Material and filter manufacturer W.L. Gore & Assoc., Newark, Del., (gore.com) now responds to customer requests from almost anywhere in the world in 15 minutes thanks to a product-data-management system from Synergis Technologies, Quakertown, Pa., (synergis.com). The Adept engineering and product-data-management system links several design centers around the world. Previously, it could take up to two days to respond to customer requests.

Gore uses only 15 floating licenses of the PDM system to connect 60 users spread across the U.S., U.K., Europe, and the Far East. Security features in the system give them access without fear of compromising data.

“We have taken numerous orders on both continents even though a design originated on the other side of the world,” says Gore's Gregory Ayers. “This usually happens when a multinational company opens a facility in a new region which uses the same filtration equipment as the parent.

Adept PDM lets Gore Associates immediately answer customer inquiries, regardless of where a design originates. With design offices always open somewhere on the planet, customer-response time dropped from up to 48 hours to less than 15 minutes.