Not just a parts dealer
Katun was founded in 1979 and is an independent supplier of OEM spare parts and supplies for the business equipment industry. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis and has over a dozen manufacturing factories worldwide, with operations in more than 170 countries and over 19000 customers. Many industry insiders believe that Katun is just an excellent distributor with a wide range of products and high cost-effectiveness. However, this statement is only half true. Unlike many distribution companies, Katun actively participates in product development work, either independently or in collaboration with the world's leading manufacturer network, and conducts rigorous application testing on the developed products. It is this characteristic that sets Katun apart in the business equipment parts and supply market.

At Katun's headquarters, the workspace for product development covers an area of over 90000 square feet. 100 employees of Katun company are responsible for introducing new products to the market. In addition, product development work also involves multiple affiliated companies located in Colorado and Texas. Through these efforts, Katun Company has further expanded its supply range: OEM spare copier parts, imaging supplies, photoreceptors, printer products, and service accessories.

future plans
Given the intense competition in the industry, Katun is working hard to shorten the time to market for its new products. The company will focus on implementing the "new product deployment" strategy. Its long-term goal is to shorten the deployment cycle of new products by 50% overall, but the company does not want to shorten the strict testing time because this testing is the company's characteristic that sets it apart from other parts suppliers. To achieve this goal, the company needs to take various measures. Given that new product development involves a large number of personnel, both internal and external, the company has set enhancing collaboration among product team members as an important strategic goal. Katun has adopted Teamcenter as a collaborative platform. The company utilizes Teamcenter's information management environment and project management capabilities to transform the way knowledge is shared within the entire company.

Below is a brief explanation of Katun's Teamcenter solution. All product data, including Pro/Engineer CAD models, are stored in the Teamcenter library. We have established independent digital collaborative workspaces in Teamcenter, responsible for the development of various new products. Product team members can access these workspaces to obtain the necessary information. The speed at which personnel obtain information is much faster than before, "said Merle Meyer, Assistant Vice President of Engineering and Evaluation at Katun Company." In the past, they had to find hard copy documents from various files and then obtain relevant information from them. But now, they can easily obtain the required information through their own computers. In addition, the development and maintenance of project plans, monitoring of resource allocation, and other tasks are also completed in the Teamcenter collaborative workspace.

Stable, user-friendly, and highly effective
In addition to providing users with quick access to product information, Teamcenter has also received high praise from Katun for its ease of use and stability. We used to have a project management system, but it was difficult to use and very unstable, "Meyer said." Teamcenter is much more intuitive. We have been using Teamcenter for the past four years and have not requested IS support during these four years. In the past, we needed IS support almost every day. ”

Currently in Katun, 85 people have access to information and collaboration sites in Teamcenter. The company is considering promoting this feature to other internal and external personnel. At present, Minco Manufacturing's external partner has been connected to Katun through Teamcenter, and the ultimate plan is to connect all other partners as well. Although Teamcenter was initially only used in Katun's new product development field, it has now been integrated throughout the company's entire operational process and has become a new product deployment management system for Katun's company. This brings together personnel from marketing, logistics, and supply chain management in a Teamcenter collaborative environment. Meanwhile, for these individuals, having quick access to critical information is also crucial. In addition, Teamcenter has other benefits. With Teamcenter, we have a clearer understanding of resource allocation and have a shared view of all products in the development process. ”Meyer explained, 'When everyone is looking at the same, updated information in Teamcenter, we won't have misunderstandings like in the past about who owns what and when things will end.'. In terms of product planning, we have stronger foresight and higher efficiency. ”