Western Data Systems announces new product formaintenance, repair and overhaul operations.

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1997--Western Data Systems (WDS) Thursday announced immediate availability of CompassMRO -- a new software product for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) environment.

CompassMRO provides support for the tear-down, inspection and dispositioning

"Maintenance, repair and overhaul operations have inherent challenges that go beyond those of new product manufacturing," stated Anton Rodde, WDS president. "In addition to the same inventory, procurement and shop floor control needs that manufacturing facilities have, MRO operations must also manage the tear-down and dispositioning of in-coming items and must deal with the reality that exact processes and materials required to remanufacture individual items are often not known until disassembly/inspection has been performed. Support for these critical aspects of the MRO environment have been lacking in commercial ERP software products until now."

CompassMRO was developed over a two-year period to allow MRO facilities to more fully realize the closed loop management benefits of MRPII and ERP. Its design is based on in-depth analysis of the MRO environment and extensive input from both commercial and government facilities.

A Windows-based client/server product, CompassMRO provides operators with product and process information, action prompts and graphical images to make the entire disassembly, inspection and dispositioning process fast and error-free. Most actions are achieved with simple point and click selections, while CompassMRO maintains a visual representation of the item's status throughout the process.

By accelerating the initial phase of a repair order and by identifying required actions sooner, CompassMRO helps the remanufacturing facility respond more quickly to the surprises and unexpected situations inherent in the MRO world.

CompassMRO also leverages the CompassCONTRACT database to provide supporting information and utilizes the extensive CompassCONTRACT manufacturing, procurement, cost and configuration management capabilities to plan for and execute the entire remanufacturing process.

And because CompassCONTRACT links all shop floor activities and material usage to a project work breakdown structure (WBS), actual costs associated with each repair order are automatically captured at the task level for billing and/or analysis purposes, saving substantial time and effort as compared with typical systems in place today.

CompassMRO is part of the WDS CompassENTERPRISE family of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) application software products, with CompassCONTRACT as its core application set. CompassCONTRACT is a comprehensive client/server Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system designed specifically for the needs of the commercial and military aerospace industry.

CompassENTERPRISE applications utilize the Oracle7 RDBMS, UNIX servers and Windows PCs in an advanced client/server architecture scaleable from a few users to thousands.

Availability

CompassMRO is available immediately. It requires a PC with Windows 3.1 or higher and CompassCONTRACT release 6.0 or higher. CompassCONTRACT operates on UNIX servers from Digital, Hewlett Packard and Sun Microsystems.

About Western Data Systems

Western Data Systems (WDS) is the leading supplier of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) manufacturing and business application software solutions to the commercial and military aerospace industry.

WDS customers are major aerospace companies and government MRO facilities in North America and Europe, including many of the industry's largest organizations such as GEC Marconi, Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas and the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as many key suppliers throughout the global aerospace supply chain.

For more information about Western Data Systems, CompassMRO and the CompassENTERPRISE family of products, visit Western Data Systems on the World Wide Web at www.westdata.com, or e-mail info@westdata.com or call 818/880-0800 and ask for Mary Lou Miller. -0- Trademarks: The WDS logo, CompassENTERPRISE, CompassCONTRACT and CompassMRO are registered trademarks of Western Data Systems of Nevada Inc. Any other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Western Data Systems, Calabasas

Mary Lou Miller, 818/880-0800

818/880-1424 (fax)

miller@westdata.com

http://www.westdata.com