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.

ATLANTA, Mar. 14, 2007 CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software applications and consulting services, today announced that its new solutions for contracts, chargebacks and rebate management, part of the Ross Enterprise suite for Life Sciences, have attracted an increasing number of generic pharmaceutical manufacturers since its launch late last year.

Generic pharmaceutical companies have selected Ross Enterprise for Life Sciences, a suite of industry-specific software applications tailored specifically for the Life Sciences industry, to improve pricing compliance accuracy, monitor performance and ensure contract compliance with wholesalers, as well as improve profits by reducing revenue leakage. Some of the new generic pharmaceutical customers in 2006 include: ANI Pharmaceuticals; Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals; Interpharm, Inc.; RxElite, Inc.; and Precision Dose, Inc., a generic pharmaceutical re-packager.

CDC Software’s growing success in generic pharmaceuticals is attributed to its long-standing commitment to the life sciences industry and established track record with pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers, both in the U.S. and abroad. Many of these companies are leveraging the full Ross Enterprise suite of applications while others have deployed departmental solutions to address planning and scheduling, materials management and manufacturing operations in support of their initiatives related to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).

Expanding the depth of the Ross Enterprise suite to further address the unique needs of the generic pharmaceuticals vertical industry, the contracts, chargebacks, and rebate management applications address a broad set of requirements related to pricing compliance. The contracts and chargebacks application manages the deductions taken by wholesalers based on the price variance between the wholesaler contract and the end-customer contract (such as for chain retailers or Group Purchasing Organizations). Specific challenges addressed by the Ross Enterprise chargebacks application include data volume, non-standard pricing, management fees and rebates, and regulatory compliance. The software provides real-time membership and pricing data, automatic chargeback validation, standard EDI transactions, automatic updates and full integration to AR and GL, automatic fee and rebate accruals, validation of fee and rebate payments, Medicare/Medicaid reporting, and comprehensive reporting and analysis to assist with contract performance, contract negotiations, pricing compliance, and AMP calculations.

“CDC Software is the only enterprise software company that now offers contracts, chargebacks and rebate management solutions specifically tailored for the U.S. market in generic pharmaceuticals,” said Michael Webster, director of Life Sciences for CDC Software. “Deductions from chargebacks can range from 2 to 15 percent of gross revenue, which can cut significantly into net profits. In addition, without accurate adjudication of chargebacks, manufacturers are unable to demonstrate pricing compliance to Medicare and Medicaid. There are numerous examples of fines that range from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars for improper government pricing. Revenue leakage, Sarbannes Oxley controls, and the need for corporate risk abatement is driving the need for automation. Using the Ross Enterprise solution, which supports chargebacks and pricing compliance, our customers are able to consolidate multiple systems such as ERP, electronic batch records, chargebacks, and analytics into one application set, which can easily save hundreds of thousands of dollars for emerging biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.”

“We made the choice to partner with CDC Software based on its track record and clear focus on the generic pharmaceuticals industry,” said Michael Keenley, vice president of Marketing and Operations, Zydus Pharmaceuticals, a CDC Software generics customer. “The Ross Enterprise solution, specifically those modules related to contract management and chargebacks, provides us with an efficient, cost-effective way to address some of the most pressing requirements we have within our industry.”

ATLANTA – Feb. 21, 2007 – CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of industry-specific enterprise software applications and consulting services, announced today that its customer, Litehouse Foods, has been recognized by Consumer Goods Technology (“CGT”) for outstanding achievement in the Breakthrough Small and Medium Size Business (SMB) category for leveraging CDC Software’s Ross Enterprise applications to achieve optimal order fulfillment performance and overall customer service levels. This annual award recognizes the leaders in the consumer goods market.

Litehouse was growing rapidly in order volume, as well as number of product lines – the manufacturer more than tripled its offerings in a five-year period. To avoid stockouts, oversupply and safety stock expense, it was critical for the company to predict demand and effectively manage the increased procurement and distribution complexity. The company has realized substantial cost savings in less than a year, increasing product fill rates by 10 percent, while simultaneously reducing finished goods inventory by 6 percent, significantly reducing carrying costs. In addition, Litehouse has increased reliability and forecast accuracy, while improving visibility and increasing customer-service levels.

“By achieving a correct one-number forecast for the entire company using Ross Enterprise from CDC Software, we can now plan, modify and manage at the customer level like never before possible,” said Deena Presnell, COO of Litehouse. “This data is turned into useful information that allows us to proactively plan for trade promotions, improve overall collaboration with our trading partners and, through this, increase customer satisfaction. We are well-positioned for growth and anticipate even greater results.”

