internal details - user documentation, at least.
I'm sure Reflex is not the only competition (plus, Reflex is really
geared to very large companies, and I'm not). I've recently heard
that MIMI from Aspen Technologies can do the same thing. I've googled
all over the net looking for them, and I've come up empty. Some MRP
applications (particularly the bigger ones, like SAP) build this kind
of feature in.
How protected? It could be reverse-engineered, but it would take a
combination of a lot of business knowlege, plus programming skills.
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Request for Question Clarification by
waldo-ga
on
27 Jun 2002 11:45 PDT
Tell me about you experiance with Kewill.
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Request for Question Clarification by
waldo-ga
on
27 Jun 2002 11:47 PDT
That would be 'your'...good grammer counts
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Request for Question Clarification by
waldo-ga
on
27 Jun 2002 11:48 PDT
grammar
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Clarification of Question by
mrpguy-ga
on
28 Jun 2002 16:20 PDT
Not much to say. They're pretty lukewarm. Hard to speculate why.
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Request for Question Clarification by
waldo-ga
on
28 Jun 2002 19:22 PDT
It would be interesting to find out more about that. A strategic
partner is a very attractive marketing avenue. I recently had a
meeting with IronSpire (construction industry collaboration software)
and they were able to strike a deal with Timberline (construction
accounting and estimating software). It gave IronSpire immediate
access to Timberline’s 25,000 customers as well as their sales
channel.
After reviewing the question and clarifications it seems appropriate
to revisit your objective. There are two things I can see to start
with:
1. A market analysis: You have to see the target to hit it and you
have to identify the segments. Locating the ‘early adopters’ is key to
the launch; its those customers who “…try it out, [and] say Wow…” that
you want to lock in. Get them involved in a beta program or whatever,
just get them on board. You can leverage their projected ROI to
penetrate the next tier.
2. A business plan: Ok, assume you’ve sold the technicians who can
understand and appreciate your product, now you have to sell the money
people. They want to know not only how your product will make them
money, but also how do you plan to sustain your business. Even if the
product demonstrates a clear advantage they want to know you’ll still
be in business next year when they need an upgrade to keep compatible
with Kewill’s latest rev.
There’s obviously more to both topics, but the point is to concentrate
on them before continuing. It is important to establish how you
perform the above as well, i.e. recursive iterations with an eye out
for kill points. Which is to say, you want to circle in on the target
with a watchful eye on potential hazards addressing them before you
commit. More about this if we continue.
I noticed your question is about to expire. How do you plan to
proceed?
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