MAPICS, Inc. Offers Extended Enterprise Decision Support for Internet-enabled Financial Management

Business Wire, April 10, 2000

Business/Technology Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2000

MAPICS, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM:MAPX), a leading provider of e-business enterprise applications for manufacturers, today announced a partnership with FRx(R) Software Corporation, a market leader in complex financial analysis and reporting, at the MAPICS 2000 International User Conference in Chicago.

Designed specifically for accounting and finance professionals, the FRx suite has long set the standard in providing powerful and flexible management information for decision making. FRx functionality includes the ability to easily create OLAP cubes for sophisticated data analysis, available on a variety of scalable servers, with distribution and viewing via the Web. Of particular interest to MAPICS' customers is the additional value they receive by implementing FRx's first to market XML-based report outputs, which enable enhanced decision making across global enterprises.

"Financial analysis and report-writing is very specialized," said Steve Watson, MAPICS' director of product marketing. "FRx is the industry's acknowledged leader in financial report-writing and will be tightly integrated with MAPICS' financial applications."

FRx uses an intuitive spreadsheet-style interface with graphical organizational representation for multidimensional and dynamic views of reporting structures. The product provides flexible customization options for report building. Sophisticated row and column capabilities, account filters, sort controls, rounding options, and other financial decision support features are built in to meet today's complex management requirements in extended manufacturing enterprises.

"We're pleased to finalize this software distribution agreement with the prestigious MAPICS organization," said Robert Rohan, FRx senior vice president of sales. "It's a strong agreement for both companies: FRx applications will be more widely available and MAPICS will simultaneously expand the financial capabilities they provide for their customers."

The FRx application is part of the MAPICS DecisionWeRX family of solutions. DecisionWeRX is the second level of MAPICS' extended enterprise suite, MAPICSWeRX, which includes:

--FoundationWeRX - solutions that form the business foundation for manufacturers;

--DecisionWeRX - tools that enable streamlined business processes and enhanced decision making;

--ExtensionWeRX - technology for integrating B2B transactions beyond the four-wall enterprise;

--TeamWeRX - solutions for secure supply-chain collaboration via the Internet; and

--MarketWeRX - tools that enable organizations to obtain market leadership through participation in Internet marketplaces.

About MAPICS

MAPICS, Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta with offices around the globe and a worldwide sales network of 75 affiliates serving customers in more than 70 countries. With more than 20 years of proven expertise, MAPICS is one of the world's leading providers of enterprise applications specifically designed to meet the needs of mid-sized manufacturing enterprises. The Company's flagship solutions include XA and Point.Man, two powerful extended enterprise applications (EEA) for streamlining business processes for manufacturing, customer service, engineering, supply chain planning and financials. The solutions support international and multi-site operations on platforms spanning AS/400, Windows NT, UNIX and Linux. MAPICS also offers Thru-Put, an advanced planning and scheduling (APS) system, and Maincor, an enterprise asset management (EAM) suite. More than 3,000 customers have implemented MAPICS' solutions, including Alpha Industries; Bayer; Dialight Corporation; Freightliner, Inc.; General Electric Co., P.L.C.; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; Honda Motor Co., Ltd.; MAG Instruments, Inc.; Mercedes-Benz (a division of DaimlerChrysler); MTD Products Inc; SmithKline Beecham; Volvo; and York International. For more information on MAPICS, visit www.mapics.com.

About FRx Software

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Denver, FRx Software produces advanced financial reporting and analysis software that interfaces directly with more than 50 leading client-server systems and is used in over 80,000 sites worldwide. FRx applications feature the automatic creation of complex financial reports, with rollups through multiple reporting hierarchies as well as electronic distribution with drill-down capability from summary level financial information into the underlying transactions level details. Presentation-quality reports can be printed, exported to worksheets, e-mailed or viewed remotely via the Web. FRx products can include exception and multi-currency reporting and provide on-the-fly currency translations. The instant!OLAP(TM) feature also gives the end-user the ability to easily create OLAP cubes for powerful analysis of data. For more information, visit FRx on the Web at www.frxsoftware.com or call 1-800-379-8733.

MAPICS, XA, Point.Man, Thru-Put, Maincor, MAPICSWeRX. FoundationWeRX, DecisionWeRX, ExtensionWeRX, TeamWeRX, and MarketWeRX are trademarks of MAPICS, Inc. Other brand and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Editor's Note: The correct usage of the MAPICS name is all capitals.