February 12, 2007 CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, announced today that China-based PTM Engineering Plastics Co, Ltd., (PTM Nantong) has chosen the Ross Enterprise suite of software applications because of industry-specific functionality that can allow it to increase daily production levels, standardize business processes, including quality assurance, and conform to ISO system standards.

PTM Nantong was established in 2001 as a joint venture between Polyplastics Co., Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Inc., Korea Engineering Plastics Co., and Ticona, a business of Celanese AG, Frankfurt. Polyplastics has approximately 70 percent of the total shares in the joint venture, and has responsibility for the company’s management. The plant, which opened in October, 2005, is located in Nantong, Jiangsu province, China and produces approximately 60,000 tons per year of polyacetal resin, which is used in a wide range of applications in markets such as transportation, industrial, appliances, information technology and consumer products.

PTM Nantong chose Ross Enterprise because of its strong fit to the specific requirements of the chemicals industries and track record of success in global implementations spanning many countries, local regulatory requirements and languages. PTM has completed its roll out of Ross Enterprise at its facilities in Nantong, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. It plans next to roll out the solution to its plants in Shanghai, Thailand and Taiwan. With Ross Enterprise, PTM Nantong will streamline compliance with the complex statutory tax requirements in China while continuing to meet Japanese regulations. PTM Nantong will also be able to shorten processing time and improve throughput and utilization with advanced planning, while gaining the visibility needed to monitor and adjust operations for peak operational efficiency. CDC Software’s Technology Center in Shanghai will provide service and support for PTM.

“The Ross Enterprise applications including ERP (enterprise resource planning) and SCM (supply chain management) were designed to meet the specific needs of chemical manufacturers,” said Ian Whitehouse, managing director, CDC Software, Asia. “With our proven technology foundation, deep industry-specific functionality and CDC Software’s global R&D and support resources, PTM Nantong will be well supported and positioned to grow its production levels significantly in the coming years while maintaining the highest level of quality for its customers.”

Implementation of PTM Nantong’s Ross Enterprise system was a joint effort of CDC Software and Japan-based Yokogawa Information Systems Corporation (YIC).

BEIJING, ATLANTA – Jan. 30, 2007 CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, announced today that Hong Kong-based HFG Procurement, Ltd. has chosen the Ross Enterprise suite of software applications to improve visibility and control throughout its manufacturing operations and supply chain.

Using the Ross Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, HFG Procurement’s management will have a central view of the inventory levels in each of its outlets and the tools they need to optimize inventory levels in each location to avoid the risk of stock-outs and the high cost of emergency orders, while keeping overall inventory investments to a practical minimum. The system, designed specifically for food processors, will also help HFG Procurement synchronize internal information on materials consumption with point-of-sale data. HFG Procurement is a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Systems accredited company and will also use the Ross ERP solution to provide end-to-end traceability of all ingredients received from suppliers all the way to finished goods sold to customers.

HFG Procurement, Ltd. is the supply chain service provider to Maria’s Bakery and Yoshinoya in Hong Kong, a chain of fast-food restaurants which has 30 retail outlets in Hong Kong that will continue its expansion plans in coming years. The company owns its central production and distribution facility which distributes to its retail outlets.

“The control and traceability capabilities of Ross Enterprise were important criteria in our selection process,” said Keith Chan, chief supply officer, HFG Procurement Ltd. “We chose Ross Enterprise because of its track record in the food and beverage industry and the company’s reputation as a strong technology partner. With the implementation of Ross Enterprise, we look to become more efficient in our manufacturing processes, address the visibility and control needs of our evolving business, and at the same time, provide the brand assurance that is increasingly sought by consumers.”

“At CDC Software, it is our mission to fully understand the industry-specific challenges of our food and beverage customers,” said Beth Berndt, director of Industry Solutions at CDC Software, focused on the food and beverage sector. “With a proven technology foundation, we deliver cost-effective solutions to growing companies such as HFG Procurement, providing them with the tools necessary to become customer-driven market leaders.”

ATLANTA, BIRMINGHAM UK, October 11, 2006 – CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, today announced that two customers of its MVI real-time performance management (RPM) applications, including Amtico International, were recently recognized for significant achievements at the prestigious 2006 Best of British Manufacturing IT Awards.

CDC Software recently announced that it acquired MVI Technology, provider of the first RPM solution specifically designed for food & beverage and consumer products industries. This innovative solution enables manufacturers to merge automated shop floor data, quality process control and manufacturing performance dashboards as part of improved visibility and continuous improvement campaigns supported by a Six Sigma process.

