Yet another acronym salad; sorry about that.

Dassault Systèmes just announced that it plans to acquire IQMS, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) company focusing on the small and medium enterprise portion of the manufacturing sector, for $425M in cash. From the press release, DS expects this to extend its 3DEXPERIENCE platform to manufacturers that want to digitally transform their business operations, from design to manufacturing to customer engagement.

DS believes that it can help IQMS expand its reach into DS’ SOLIDWORKS mid-market base via its Professional Solutions partner channel and, I would imagine, any other customers interested in changing up their ERP system. Too, of course, adding an ERP component to the 3DEXPERIENCE platforms helps round out what DS CEO Bernard Charles seems to be aiming for: a 3DX that encompasses all (or nearly all) applications a manufacturer might need, from design concept to after-sales support to internal business operations.

There is significant disenchantment with legacy ERP installations, per my conversations with manufacturing companies. Many feel tied to old, difficult, expensive setups that no longer serve them as they try to be more agile and responsive. We’ll see how DS leverages IMQS, and what the uptake is among its SMB clients.

IQMS also markets Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) solutions that streamline the management of a manufacturer’s shop floor. MES connects to ERP and PLM software for applications such as quality management, planning and the like — it’ll be interesting to see how/if DS decides to more tightly wire IQMS into the 3DX platform, and how that might affect IQMS customers who are not also 3DX-centric. 

It’s an interesting choice, given how many ERP vendors there are (not that many) and MES ties into both PLM and ERP. The transaction is expected close in early 2019.