ERP Software Industry News

ATLANTA – June 14, 2005 – Ross Systems (”Ross”), a global provider of enterprise software solutions and a software unit of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced its strategic partnership with US Data Management (”USDM”), a leading provider of IT, validation, regulatory compliance and Sarbanes-Oxley financial control solutions for the life sciences industry. Together Ross and USDM offer its customers a best practices approach to the validation of Ross’ iRenaissance enterprise software suite.

Regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), bio/pharmaceutical, medical device manufacturing organizations and tissue processors must ensure the computer systems they use to create, modify, maintain, archive or transmit critical data, operate as intended and meet FDA requirements. For these companies, computer system validation is key to ensuring their systems meet overall business objectives and comply with industry regulations.

Together, Ross and USDM have many successful customers who have put into practice this tailored, easy-to-implement solution that addresses the validation needs of both new system implementations and customer upgrades, accelerating the validation cycle by up to 40 percent. Through this partnership, Ross customers will have access to a complete solution from a single provider that has intimate knowledge of both the life sciences industry and the iRenaissance product suite.

Complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting reform and investor protection legislation is a challenge for all public companies. Many of the processes and procedures for computer system validation to meet the predicate rules for CFR 21 are nearly identical for Sarbanes-Oxley financial IT system controls and compliance. Ross and USDM provide an IT audit preparation solution for Section 404 Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. By embedding the same validation methodology to the installation, testing plans for operation and executing performance testing of the Ross iRenaissance financial systems, companies can streamline their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiatives at a far lower cost.

“Ross is an ideal partner, with a strong presence in the life sciences industry and a large network of customers,” said Erik Smith, vice president of business development for USDM. “Our in-depth industry and application knowledge-base and regulatory compliance insight, paired with Ross’ world-class iRenaissance software suite focused on the life sciences industry, produces an offering unique to the industry. This end-to-end solution for enterprise processes with system validation compliance provides customers with a complete package from one provider at a fraction of the cost.”

USDM uses proven and recognized methodologies for computerized system validation, helping organizations ensure that the systems they use are monitored, controlled and capable of performing their intended functions in a reliable and reproducible manner. Designed specifically to fit with the iRenaissance software suite, USDM’s validation process enables companies to protect and maintain the integrity of the data, providing documented evidence of quality performance.

“At Ross we strive to work with our customers to share best practices and find solutions that reduce the significant costs of regulatory compliance,” said Michael Webster, director of life sciences for Ross Systems. “We feel it is incumbent on Ross, as a good business partner, to take a major share of the compliance responsibility. We do so by providing our customers with the proven validation workflow, plans, standard procedures, test scripts and traceability matrix paired with the deep validation expertise of USDM. As a result of the knowledge built during many validation projects, we can provide a solution to reduce risk, cost and time to validate for all iRenaissance customers.”

ATLANTA – May 10, 2005 – Ross Systems (”Ross”), a leading global provider of enterprise software solutions and a subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), today announced the launch of Sales Analytics, the first application in its next-generation Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) suite. The iRenaissance EPM suite builds upon prior analytics solutions from Ross to deliver out-of-the-box dashboard applications designed for the process manufacturing industries. The iRenaissance Sales Analytics application enables process manufacturers to monitor and adjust sales and customer service performance using timely and actionable information from the Ross ERP, Supply Chain and Customer Management systems.

According to an AMR Research study by Jacqueline Coolidge titled EPM Spending 2004-2005, December 2004, “EPM spending is driven by a need to support core business processes, including setting objectives, measuring performance against targets, and reacting to changing business conditions.”

With iRenaissance EPM, customers can better meet business goals by closely monitoring product profitability, reducing inventory, streamlining production, improving on-time delivery performance, minimizing stock-outs and increasing sales for targeted products.

“The new iRenaissance EPM application delivers benefits not possible with the generic business intelligence tools we’ve been using,” said John Shaw, director of IT for Litehouse Foods, a manufacturer of more than 600 salad dressings, sauces, dips, herbs and marinades that are sold in grocery stores and restaurants across the U.S. “Business Intelligence (BI) tools require significant additional investments to define and build our business functionality. With iRenaissance Sales Analytics, a complete application, we saw immediate results.”

