Never turning back!
Updated February 25, 2019

Never turning back!

Tony Molica | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with aPriori Product Cost Management

Presently it is being used within our Cost Modeling organization. The data and results are interpreted and fed into our engineering and procurement organizations. It addresses the desire to design and procure to specific profit points or better. With this tool, we are better able to hit our profit targets for projects.
  • Ability to model costs in multiple countries. In a short amount of time, we are able to make quick decisions as to a sourcing location, and provide good feedback to our purchasing organization, as well as our designers in relation to trouble areas (or cost driving features).
  • Ability to self develop processes whereby customizing to our own industry. There are many processes that are specific to my business, and in order to better understand the costs for them, we need to develop our own modeling capability. aPriori allows for this to take place seamlessly within their product by writing it into their code.
  • One of the best support organizations I've ever dealt with. I have used them extensively, with great success nearly every time.
  • Branch into more process groups for cost modeling capability.
  • Make system updates easier to integrate. It would be nice to have an update method similar to a Windows update.
  • Revise the material libraries to be globally centric instead of regional centric. This is for an update simplification perspective of data.
  • The main purpose is to understand and manage costs as early as possible in a project cycle. The software has done this exceptionally well.
  • DFMA
We needed much more customization for our business needs, and this software provided the greatest potential for future expansion. The ease of use with the application was also a driving factor. We have groups located across the globe, speaking many different native languages. The software not only provided for good learning support built in, they also have offices across the world, with trainers in multiple regions that allowed us to get up to speed quite quickly.
Great for running through multiple scenarios of parts for cost opportunities. Meaning, I have a part that I want to understand the cost differences between different grades of material, as well as different thicknesses. I'd also like to understand it's cost differences if it were a metal vs a plastic part. Lastly, for all of these differences, I'd also like to find the lowest cost country to source the part in. All of this is capable by generating multiple scenarios, and changing a few variables within each scenario.

Using aPriori Product Cost Management

125 - We have numerous individuals involved across our organization that utilize this product. They range from the following departments: Cost Research, Cost Modeling, Target Cost Management, Procurement, & Engineering. We have been able to make significant progress in reducing costs to existing products, as well as bring new products to market with much greater profit margins.
3 - Our support team exists of coders, and system admins. They need to understand the complete underworkings of the system, and how each piece joins to one another. They must be able to work on systems across the globe as well.
  • Cost reduction
  • New product introduction with target costs
  • Flexibility to create new processes
  • Multi department collaborations on assessing anticipated product cost
  • Take the "should cost" mentality to a "could cost"
Because it's pretty likely that we're in this for the long run.

Evaluating aPriori Product Cost Management and Competitors

Yes - Boothroyd Dewhurst DFMA. They would not work with us to develop new processes we wanted to identify costs for. They seem to feel their product was great as it was designed. Guess they will end up the the way Motorola did, and fail on their arrogance. Too bad!
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
We really needed something that we could customize. The fact that some of the other suppliers we reviewed would not allow this, and that aPriori would, was key in our decision. We also felt that the support team brought in on the sales pitch would be receptive to working with us.
Our process was quite rigorous. There is little likelihood that we would change any part of our selection process or criteria.

aPriori Product Cost Management Implementation

The company was great to work with for implementation, and the on site training and support of our integration was very helpful in coming up to speed on usability, as well as integrating the processes into our specific supply base. There were many times when we had on site resources at our disposal to overcome issues as well.
Change management was minimal - Change management was not a factor, as my company has it's own independent department responsible for target cost modeling and management. We will eventually be implementing into our engineering organization, and then change management will become more of a factor, but presently it is not an issue or consideration for us.
  • Validating processes against our supply base
  • Learning the coding aspects
  • Developing our specific processes that were not included with the OOTB product

aPriori Product Cost Management Support

Overall, I'm generally satisfied with the response and results that I get from aPriori support. They are intuitive, and try to understand what it is I'm trying to do, or how the problem is affecting me or my organization. They also are very available across the globe, as my team is located in multiple regions.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
No - Service is included with our package.
Yes - For the most part, my issues are resolved to my satisfaction. However, there are times where my issues can be a bit complicated, and the duration to complete are more lengthy, or the resolution has to go into a service pack or major release, forcing me to wait for the solution.
aPriori is always very exceptional during times of our major release updates. Their support level is great, and they make sure they are available when we need them, even when it has been outside of their normal working hours. I've even had weekend resolutions, and one year over the Christmas holiday they were there to support me.

Using aPriori Product Cost Management

I'm fairly happy with the product. My company appreciates the ability to customize the software, as well as manage our own data points for costs, machines, and materials. The coding aspect is not too difficult as well, though there are some issues with the availability of some information that could be improved.
ProsCons
Like to use
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
None
  • GCD costing with CAD models
  • Synchronization applications for global teams
  • Sheet metal stamping for progressive stamped parts
  • Database manipulations
  • Cost Insight reporting