One of MVI’s customers was recognized in the Plant and Factory Improvement category for its transition from poor to excellent operation after its implementation of MVI Technology plant data capture and analysis system. The company supplies both branded and private-label food products. It has several lines filling single service sachets and sticks with sauces, condiments and vinegars and produces 900 million units a year. Previously, the company was using a manual system for quality control, especially in the area of check weighing. The company knew it was overfilling on some of its lines but the previous system did not allow for visibility into exactly how much giveaway was present. Within three months of implementing the MVI Technology solution, the company saw significant improvements in its plant operations and had completely solved the overfilling problem.

Amtico International was highly commended in the Plant and Factory Improvement category for its transformation of production efficiency and operational uptime using the MVI RPM solution to automatically capture and diagnose reasons for failure and improve problem solving. Amtico International created and defined the luxury flooring market by producing high quality imitations of natural products.

The Best of British Manufacturing IT Awards are designed to acknowledge the very best IT strategies and implementations in British manufacturing industry. The Awards are judged by a senior independent panel including consultants, analysts, practitioners and operations directors. “We are delighted with this recognition for our clients, who have demonstrated how the MVI system can be used to deliver real and tangible benefits to a business and make direct impact to the bottom line,” said Mark Sutcliffe, CEO of MVI Technology.

The recent acquisition of MVI expands CDC Software’s customer-base in strategic industries and broadens the company’s overall offerings with highly complementary applications and services that are proven in the mid-market and with larger, tier-1 companies.

MVI - applications directly complement CDC Software’s Ross ERP (enterprise resource planning), Ross SCM (supply chain management) and Ross EPM (enterprise performance management) solutions. MVI has more than 80 customers including: Allied Bakeries, Bio Product Laboratories, Calypso Soft Drinks, Coors Breweries, Genentech, Marsan Foods, Premiere Foods, Tetley GB, Abbyland Foods, Berner Foods, Weetabix and other food processors around the globe. With the MVI solution, these companies have reported significant increases in production capacity and responsiveness to customers, as well as reductions in overhead and waste.

ATLANTA, BIRMINGHAM UK, October 9, 2006 – CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications, today announced that it has acquired MVI Technology, a leading provider of Real-Time Performance Management (RPM) solutions and services specialized for the unique requirements of the food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and chemicals industries.

The acquisition of MVI expands CDC Software’s customer-base in strategic industries and broadens the company’s overall offerings with highly complementary applications and services that are proven in the mid-market and with larger, tier-1 companies. The acquisition is structured with a 3-year earn-out for the MVI management team which will remain with CDC Software.

The MVI system is the first RPM solution specifically designed for food & beverage and consumer products industries. This innovative solution enables manufacturers to merge automated shop floor data, quality process control and manufacturing performance dashboards as part of improved visibility and continuous improvement campaigns supported by a Six Sigma process. These applications directly complement CDC Software’s Ross ERP (enterprise resource planning), Ross SCM (supply chain management) and Ross EPM (enterprise performance management) solutions. MVI has more than 80 customers including: Allied Bakeries, Bio Product Laboratories, Calypso Soft Drinks, Coors Breweries, Heinz, Genentech, Marsan Foods, Premiere Foods and Tetley GB. Three MVI customers, more than those of any other vendors of plant and factory software solutions, were recently recognized for excellent operations during the 2006 Best of British Manufacturing IT Awards ceremony. Mutual MVI and CDC Software customers include: Abbyland Foods, Berner Foods, Weetabix and other food processors around the globe. With the MVI solution, these companies have reported significant increases in production capacity and responsiveness to customers, as well as reductions in overhead and waste.

“This positively accretive acquisition creates immediate benefits to the bottom-line for CDC Software, as well as adding products and industry expertise for the benefit of our global customers,” said Eric Musser, president of CDC Software. “These proven solutions are a natural fit with our current enterprise applications and can deliver near-immediate value for our customers. By expanding the market reach for MVI through our global network of direct sales channels and franchise partners, we will also open the doors to many new sales opportunities, including large tier-1 companies. This acquisition will further strengthen our position as a leading global provider of industry solutions designed to address the evolving needs of process manufacturers.”

“We are very proud of the unique, innovative solutions we’ve created for process manufacturers and the value our customers have measured,” said Mark Sutcliffe, CEO of MVI. “The synergy of this acquisition is compelling because it addresses the major critical areas of process manufacturing. We are excited about the opportunity to join a global company that is such a major player in the enterprise software markets. I’m confident that our combined solutions will create one of the most cost-effective and comprehensive alternatives for our target industries.”

“As a customer of both CDC Software and MVI, we are very happy to see this combination take place,” said Gary Gold, corporate vice president of Berner Foods. “The Ross ERP and SCM applications from CDC Software and the RPM applications from MVI have enabled us to set new marks in terms of operational visibility, control and efficiency, as well as customer service and satisfaction. With these applications we have the tools needed to complete our projects and measure and monitor our improvements. These vendors have each demonstrated a profound understanding of the challenges we face as a food and beverage processor, and a strong commitment to our success. This seems like a match just waiting to happen.”

