COGITA is the first, major, fully independent services organisation for Australian and New Zealand users of the MFG/PRO manufacturing software.

From 1989 to mid 2000, COGITA was the New Zealand distributor of Qad's MFG/PRO software.  In  Australia, from 1994 to late 2000, COGITA was a systems integration partner of Qad.  Late in 2000, these relationships were severed by agreement between COGITA and Qad.  This separation is governed by a formal document called the Separation Agreement.

Full independence

As a result of the Separation Agreement, COGITA is completely independent, legally and otherwise, of Qad.   COGITA does not sell or supply Qad products and COGITA does not represent itself in any manner, to be a partner, or reseller, or distributor, or agent of Qad.  Similarly, Qad has no entitlements to, and can make nil restrictions upon, COGITA's complementary products (Telesales, Forecasting, Advanced Data Analysis, Zekana) which are essential to many users of MFG/PRO.  The Separation Agreement acknowledges COGITA's proprietary rights and ownership of COGITA's complementary products. And neither company makes any claim upon the other company's intellectual property.

Your rights

You have the right to purchase services for the MFG/PRO software you use.  You have the right to purchase those services from suppliers, including individuals, and  companies, other than Qad (the owners of MFG/PRO). You have the right to purchase those services from us at COGITA as well as from other parties. This is happening in Australia and New Zealand now. You have the right to hire suppliers and employees with pre-existing experience and knowledge of the MFG/PRO software.  You should be sceptical about any claim which limits your right to choose a supplier of support or services.

Don't sign away your rights

Ralph Nader's automobile industry activism, was a genuine pain for automobile manufacturers, but Nader's activism prompted the industry to make great improvements in  product safety & customer rights.  The same is yet to happen in the software industry.  In the 21st century it seems that software companies can still write convoluted, restrictive, licence agreements which protect the software company by controlling and limiting the rights of end-users.

When they buy licences to use MFG/PRO software, many companies sign agreements with Qad at the time of licence-purchase.  Hundreds of companies and users have done this. The licence agreements contain clauses and statements which specify many rights and behaviours for the user and Qad. The rights include your rights to obtain your usual services from 3rd parties who are not part of the Qad company or its partner community as defined by Qad. 

You will penalise yourself and restrict your rights if you agree to requests, or sign statements, which prevent you from obtaining 3rd party services. 

If any company, including Qad, asks you to sign such statements, we advise you to reject the request, and seek legal advice.  Why should you restrict your choices? 

You chose MFG/PRO from amongst many competitive products.  Your right to choose enabled you to select MFG/PRO from competing products.  Can there, possibly, be any good reasons why you should now alienate yourself from your right to choose?  And so prevent yourself from being able to select a non-Qad provider of services for the MFG/PRO software you use?  Especially if the non-Qad provider offers you equivalent or better service levels for your locality and specific needs?

Remember, if you reject a request, or refuse to sign a statement, that restricts your choices to obtain services from 3rd parties, neither Qad nor any other company can legitimately refuse to supply you with services you already receive, or are entitled to receive from them, under your licence agreement.

It's not your supplier ... it's
you that is KING

This is the age of the customer.  You, the customer, are the King.  Customer-led supermarkets dictate terms of trade to manufacturers;  customer-patients rights are protected by in-hospital medical ethicists;  and customer-clients demand intelligent and informative service from specialist lawyers. 

So, you have the in-alienable right to enforce your rights.  Demand that your suppliers "bring home the bacon" for you!

Only through your consent, active or passive, can you be compelled to do what you do not want to do.  If you consent, actively or passively, to restrictions on your freedoms to choose the supplier of services for your MFG/PRO software, you may not be able to "reverse the clock."  But if you do not consent, and if you reject any lessening of your rights, and if you insist that you be furnished with written definitions and written proofs to substantiate complaints about your purchase of services from COGITA, or other services providers, then your freedoms will not be eroded.

Insist on your rights and your freedom of choice.  If any party threatens your freedom to choose, you should demand that the threats, their bases, and their proofs be furnished to you in  writing.  Tell us about the complaint (see below).  We have seen such complaints before, and we have helped our clients to deal with them and preserve their freedom of choice.

The burden of proof does not rest upon you.  You have no obligation or requirement to agree, or help, to prove a complaint which may prejudice you and reduce your freedom of choice.  You do not have to prove that your current choice of services provider is permitted or legitimate.  The burden of proof rests upon the party complaining about your exercise of your freedom to choose.

Do not allow any party to suggest that your current or future supply of MFG/PRO product or MFG/PRO upgrade will be stopped or slowed if you obtain services from COGITA or other such services providers.  In many countries, the regulatory authorities can deem such suggestion to be harsh and/or unconscionable conduct; and the penalties are severe. 

You are the King in any customer-supplier relationship - and if you are not, then the relationship is worth little and needs re-engineering because it is not a genuine partnership, but a compliance relationship in which the supplier is prepared to force you into compliance despite your needs and your better judgement.

What you may be told

You may be told that COGITA does not have the experience to perform upgrades of MFG/PRO.   This is wrong: since 2001, many MFG/PRO users have engaged COGITA to perform, and/or project manage their upgrades, precisely because upgrades require tremendous experience - a little information  technology experience, and a great deal of problem solving experience.  

