CIMdata Adds CPDA Resources to Consulting Team

CIMdata, Inc., the leading global PLM management consulting and research firm previously announced the acquisition of Collaborative Product Development Associates, LLC (CPDA), a well-known, leading provider of critical analyses of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) activities.

The synergistic combination of these companies represents the merger of two extremely knowledgeable organizations. CIMdata’s broad strategic PLM management consulting and CPDA’s deep expertise in emerging PLM domains complement one another exceptionally well. According to Peter A. Bilello, CIMdata’s President, “Key CPDA employees and events will become an integral part of the merged organization. In addition, all CPDA clients will have access to CIMdata’s full range of knowledge, expertise, and best-in-class PLM management consulting and educational services.”

Mr. Bilello continues, “CPDA’s history is rich and impressive, dating back to D.H. Brown Associates. The CPDA team represents some of the most knowledgeable experts in the PLM industry today. They provide a wealth of intelligence and expertise that is deep and practical as well as forward looking and thought provoking. We are delighted and excited with the opportunities that lie ahead for CIMdata.”

All of the key CPDA employees have joined CIMdata and will support current and new research programs as well as all existing CIMdata methodologies and services. Current CPDA research programs in Design Creation and Validation, Design/Simulation Council, Mechatronics Council, Digital Manufacturing, and PLM Integration/Product Definition will be retained.

Mr. Donald H. Brown, CIMdata Executive Consultant. Don is extremely well known in the PLM world, in which he has been a leading consultant for over 20 years, having founded D. H. Brown Associates in 1986 and its successor, CPDA, in 2004. He will be primarily responsible for strategy and business development activities.

Dr. Ken Versprille, CIMdata Executive Consultant, brings with him decades of deep and broad PLM knowledge, especially in the areas of CAD, visualization, and product data management. Ken was, notably, the initial developer of NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines), the mathematical curve and surface formulation that has become an international standard in CAD and Computer Graphics.

Dr. Keith Meintjes joins the merged organization as CIMdata’s Simulation & Analysis Practice Manager. In this newly-formed role, Keith will be CIMdata’s lead consultant responsible for strategy and delivery of an expanded set of services and research focused on simulation and analysis technologies and best practices. He brings over 30 years of practical and theoretical engineering experience to CIMdata.

Ms. Elyse Brown joins CIMdata as Production Editor, continuing one of the many roles she has filled at CPDA and D.H. Brown Associates since its founding in 1986.

Ms. Cheryl Peck joins CIMdata and continues in her critical role of Marketing and Client Services Manager. Cheryl is an instrumental resource and is responsible for coordinating the PLM Road Map conference and research councils, and other events and organizational activities.

The organization’s non-biased view and support of the industry will continue and be enhanced with a high-level, balanced perspective from its senior consultants with eighteen to more than thirty years of experience. The organization’s consultants possess the technical depth required to recognize tactical and strategic opportunities that fully capitalize on existing and emerging technology. The combined organization continues to serve clients around the world from offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

CIMdata’s Board of Directors is comprised of Peter A. Bilello, President and Managing Director, who is in his 15th year with CIMdata; John MacKrell, Vice President, who is in his 21st year with CIMdata; James Watch, CIMdata’s Finance Director, who is in his 11th year with the company; and Alan Christman, Chairman, is in his 21st year. The globally distributed company is managed out of CIMdata’s headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with subsidiaries and consulting resources spread around the world.