Kalthoff finds PDM buyers reaching for their wallets

According to the Kalthoff International (Cincinnati,

http://www.kalthoff.com), purchasing initiatives for product data management (PDM) and engineering document management systems (EDMS) are underway in 47% of the industries that the company contacted. Kalthoff's research also shows an increasing number of companies in the later stages of system evaluation, a key indicator of the market's potential for growth.

The buying index research data was compiled by canvassing 904 manufacturing sites to identify active purchasing initiatives and buying cycle phases for PDM and EDMS software. Results showed that 423 sites reported having a PDM or EDMS purchasing initiative underway. Previous research conducted by Kalthoff showed that the number of active projects reported was also in the 40% range.

Of the 423 companies reporting purchasing initiatives, two-thirds indicated that they are in the final stages of buying a system--either evaluating vendors, implementing a pilot or full system, or upgrading a current system. Kalthoff sees the movement of companies into the final buying stages as a sign that the market for these products will continue to grow.