Within two weeks, Litehouse Foods reduced sales data analysis from days to minutes and began tracking the actual margins based on individual products, customers and sales people to better understand trends in their business and act on them in real-time. The Sales Analytics application places relevant sales and customer service information, in the hands of an organization’s management team, in an easy-to-use actionable format.

Key benefits of Sales Analytics include:
Enhanced Visibility: The sales analytics application offers more than 30 user-customizable, visual dashboards. With the ability to zoom in and drill-down on sales and customer service data, organizations can accurately analyze the profitability of products and customers to expose the effects of changes in price, cost, volume, service levels and order rates. Measuring these and other key performance indicators, companies can optimize their balance between cost, price and customer service to maintain a competitive edge in their markets.
Improved Functionality: With multi-dimensional analysis, Sales Analytics offers customized views in each dashboard enabling users to analyze data based on relevant criteria. For example, analysis can be narrowed down to a specific customer, timeframe and product, allowing linked views of products purchased by that customer during a specified timeframe. Additionally, decision-makers have the ability to save and repeat custom reports and personal alerts.
Better, Faster Decision-Making: Sophisticated pre-built reports give companies a complete view of customer and sales data within seconds, allowing organizations to see trends in sales, profitability and service levels as they occur. Armed with more timely and accurate information, manufacturers can make better decisions and take corrective actions more quickly. In addition, when actual results exceed acceptable thresholds, users can be notified immediately in order to proactively find and address the root cause.
“We are long past the days when manufacturers used software development tools to build their general ledger and other core enterprise systems,” said Eric Musser, CTO for Ross Systems. “Today, these companies no longer need to use BI tools to build their analytics systems either. Generalized business intelligence tools are slow to implement, costly to maintain and often fall short of addressing the critical needs in process manufacturing. Ross’ industry-specific, EPM applications can be fully deployed in a matter of days to help process manufacturers rapidly and cost-effectively attain their profitability and customer service goals.”

For additional information regarding the AMR Research study, please visit http://www.amrresearch.com/Content/View.asp?pmillid=17799&logBH=yes&onyxid=354083.

COSTA MESA, Calif. — September 12, 2006 — SYSPRO, a leading enterprise business solutions provider, has announced that Suhor Industries, a user of SYSPRO ERP software since 1998, was named “Manufacturer of the Year — Under $200 Million Category” in an awards sponsored jointly by START-IT Magazine and Rockwell Automation. Suhor was presented the honor at the Technology & Business and Manufacturer of the Year Awards Dinner held September 7, 2006, at the European Crystal Banquet and Conference Center in Arlington Heights, Ill. The dinner closed the second annual Manufacturing Day, an event focusing on how US manufacturers are meeting market challenges through the help of leading-edge enterprise technology, plant floor technology, supply-chain management solutions, and more.

Suhor, headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., is a precast concrete manufacturer and service provider to the funeral service, building trades and agricultural market places. Suhor is a highly diversified corporation boasting over 80 sites, including 36 manufacturing locations and 19 warehouses, with more than 650 employees who process more than 10,000 orders per month. The company has more than doubled its business since 1998 when it selected SYSPRO software for meeting a list of criteria, including a well-rounded, automated solution, ability to accommodate multiple locations, easy system interface to facilitate data input and extraction by remote users, comprehensive, real-time inventory tracking and system scalability to handle growth.

The SYSPRO software operates on Microsoft SQL on a Microsoft Windows 2000 platform and Citrix metaframe which ties together all Suhor locations through an Internet-based VPN. Over 50 system users are on line at any one time.

Suhor notes that SYSPRO software has enabled the company to gain greater efficiency in numerous areas. Suhor management is now more firmly in touch with its business as well as customers’ purchasing patterns.

