Litton Guidance & Control selects Western Data Systems and Oracle for aerospace Enterprise Resource Planning "ERP"

Business Wire, Feb 21, 1996

CALABASAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 1996--Western Data Systems (WDS) Wednesday announced that the Guidance & Control Systems Division of Litton Industries has selected WDS and Oracle to provide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application software and services for the Litton division's new generation business system.

Litton will implement the WDS CompassENTERPRISE family of manufacturing, cost, and contract management applications, integrated with the Oracle financial applications and database software. The value of the WDS contract is over $3 million in software licenses, implementation and training services, and maintenance.

Litton Guidance & Control Systems (G/CS) is a major developer and manufacturer of navigation and guidance systems, IFF equipment and other avionics systems for military applications. Litton will implement CompassENTERPRISE at all four of its manufacturing sites. These are located in Salt Lake City; and Woodland Hills, Northridge, and Goleta, Calif. Full implementation is targeted by the end of 1996.

"The selection of WDS and Oracle was based primarily on their superior combined functionality, their thorough understanding of the aerospace industry's environment and unique requirements, and their vision and commitment to our future needs and those of the industry," said William S. Weber, Litton Computer Integrated Enterprise Director.

"The selection of WDS and Oracle culminates months of in-depth research and analysis aimed at identifying the core `best of class' enterprise business systems. These systems will enable us to dramatically improve productivity and competitiveness in the marketplace."

Dr. Anton Rodde, WDS president, said, "More and more aerospace companies are looking to combine commercial manufacturing concepts like demand flow manufacturing with the principles of cost, schedule and configuration management required to effectively deliver sophisticated products like Litton's.

"Litton is on the forefront of this trend, and we are happy to be working with them to help realize this vision of the aerospace industry of the future."

In 1995, WDS and Oracle announced a strategic relationship to provide integrated ERP solutions to companies such as Litton in the aerospace & defense industry. Since then, the integration of CompassENTERPRISE with the Oracle financial applications has been completed, and the combined solution is now being actively marketed by the two companies in North America and Europe.

Western Data Systems is the leading supplier of commercial-off- the-shelf (COTS) ERP applications to the commercial and military aerospace industry. Other WDS customers include McDonnell Douglas, Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed Martin, Smiths Industries, and over 170 other leading aerospace & defense manufacturers and MRO facilities.

WDS is a member of the Visionary Corporate Technologies Inc. group of information systems companies dedicated to delivering competitive advantage to businesses worldwide.

Other Visionary Group companies include Vicor Inc., a systems engineering company that delivers advanced information technologies for large corporate clients; Avistar Systems, a provider of high quality client/server, collaborative products; and Siren, a developer of cross-platform, Internet-compliant e-mail, network fax, and x.500 directory products.

For more information, contact Mary Lou Miller at Western Data Systems in Calabasas. Phone: 818/880-0800, Fax: 818/880-1424, e-mail: miller@westdata.com. -0-

Trademarks: The WDS logo and CompassENTERPRISE 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 (phone)

818/880-1424 (fax)

miller@westdata.com (e-mail)