APRISO CUSTOMERS CONTINUE TO EMBRACE COMPANY’S ADAPTIVE MANUFACTURING SOLUTION

FlexNet Sales and Implementations Accelerate; Company Introduces
New Products, Signs Strategic Partnership

(Long Beach, CA - July 31, 2006) - Five manufacturing organizations chose FlexNet® from Apriso® Corporation, and five expanded their systems in Q2-2006, Apriso announced today.  The company also introduced two new versions of its software platform and entered a significant strategic partnership.

“The industry continues to embrace Apriso’s adaptive approach to operations execution,” says Jim Henderson, president and chief executive officer, Apriso.  “We’ve seen significant year-over-year growth, and established our product as the standard for global MES deployment with several large manufacturing organizations.  Customers are turning to us when they need to coordinate activity across multiple plants and geographies.  They see that our technology and domain expertise make that possible.”

In recent months, manufacturers have begun to move away from multiple solutions that don’t integrate, and are now moving toward a simpler IT infrastructure similar to that offered with Apriso’s FlexNet platform.  Those organizations are demanding a single solution that manages all areas of their operations and helps decrease their total cost of ownership.  As never before, visibility into all operational areas, and agility in managing processes, are being seen as key advantages in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Recognizing Apriso’s ability to provide that flexibility and visibility, five customers have selected Apriso as their operations execution platform of choice, or have extended their deployments: 

• Cummins Brazil – global designer, manufacturer, distributor and servicer of engines and related technologies; pilot program, with multiple sites on four continents pending; for RFID, order management, materials tracking and container management;
• Trixell Medical (France) – manufacturer of medical devices; using FlexNet for work-in-progress tracking; to be deployed in partnership with Capgemini;
• L’Oréal - the world-renown maker of cosmetics and skin care products; added four sites in Q2;
• Valeo – based in Europe, a major supplier of automotive parts; added four Apriso sites, bringing the supplier’s total to 77.

Live Implementations
Apriso provides some of the world’s largest manufacturing organizations with installation and support services worldwide. The company has supported FlexNet implementations at more than 500 locations in 35 countries.  In April – June, several key deployments were completed, including:  

• Ansell (Malaysia) a global leader in healthcare barrier protection;
• British American Tobacco (Poland), the world’s largest tobacco producer has implemented FlexNet at a third manufacturing site;
• Essilor (France and North America), the world’s largest maker of ophthalmic optical products has now implemented FlexNet at nine sites;
• L’Oréal (France) the world-renown maker of cosmetics and skin care products recently completed the second of its multi-continent FlexNet implementations;
• Novelis (France) global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum recycling.

Product Launches
Since the company’s inception in 1992, manufacturers with multi-site operations, often in disbursed geographies, have turned to Apriso for their automation and process management needs.  This is due largely to the real-time network visibility Apriso’s technology provides, as well as its Business Process Management (BPM)-driven directive manufacturing features.  The company has built wide-scale systems for such organizations as L’Oréal, Essilor, International Paper, GM and Becton Dickinson, which typically include multiple instances of FlexNet for 24x7 availability.

Drawing on that knowledge and experience, Apriso launched FlexNet® Global Manufacturing Suite™ (GMS) in June – the first operations execution solution for managing processes and performance within a single plant or across the enterprise or extended supplier network.  The Suite is comprised of three separate but integrated modules that support global process, production and performance management – key requirements of global manufacturers.

The GMS launch followed the introduction of FlexNet for Mill Products in May.  The product is a complete software platform that helps pulp & paper and steel manufacturers seize better control of the rising costs of energy, raw materials, machine maintenance, labor and quality assurance.  FlexNet’s BPM features put power into the hands of front-line workers, enabling them to change processes to meet new business drivers and other factors eating into margins and productivity.  Apriso solutions support the operations of such mills leaders as International Paper, Novelis, Ugitech and Johns Mansville.

Partnerships
In May, Apriso enhanced FlexNet’s already-strong visibility features by entering a development partnership with Pertinence, a global leader in enterprise manufacturing intelligence software.  The companies will integrate Pertinence’s Rules Maker and Operations Advisor business intelligence products into FlexNet, providing customers with a new tool for capturing data and learning best practices from product and process history.  Empowered with that on-line information, operators will be better able to reduce scrap and improve quality.  The new offering is expected to be introduced in the European Union in the coming months.

Pricing and Availability
FlexNet is sold by Apriso and through certified resellers.  Pricing is based on the number of applications purchased and company size.  For further information, call (888) 400-7587, or (562) 951-8000, or visit www.apriso.com.  

About Apriso Corporation
Apriso Corporation is a software company dedicated to providing competitive advantage for its customers.  We do that by enabling organizations to adapt quickly and easily to market changes and unexpected events; providing visibility and real-time control of manufacturing operations across the enterprise and supply network; 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, serves more than 150 customers in 39 countries and powers more than 500 installations worldwide. Its customers include General Motors, Lear, Honeywell, Microsoft, L’Oréal, Lockheed Martin, Becton Dickinson, International Paper, Rubbermaid, Saint-Gobain, Novelis and Essilor.  www.apriso.com.

Apriso and FlexNet are registered trademarks, and Global Manufacturing Suite is a trademark, of Apriso Corporation.  All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.