Because service is very key, Suhor can gauge service effectiveness by tracking post-sales activity to analyze growth by region and determine whether the customer base is purchasing, what they are purchasing and if the purchasing volume is higher, lower or in line with forecasts.
In addition, Suhor also likes the security afforded by centralized data storage under corporate control. The company no longer needs to depend on regional offices to generate, secure, back up and ultimately send the data to corporate.

Dennis P. Welzenbach, Suhor Chief Operating Officer/CFO, notes: “I was honored to be at the event with all the other companies that were considered for the award. It is encouraging to have others from outside our Company look upon what we have done and embrace our vision. Company growth, opportunity and challenge are exciting for those of us in the fray; evidently, it is fun for others to hear about it too.

“Winning the prestigious START-IT Manufacturer of the Year award in our size category is a welcome accomplishment. We were up against dozens of successful manufacturing companies that thrive in a very complex marketplace, and we congratulate them as well.”

According to Joey Benadretti, SYSPRO USA president, “We are delighted that Suhor, a SYSPRO customer, was singled out for this important award. Suhor exemplifies how a manufacturer of a relatively non-technical product (precast concrete) can apply technology, specialized services and above all imagination and vision to grow into a highly diversified construction company. In addition, their effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help in the rebuilding reflects the American spirit.”

Judges voting for “Manufacturing of the Year,” included: Joe Barkai, Program Director, Product Lifecycle Strategies, Manufacturing Unit; Simon Bragg, European Research Director, ARC Advisory Group; Julie Fraser, Principal and Industry Analyst, Industry Directions; Simon Jacobson, Research Analyst, AMR Research; Dan Miklovic, Managing Vice President, Gartner; Joel Orr, Vice President and Chief Visionary, CYON Research Corp.; and Alison Smith, Senior Research Analyst, AMR Research.

Suhor Industries is located at 10965 Granada Lane, Overland Park, KS 66211
Telephone: (913) 345-2120; Fax: (913) 345-9820 url:www.suhor.com
 
 

COSTA MESA, Calif. — July 28, 2006 — SYSPRO, a leading producer of enterprise software for SMB manufacturers and distributors, has announced that SYSPRO CyberStore, a next generation e-commerce application, further extends the concept of SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) to the application of B2B and B2C trading.

SYSPRO ERP and SYSPRO CyberStore, ostensibly two separate environments, effectively talk to each other through .Net Remoting and SOA to facilitate B2B and B2C transactions. From a user’s perspective, the system is one.

According to Joey Benadretti, president, SYSPRO USA, “Mid-market manufacturers and distributors can gain huge potential benefits by doing business via the Internet. However, there are technology hurdles that inhibit this; in most cases linking the ERP system and the e-commerce system requires costly integration.

“Now, SYSPRO has an out of the box solution that fully integrates SYSPRO ERP system with a B2B and B2C e-commerce solution. By applying the concept of SOA and using SYSPRO Business Components to do queries and updates into the underlying SYSPRO ERP system, SYSPRO customers can go straight to market with the SYSPRO CyberStore.”

SYSPRO CyberStore is a fully integrated real-time system that provides out-of-the-box Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer e-commerce functionality. When a Web customer queries an inventory item, the information displayed is the live SYSPRO information. When the customer is ready to buy at anytime of the day or night, all the information relating to the transaction is passed to the SYSPRO Order Entry Business Component, and this Component processes the information as if someone was entering the information via a keyboard.

SYSPRO CyberStore offers all the standard features expected from a comprehensive e-commerce system, including stock availability, enhanced product descriptions, product search, unlimited product categories, order status and order history reviews. In addition to delivering e-commerce functionality in a single solution, SYSPRO CyberStore facilitates the promotion of “hot buys” and/or “featured items.” The new solution enables buyers to make purchases with all major credit cards and supports multiple payment gateways.

When existing SYSPRO customers log onto the site, parameters relating to information such as discounts and contract pricing are accessed in SYSPRO accounting to ensure the correct trading terms are applied. These customers have the option of buying on account or paying by credit card. Furthermore, SYSPRO CyberStore automatically calculates shipping charges and sales taxes, allows all site visitors to store preferences and automatically sends email confirmations.