You may be told, as were many of our clients early in 2001, that COGITA is going out of business in 6-months as a result of the COGITA-Qad separation.  However, since January 2001, COGITA has increased the number of its people, and, according to some industry comments, COGITA has more people than Qad in Australia and New Zealand.

You may be told that Qad and its representatives think it is illegal for you to retain or engage or continue using COGITA to provide services to you and your company's people.  You may be told that so doing is a breach of your licence agreement to use MFG/PRO.  You may be told that the breach is an intellectual property breach.

You may be told that you are not permitted to connect non-Qad software to your MFG/PRO system because it would infringe on the intellectual property of one or more parties.  In this sort of complaint, the terms connect, infringe, and intellectual property are usually given the widest possible scope, and sometimes not even defined, so as to reduce your ability to counter the complaint and place the burden of compliance and proof on you.  

We have one confident response to such "maybe's:"  BALONEY.

We believe that many companies are trying to restrict customers' freedoms to choose alternative suppliers, especially for information technology, by stretching "intellectual property" to cover every conceivable competitive situation.   Most people, including lawyers who are not intellectual property specialists,  do not understand intellectual property, and do not even know what it is, never mind what it is not.

Most Qad people and representatives do not know that your rights to engage COGITA are protected by the COGITA-Qad Separation Agreement.  If you do not reject the intellectual property bunkum you may find yourself being challenged about your rights to pass data between Excel, or Word, and your MFG/PRO software.

All over the world, dozens and dozens of people, if not hundreds, have left Qad as a result of career change and/or retrenchment.  Many of those people have provided and will continue to provide independent services and consulting to users of MFG/PRO. Also, from the companies that use MFG/PRO many people have left and returned in one form or another to provide services & support for the MFG/PRO software. We know that some of those people have set-up independent companies to provide independent services for users of MFG/PRO.  COGITA is the same - with one key difference : your right to obtain services from COGITA is enshrined in the COGITA-Qad Separation Agreement.

Anti-competition

COGITA operates in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, and USA.   In USA, New Zealand, and Australia, the governments and regulatory authorities genuinely value competition between companies. 

In particular, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) takes intense, activist, interest in investigating and prosecuting anti-competitive behaviour intended or designed to restrict customer/consumer choice.  You should carefully consider the anti-competitive implications and nature of any organisation which attempts to coerce or threaten you, or gives you such an impression, thereby reducing your freedom to choose COGITA as a supplier of services for your MFG/PRO software.  The competition authorities in New Zealand & Australia successfully prosecute large and small companies for anti-competitive behaviour;  if you believe you are being subjected to anti-competitive behaviour because of your preference to obtain services from COGITA, you should contact us, and you should also seek legal advice.

Contact us for more information

If you want more information on your rights and entitlements to purchase services from COGITA, please contact us as follows :

Ms Margaret Brown
Executive Director
COGITA Australia
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone +61 404 827-017

Mr Roger Fairgray
Director of Client Services - ANZ
COGITA New Zealand
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Phone +64 21 598-231

Services for users of MFG/PRO™

At the time of the separation between COGITA and Qad, COGITA ensured that the rights and entitlements of its clients, existing and future, were fully protected.  Qad agreed to these rights.  These rights include the rights of any MFG/PRO user to purchase all services to which the user is entitled - under the user's MFG/PRO licence agreement -  from a 3rd party.

In particular, in Clause 8 of the COGITA-Qad Separation Agreement, it is written that :

"8. COGITA's DEALING WITH QAD LICENSEES.
Nothing in this agreement restricts any right of a Licensee under a Licence Agreement to engage COGITA to provide any services to that Licensee which may properly be provided by a third party to a Licensee pursuant to a Licence Agreement."

You are entitled to services from COGITA^®

Your right to obtain services from COGITA is enshrined in the COGITA-Qad Separation Agreement.  Therefore you are entitled to obtain services from COGITA for your MFG/PRO software. In this Agreement, Qad agrees that users of MFG/PRO can purchase services from COGITA.

The conduct of COGITA and Qad is mandated by the Separation Agreement between COGITA and Qad.  There are no other definitive agreements.  Unlike Qad people's opinions about your freedom (or otherwise) to choose your services providers, only the Separation Agreement is relevant for determining what is possible or permitted.

Most Qad people have no idea of what is contained in the Separation Agreement. This means that most Qad people do NOT know or fully understand your rights and entitlements as a licensed MFG/PRO user.  As a result, they cannot advise you on your full rights and entitlements to obtain services from sources other than Qad.  This may also apply to service agents and independent software support entities who make arrangements with Qad to provide services or support for MFG/PRO. 

Your rights and entitlements - under your licence agreement - are in addition to the protections, rights, and entitlements conferred by the regulatory authorities in your country.

If you are approached to stop dealing with COGITA, or if you receive written and/or verbal advice from anyone asserting that Qad or its employees or its agents, think it is illegal or wrong to obtain services from COGITA, please advise them to visit this site, and read this information.  You should also ask them to make their complaints to you in writing.

If you receive a written complaint, or threat, about your use of COGITA services, please contact us (see above), and we will assist you to deal with it promptly & effectively, as we have for other COGITA clients who choose to use MFG/PRO software.