San Mateo, Calif. cloud-based business software firm NetSuite Inc. has acquired Pittsburgh, Penn. cloud-based manufacturing software vendor IQity Solutions, the companies announced this week, which will allow NetSuite to create a cloud-based system that both discrete and batch manufacturers can use to monitor the production process from start to finish.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, though IQity CEO David Gustovich speaks positively about the deal.
“It’s definitely something we welcome,” says Gustovich, who has been involved in the manufacturing industry for 32 years and will become area vice-president of NetSuite’s centre of excellence division under the deal.
“[Manufacturers] are constantly seeking ways to simplify the complexity of their operations, but more importantly they’re seeking to get rid of all the different point solutions… that they’ve invested in over the years,” he says. “And part of that simplification is bringing all of that information that’s required to run their business into one integrated business system.”
When the acquisition was announced, IQity and NetSuite already had nearly 40 joint customers, though both parties now expect that number to grow. NetSuite supports more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries worldwide, according to company statistics.
“We’re always looking for partners,” NetSuite’s wholesale distribution industry lead, Gavin Davidson, tells ITBusiness.ca. There were three reasons in particular the company knew IQity would be a good match:
“They’ve been a partner of ours for a few years now… they have a fantastic team of industry veterans who know a lot more about manufacturing than I can pretend to – specifically in the food and beverage space, which is an area of strategic interest to NetSuite… and on top of that, the product… really gets us into a lot of areas that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to get into,” he says.
“We get into much larger opportunities now than before,” Davidson continues. “We signed on a very large North American manufacturer last year… and it wouldn’t have happened without the IQity solution being in place.”
The roots of the merger stretch back to at least 2012, when IQuity joined NetSuite’s SuiteCloud Developer Network and began using the company’s platform to create the IQity Advanced Manufacturing Suite app, which allows manufacturers to keep track of equipment use, production results, and labour productivity. IQity was founded in 2007.
“They process the data in NetSuite as soon as it’s available, and then disperse it to the various user groups or companies to help them make better decisions,” Gustovich says. “That’s extremely important for manufacturers that are moving very quickly to constantly satisfy the changing customer demand pattern.”