SYSPRO CyberStore provides a complete Management Console for effective configuration and control over the website. SYSPRO Cyberstore offers standard templates that are easily customized to match the “look and feel” of any company.
SYSPRO CyberStore is further proof that SOA simplifies the re-engineering of business processes and provides a robust and transparent foundation for companies to respond quickly to change.

Business benefits from SOA also include improved time-to-market, more responsive customer service and increased visibility in the face of changing regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and FDA requirements. SOA provides risk-reduction by controlling business processes and can be configured to provide auditable information trails to better comply with state, government and FDA regulatory standards.
 

COSTA MESA, Calif. — July 19, 2006 — SYSPRO, a leading producer of enterprise software for SMB manufacturers and distributors, has announced the company’s placement on the fifth-annual Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100, a listing of supply chain vendors at “the forefront of innovation.” The listing appears in the June/July 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.

SYSPRO was chosen for the list based on SYSPRO software solutions which push the boundaries of technology to make processes, once only available at the high-end of the market, affordable for smaller to midsize manufacturers and distributors. These SYSPRO solutions include Inventory Optimization and SYSPRO CyberStore.

Joey Benadretti, SYSPRO USA President, said of this most recent accolade, “SYSPRO continues to invest heavily in R&D that can make a substantial impact for the betterment of its customer base. This listing on the S&DCE is an affirmation of the technological innovations that this increase continues to produce and which enable small to medium size manufacturers and distributors to successfully compete with industry giants. This honor follows one by AMR Research, which recently acknowledged SYSPRO’s leadership in Service Oriented Architecture.”

According to Andrew K. Reese, editor of Supply & Demand Chain Executive “Our goal with this year’s ‘100′ is to highlight a broad range of innovations taking place in the theory and practice of supply chain transformation. Our judging committee looked for solutions across a variety of industries, addressing the needs of companies of varying sizes and assisting in the transformation of a diverse mix of the functions that make up the supply chain.”
 

COSTA MESA, Calif. — June 13, 2006 — SYSPRO USA, a leading producer of enterprise software for SMB manufacturers and distributors, has announced that SYSPRO USA CEO Brian Stein is among the ten individuals recently honored by Start-IT magazine as being “CEO Visionaries.” The ten appear on Start-IT’s fourth annual CEO Visionaries list, which is featured in the May issue of Start-IT Magazine. Start-IT editors selected the ten for “inspiring optimism” and “having the gusto for helping manufacturers prosper.” According to Start-IT Publisher Peggy Smedley, “These champions of technology perpetuate a rare confidence that permeates their customers and is breathing new life into an industry that has weathered many storms.”

The visionaries were selected from nominees submitted by customers who were asked to submit the names of “industry leaders who recognize the efficiencies of information technology and how they will dramatically impact the bottom lines of their customers.”

Said Smedley, “All of the [visionary] CEOs this year have one thing in common. They admit there’s no substitute for good business fundamentals and customer satisfaction, and they all have an overwhelming desire to manage and improve customer relationships through the use of a sound technological strategy. Many of the CEOs being honored are well-known leaders who have been at the helm of their technology companies for many years.”

Stein made the visionaries list for spearheading the development of the SYSPRO Implementation Methodology, STARS (Structured Technique to Achieve A Rapid Solution.) STARS guides those involved in the implementation of SYSPRO software and provides a framework by which business practices can be examined and re-energized to maximize overall operational efficiency. In this manner, says Stein, the customer is able to achieve a lean environment, enabling it to realize a faster ROI (return on investment) and take full advantage of the software.

According to Stein, who says he is humbled by the honor of being named a visionary, “While understanding processes lays a good foundation for an ERP (enterprise resource planning) implementation, the product still has to work.”

Stein is quoted in the May issue of Start-IT as noting, “While the software industry has seen massive consolidation during the past few years, SYSPRO’s experienced channel and focused product line give the company a competitive advantage over the largest players. Many SYSPRO customers are owner-managers, and SYSPRO, better understands their needs. As a private, independent company with customers in more than 60 countries, SYSPRO today is a highly agile organization able to impart a similar agility to its customers, which include small-to-medium size manufacturers and distributors as well as divisions of large companies.

