More Manufacturers Will Deploy MES Globally, Aberdeen Study Shows; Organizations Taking Broader,...

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Apriso Corporation, a provider of adaptive operations execution software platforms for manufacturing, today announced its sponsorship of the "Global Manufacturing: MES and Beyond" Benchmark Report by Aberdeen Group. Apriso delivers solutions that help manufacturers

Key findings of the benchmark report showed that manufacturers are taking a broader and longer-term view of manufacturing requirements in their plants and across their networks, a trend that is driving corporate IT departments to work more closely with manufacturing personnel in selecting solutions for improving operational excellence.

The study also revealed that 85 percent of best-in-class manufacturers are executing on global strategies to unify processes and drive performance programs across the enterprise by standardizing KPIs across plants and factories, publishing technology infrastructure guidelines and normalizing reporting across their enterprises.

"The study reveals a notable shift in market dynamics," says Jane Biddle, vice president of manufacturing research at Aberdeen and author of the report. "There is a renewed appreciation for the value delivered by MES, and forward-thinking companies are no longer making plant-by-plant decisions, but taking a broader view. This new thinking would suggest that soon we'll see manufacturing systems deployed and managed like they were enterprise solutions, across multiple sites and even geographies."

As more organizations shift to a global operations model, manufacturing intelligence and business analytics will play an increasingly important role; likewise, investments in MES is expected to double over the next two years, the study showed.

Such changes in customer buying behavior have been observed by Apriso. In recent months, the company has seen more customers asking for a single platform to coordinate activity not only within the four walls of their operations, but across multiple plants and geographies, according to Jim Henderson, president and CEO, Apriso. Henderson also reports that integrating multiple systems, supporting disparate applications, and a lack of a unified architecture continue to be the biggest challenges customers face - a fact also validated by Aberdeen's study.

"We are helping manufacturers meet those challenges through our product, FlexNet, an operations execution platform built on a unified data model, which allows customers to share information and processes in real time," Henderson says. "For example, they can perfect a process in one location then quickly deploy it throughout their extended enterprises. To optimize their expanding operations, customers also need to assimilate and monitor key performance indicators throughout their networks. They get a 'single version of the truth' from Apriso."

The report is the result of a survey and follow-up interviews conducted in April - May 2006 by Aberdeen Group. In addition to summarizing the findings of the study, Aberdeen Group offers valuable insight and advice on how manufacturers can apply the latest strategies and technologies to achieve global manufacturing excellence.

About Apriso Corporation

Apriso Corporation is a software company dedicated to providing competitive advantage for its customers. We do this by enabling organizations to adapt quickly and easily to market changes and unexpected events; providing end-to-end, real-time control of manufacturing operations across the entire enterprise; lending visibility across the entire supply network; tightly integrating planning, execution, and control; increasing operational efficiency; and eliminating errors in the production process.

Apriso operates in nine countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company serves more than 140 customers in 35 countries and powers more than 400 installations worldwide. Its customer base includes such global companies as General Motors, Lear, Honeywell, Microsoft, L'Oreal, Lockheed Martin, Becton Dickinson, Baker Hughes, International Paper, Rubbermaid, Matsushita Avionics Systems, Saint-Gobain, Novelis, and Essilor. For more information, visit www.apriso.com.

Apriso is a registered trademark of Apriso Corporation. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.