Apriso's FlexNet For Mill Products Helps Enhance Profitability; Provides 100% Supplier Visibility, Integrated Quality, and Greater Control over Energy Costs

Business Wire, May 15, 2006

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- New Solution Leverages OSIsoft and Greycon Capabilities to Replace Monolithic, Paper-Based Systems with Adaptive Operations Execution Platform

Apriso(R) Corporation has announced the availability of FlexNet(R) for Mill Products, a software platform designed to help mills operate more profitably and with greater agility. FlexNet helps mill products manufacturers seize control over the rising costs of energy, raw materials, machine maintenance, labor, quality assurance -- as well as constantly changing business drivers -- and other factors eating into their margins and productivity.

FlexNet addresses those issues by managing multiple mission-critical areas on a single software platform built on a unified data model. Such a system provides complete visibility into work in progress, raw materials, equipment maintenance, and other areas. Armed with such information, mills personnel can make timely decisions and take fast corrective action when needed, helping to lower costs in a number of areas:

--Energy efficiency - FlexNet provides 100 percent visibility into equipment usage, enabling front-line personnel to make informed decisions for more efficient allocation of energy resources;

--Quality assurance - FlexNet integrates quality processes into its Production module, enabling mill operators to 'make it right the first time,' and avoid costly returns and recalls;

--Inventory visibility - Because it provides complete supplier visibility, FlexNet helps mill products manufacturers identify possible supplier shortages in time to seek out other sources of materials, thereby avoiding stock-outs and missed delivery dates;

--Adaptability to change - Unlike the inflexible, monolithic systems of other vendors, FlexNet lets mill operators change their production processes to meet shifting customer specifications in a matter of hours, without enlisting outside IT support or bringing their systems down. The ability to adapt quickly and cost-effectively to new business drivers provides a significant advantage in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

The solution is ideally suited to both primary and conversion operations in Pulp & Paper and Metals industries.

"The modern mills industry needs a new kind of solution -- one that enables quick response to market changes and helps keep operating costs under control," said Jim Henderson, president and CEO, Apriso. "FlexNet's adaptability, the visibility it provides, and its fit with most ERP systems make the software ideal for mills that want to operate profitably and with a competitive edge."

FlexNet is both an adaptive operations execution platform and a suite of software modules that tie together production (MES), warehouse (WMS), quality (QMS), maintenance, time & labor and supplier visibility into a single solution. Working with market-leading technology partners, Apriso's software supports specific requirements such as capacity planning, trim optimization, production control, quality data management, converting, warehousing and shipping.

Since 1992, Apriso's solutions have powered the operations of leading manufacturers around the world. The company has helped metals and pulp & paper industries and their suppliers improve efficiency and quality, while reducing costs associated with warranties, raw materials, regulatory compliance and energy consumption. Apriso delivers adaptive manufacturing solutions to such mills leaders as International Paper, Novelis, Johns Mansville, Weyerhaeuser and Masonite.

A Perfect Fit with SAP, Other Systems

Unlike competing Mills MES offerings, FlexNet integrates with SAP, Oracle and other leading enterprise systems with little to no overlap -- the solution provides robust functionality only where the customer needs it, ensuring a high return on IT investment. Apriso is one of SAP's closest manufacturing partners. In December 2005 Apriso achieved "Powered by SAP NetWeaver(R) for Industry Standards" status, one of only a handful of vendors to do so in the MES space.

Highly scalable, FlexNet modules can replace or work with existing software, helping customers avoid too many solutions in their operations. FlexNet modules can be installed individually or as a suite, further reducing IT costs by consolidating systems to a single platform, or providing a common interface to multiple applications.

Advanced Technology for Mill Operations, Combined with Best-of-Breed Capabilities

Apriso has worked with leading software solution providers to develop the Mills industry's most advanced operations solution to date. FlexNet incorporates X-Trim(R) from Greycon, a world-class trim optimization system developed and fine-tuned over many years. Working within the FlexNet interface, X-Trim seamlessly combines leading-edge optimization performance with detailed functionality that addresses real-world problems with intuitiveness in its graphical user interface.

In addition, FlexNet for Mill Products incorporates OSIsoft's PI System, a critical productivity resource used in more than 10,000 enterprises across a broad range of industries. PI provides added visibility into operations, unlocking the potential for timely analysis, fueling critical, informed and profitable actions. PI's features help FlexNet customers reduce costs, boost productivity, avert errors, and enable smart decisions.