“SYSPRO remains dedicated to offering its midmarket customers technologically superior solutions characteristic of the high end of the market, but at prices the midmarket can afford.”

Start-IT is produced by Chicago-based Specialty Publishing Company.
 
 

KANSAS CITY, MO — APICS Conference — October 17, 2005 — SYSPRO, a leading producer of enterprise software, has today announced the further rollout of the SYSPRO Learning Channel (SLC) to the company’s end user base. Additionally, SYSPRO has announced the incorporation of a new Learning Management System (LMS) into the SLC that will enable organizations to gauge the educational progress of their employees. SYSPRO has also announced the release of the SYSPRO USA Portal, as a new informational source for SYSPRO end users and resellers.

The SYSPRO Learning Channel delivers combined voice, data and video to the desktops of recipients and serves as a platform for live information dissemination and collaboration. A library of recorded sessions facilitates self-paced training. Debuting in 2003, the SYSPRO Learning Channel was initially offered to SYSPRO resellers. With the rollout of the SLC to the end users, SYSPRO will offer both live and 24/7 recordings to both the VAR and end user communities.

The LMS, now a part of the SLC, provides each organization visibility of the learning track. Specifically, it lets managers obtain comprehensive reporting over the SYSPRO educational activities of each individual.

According to Joey Benadretti, President, SYSPRO USA, “This information provides companies with valuable insight on each employee’s progress and allows management to determine how well educational and organizational objectives are being met. This visibility can lead to remarkable improvements in both operational and cost savings.”

The new SYSPRO USA Portal allows end users and VARs to gain direct 24/7 access to technical product information and content that prior had only been available to the SYSPRO support staff. In addition, VARs are being provided with the ability to utilize the SYSPRO CRM self service technical portal to log service tickets directly online into the CRM system.

Said Benadretti, “We are extremely excited by these initiatives which are the direct result of research deployed throughout both the channel and user base. I am confident that these initiatives will not only enable SYSPRO end users to better utilize their SYSPRO software, but that SYSPRO VARs will gain a new competitive service that will allow them to better concentrate on implementations and face to face interaction with customers.”
 

July 12, 2005 — SYSPRO, a leading provider of enterprise software, announced that Start Magazine has named SYSPRO a “2005 Hot Company.” This latest honor marks the sixth year in succession that SYSPRO has received recognition from the publication as one of the “hottest” companies in the industry. Start’s editorial team judged nearly 100 entries and selected only 29 manufacturing solution providers as “Hot.”

According to Start Editorial Director Peggy Smedley, “The companies selected for Start’s Hottest Companies of the Year showed remarkable innovation in a challenging environment. I commend them for helping manufacturers compete in the global marketplace and make the most out of all of their available resources. We are excited to award these companies with one of the industry’s highest honors and believe they represent the best of the best in manufacturing technology.”

Joey Benadretti, president, SYSPRO USA, said of the honor, “We are, of course, delighted that our ongoing efforts to provide leading edge software to the manufacturing and distribution communities have again been recognized by Start Magazine. SYSPRO is a company dedicated to innovation and ‘translating’ technology so that it can be easily leveraged by businesses.”

During the past year, SYSPRO continued to introduce innovative software solutions to give small-to-medium size manufacturers and distributors the ability to compete on an equal basis with the largest companies in their respective industries. The following are among these recent introductions:

SYSPRO Analytics, a new end-to-end business intelligence (BI) solution that enables users to set up and deploy business analytics without the need for complex technical knowledge, costly front-end tools or lengthy implementation projects;

SYSPRO Forecasting, the first module of a complete, soon-to-be-released Inventory Optimization solution, which will allow companies to better fulfill demand and reduce inventory holding costs;

SYSPRO Version 6.0 features and functional enhancements that enable customers to better leverage the software across all areas of manufacturing, distribution and accounting and to more fully integrate their supply chains;

SYSPRO e.net solutions out-of-the-box Web-based applications that enable users to replace the Web application ‘desktop’ with a customizable dashboard and menu that provide a ‘portal-style’ look-and-feel.