[Atlanta and Beijing, October 4, 2006] CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of enterprise software applications and services, today announced that it expects to report record high software license revenues for the third quarter ended September 30, 2006.

Consistent with the company’s performance in recent quarters and evidence of continued strong growth, the company also expects to report that software license revenue from new customers accounted for 40 to 50 percent of overall software license revenues for the quarter. As acquisitions earlier in the year represent only a small portion of the company’s overall revenues, the majority of the software license revenue in Q3 represents organic growth.

CDC Software expects to report software license revenues in the range of U.S. $10.9 million to U.S. $11.5 million for Q3 2006. This would represent an approximate increase of 27 percent compared to software license revenues of US $8.8 million Q3 2005.

“Our preliminary estimates indicate that our software sales were very strong during the third quarter, in spite of the typical doldrums during the late summer,” said Eric Musser, president of CDC Software. “While we are excited to report expected record high software license revenues for the third quarter, we are equally pleased with the quality of our organic revenue mix. Very few of our peers are consistently reporting a healthy revenue mix that includes 40 to 50 percent of software license revenues coming from new-logo customers. This is further validation of our deep commitment to customer success and the competitive advantages we have with unique industry solutions which are experiencing above average win rates throughout our strategic industries.”

CDC Corporation plans to report preliminary earnings estimates for Q3 in late October and final results by mid-November.

Atlanta and Northampton, UK – 28th September 2006 - KK Fine Foods, one of the largest UK manufacturers of high quality frozen convenience foods, has been highly commended in the Manufacturing and Business Management category at Tuesday night’s Best of British IT Manufacturing Awards. The awards recognise the very best IT strategies and implementations in British manufacturing industry. Using the Ross ERP (enterprise resource planning) system from CDC Software, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA), KK Fine Foods has achieved a 54 per cent rise in profits and a 15 per cent drop in product wastage since 2003.

Leyla Edwards, founder and CEO of KK Fine Foods, comments: “We’re delighted to receive the commendation at the Manufacturing and Business Management awards. KK Fine Foods has gone from strength to strength since implementing the Ross solution from CDC Software. It has helped us to achieve a 54 per cent rise in profits and a 15 per cent drop in product wastage.”

Graham Jackson, chairman of KK Fine Foods comments: “The ERP solution underpins our entire organisation from finance and sales order processing to production and distribution. We’ve been able to minimise errors in production and streamline production planning as well as achieve more effective management of our cold storage facility. The system also helps us address key requirements that are highly important to our customers, such as strict adherence to quality standards, end-to-end traceability to support brand assurance and sophisticated scheduling to ensure that we fulfill customer orders on time. As an added bonus, the expert Ross consultants have been with us every step of the way, ensuring that we were using the Ross ERP system to its full potential.”

Mark Carlile, UK managing director, CDC Software, comments: “We are extremely pleased that we could play such a pivotal role in helping KK Fine Foods to achieve such a dramatic change in its business performance over the past couple of years. The fact that KK Fine Food has been highly commended at these awards is testament to the hard work put in by the staff at KK Fine Foods and here at CDC Software. The Ross ERP solution from CDC Software has helped KK Fine Foods to support standards compliance and to unlock the cost savings and efficiencies necessary to maintain competitiveness and protect profit margins as they continue to grow.”

KK Fine Foods produces over 250 different recipes of frozen meals and 193 live recipes every month for its customers across the UK and Europe including Mitchell’s & Butlers, Weatherspoons, Brakes Brothers, 3663, Woodward, Green King, P&O, Marriott and Whitbread. Based in North Wales, KK Fine Foods was awarded the Welsh Medium Sized Business of the Year Award in 2004 and has recently been awarded funding from the Welsh Assembly in recognition of its business success and to extend and double the capacity of its existing operation.

Implemented in 2003, the Ross system has given KK Fine Foods a fully integrated and real-time management information tool that allows it to optimise throughput, streamline the business and monitor product profitability in a way that it could not do before. The system also generates an executive level view of the entire business operation and manufacturing processes to give managers a single view of the business, enabling them to make decisions with confidence knowing they are based on current and accurate information.

As well as live management reports, the system also provides real-time stock status reports, supplying information by product, customer, ingredient, location and history, to give end-to-end online visibility of its products. This has helped KK Fine Foods achieve Grade A Food Safety Traceability Accreditation from the Food Standards Agency. It can now identify the availability of raw materials, monitor stock shelf life and react to any sudden change in customer demand dynamically.