MCA Solutions
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Technology (software) |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
Number of locations | 2 |
Key people |
Dr. Morris Cohen, co-founder and chairman of the board, Dr. Vipul Agrawal, founder and executive vice president, product Robert Salvucci, CEO |
| Products | Service Planning and Optimization (SPO) |
Number of employees | 55 |
| Slogan | "Enabling Service Excellence" [sic] |
| Website | www.mcasolutions.com |
MCA Solutions was a US-based provider of decision support technology for spare parts planning and management. Founded in 1999, MCA Solutions worked with complex equipment manufacturers to determine optimal spare parts stocking levels and locations to support equipment in the field and increase product availability. MCA Solutions was purchased by Marlin Equity Partners and merged with Servigistics in March 2013. In October 2013, PTC purchased Servigistics to complement its Service Lifecycle Management strategy.
MCA's technology can be classified as spare parts planning, service parts planning, service parts optimization, service parts management, Strategic Service Management, service management and readiness based sparing.
History
In the 1980s, Dr. Morris Cohen and Dr. Vipul Agrawal recognized the revenue-generating capability of the service supply chain and established new algorithms, methodologies and workflows that would identify opportunities to reduce inventory investment, while improving customer satisfaction. Their work gained attention from manufacturers including General Motors and IBM.
In 1999, Dr. Cohen and Dr. Agrawal officially founded MCA Solutions as a decision support technology company for spare parts planning and developed its Service Planning and Optimization (SPO) software suite. MCA Solutions serves manufacturers in the following industries: aerospace and defense, high technology, capital equipment, oil & gas, medical and semiconductor.
Today, Dr. Cohen is the Panasonic Professor of Manufacturing and Logistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and continues to work with PTC as a Strategic Consultant.
Products
MCA Solutions' main product is the MCA Solution Suite consisting of four core modules designed for manufacturers across the aerospace and defense, high technology, capital equipment, medical, oil & gas, and semiconductor industries, and can be licensed traditionally, or accessed on demand as a software as a service solution. The modules are:
- MCA Forecasting enables forecasting of demand with algorithms developed for the service environment.
- MCA Inventory Optimization determines optimal stocking lists and stocking levels for optimized aftermarket service.
- MCA Supply Planning involves generation and prioritization of optimal new buy, repair, transshipment and allocation orders to meet service level objectives.
- MCA Business Design allows service managers to analyze several business scenarios to ensure that they have full visibility into the factors that drive the profitability of their service operations.
Performance-based logistics (PBL): The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has mandated that PBL programs be adopted by its major weapon systems and equipment suppliers. PBL programs align incentives by directly tying supplier compensation to product performance and customer value. Suppliers such as Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Bombardier and Rockwell Collins are using MCA's spare parts planning technology to meet the DoD's mandate.
Partners
MCA Solutions is partnered with AFSM International, Astea International, BearingPoint, CACI International Inc., DHL, SmartCo Services LLC, SAP AG, SeeControl, Semi and the Supply-Chain Operations Reference (SCOR).
In 2006, MCA Solutions partnered with SAP AG as an Endorsed Business Solution for spare parts planning. The two companies now offer a joint solution called Service Inventory Optimization (SIO) which consists of MCA's core software integrated with SAP's ERP system. The companies share several joint customers including the U.S. Navy, Bombardier Aerospace, KLA Tencor, Baker Hughes, Philips and ABB Group .
Customers
MCA Solutions customers have included: Bobst Group, Boeing, Bombardier Aerospace, Briggs & Stratton, Brocade Communications Systems, Cymer, KLA-Tencor Corporation, Lam Research, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, Sysmex Corporation, Tellabs, U.S. Navy and Varian Semiconductor
Industry acronyms
- Service Parts Planning (SPP)
- Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO)
- Readiness-Based Sparing (RBS)
References
- The Service Supply Chain: Turning Potential into Profit, Inbound Logistics, May, 2006
- Getting Service Parts Logistics Up To Speed, Inbound Logistics, November, 2006
- When Companies Compete on After-Sales Support, Service Supply Chains Take Center Stage, Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies, March, 2006
- Aftermarket Outlook, Aviation Maintenance, May, 2006
- MCA asks: Why choose one major ERP partner when you can have two?, Manufacturing Business Technology, November, 2007
- MCA scores deal with Navy to manage jet parts stock, Philadelphia Business Journal, February, 2007
- Rethinking the service supply chain, The Manufacturer, April, 2007
- Get Down to Detail on Inventory, Logistics Today, September, 2007
- KM past and future: Solutions for a changing world, KM World, January, 2009
- Remote Service: Optimizing Spare Parts Inventory for Manufacturers, IndustryWeek, March, 2009
- Rapid Expansion of Service Operation Drives Need for New Service Management System, Service Management Magazine, May, 2009
- Supply Chain: Problems and Solutions, Aviation Maintenance, June, 2009