SYSPRO also added multiple features to its CRM offering, providing new depth of functionality across the product’s sales, marketing and service arenas.
 
 

July 6, 2005 — SYSPRO, a leading producer of world-class ERP software, and Business Objects, the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced an OEM and reseller agreement to integrate Crystal Reports® XI, the industry leading enterprise reporting solution , within the SYSPRO product.

The new agreement will give SYSPRO customers access to high-quality reporting and analytical tools out-of-the-box, and the capability to customize any SYSPRO standard report to fit the customer’s requirements. Customers will realize lower ongoing reporting costs since they will no longer be required to purchase ODBC seats or expensive reporting tools in order to deliver a modified version of a standard report.

SYSPRO chose Business Objects because it is an industry leader and a name already known to SYSPRO customers. In addition, Crystal Reports XI is one of the few enterprise-class reporting tools that works well with XML, an industry standard data exchange mechanism used extensively throughout the SYSPRO suite of business applications.

“We are delighted to be able to provide such a quality reporting tool to our customers,” said Phil Duff, CEO SYSPRO. “SYSPRO is one the first companies in the world to be using Crystal Reports with XML as the standard data source, rather than targeting a database directly. Coupled with SYSPRO’s component architecture, the XML technology means that any customized report will work unchanged now and into the future. This is a tremendous win for SYSPRO customers as their investment in customized reports remains protected during version upgrades.”

“Our partners play a critical role in our overall success and we are delighted to work alongside SYSPRO,” said Maurizio Carli, senior vice president and general manager of EMEA at Business Objects. “Crystal Reports XI delivers significant new features that benefit organizations of all sizes. With this partnership, SYSPRO will be one of the first companies in the world to deploy Crystal Reports XI using XML technologies.”

Apart from broadly empowering users to customize their own reports, the initiative also means that reports can be delivered to a user’s desktop in a variety of formats, including PDF.

Crystal Reports XI will be generally available in SYSPRO 6.0, the company’s flagship product, towards the end of 2005 or early 2006.
 

June 17, 2005 — SYSPRO, a leading producer of enterprise software, has announced that the company was named “ISV of the Year” at the VAR Business 500 Awards held June 14, 2005 at the Rainbow Room at New York City. Honoring the most powerful and accomplished solution providers in North America, the fifth annual VAR Business 500 Awards event unfurled to overcapacity crowds in the legendary NYC venue. The awards ceremony featured keynote guest speaker former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

SYSPRO was one of 17 solution providers recognized for outstanding achievements in 2004, such as revenue growth, strong profitability, technology innovation and vertical expertise. SYSPRO was selected “Independent Software Vendor of the Year” based on its “stellar software business.” In May 2005, VAR Business included SYSPRO Forecasting (“One of the first software companies to offer an accurate forecasting tool as part of its core ERP product”) and SYSPRO 6.0 Issue 9 (“Expanded manufacturing, accounting, distribution and Web applications for the company’s flagship software offering”) among its “Top 100 Midmarket Solutions.”

Brian Stein, SYSPRO USA CEO, who was present to accept the ISV of the Year Award, said he looks upon the honor as bestowed on the entire SYSPRO team, including the company’s reseller network, which works so diligently to provide the SMB market with technologically innovative and highly affordable software solutions.

Said Joey Benadretti, SYSPRO USA President, of the award, “This huge honor reflects the tenacity that SYSPRO embodies in its drive for excellence. This award is exemplary of another defining moment in our company history and is a real tribute to all SYSPRO personnel, both here in the USA and abroad, as well as to all those in our channel and customer base that have made this possible. It is an exceptional moment and is indicative of our performance and commitment to the reseller channel. SYSPRO was recognized for its stellar software business, which is something that has mainly resulted because of an ecosystem that is full of commitment and passion.”

Sponsors of the VAR Business 500 Awards included IBM, Symantec, Samsung, APC, Avnet, Oki Data, Novell, Sun, Toshiba and Business Objects.