Informance International Launches Real-Time Manufacturing Intelligence Solution for Global Supply Chains

Informance Next-Generation Manufacturing Intelligence solution designed to help manufacturers attain a higher level of operational performance required to compete in todayÁs complex and challenging business environment.

REDWOOD SHORES, CA — FEBRUARY 22, 2006 — Informance International unveils Informance 7 ² a complete portfolio of Manufacturing Intelligence solutions. Informance continues its leadership by offering differentiating solution capabilities to address some of the most pressing business issues for manufacturing efficiency and supply chain performance. Informance offers a complete set of solutions to help global manufacturers achieve and sustain an increased level of manufacturing performance.

• Enterprise Solution Module: The Enterprise Solution Module is a strategic decision support system for corporate manufacturing and supply chain executives to discover, analyze, and act on opportunities that impact the entire plant network. Built on a Business Intelligence Platform, the Enterprise Solution Module allows users to conduct analysis of manufacturing data spanning multiple plants, product lines, and asset types. This approach reveals common issues that can lead to "transformational" improvement opportunities with significant ROI.
• Plant Solution Module: The Plant Solution Module empowers the plant staff with real-time tracking of key operational metrics. Data collection technology and intuitive operator interfaces keep operator involvement and the fidelity of the data capture high. Powerful analytics identify ongoing improvement opportunities that can be readily addressed resulting in a quick and positive impact.
• Alerts and Notification Module: The Alerts and Notification Module provides real-time notifications based on configurable metrics and thresholds that alert line managers of impending production issues, and customer service representatives of fulfillment issues that may disrupt customer supply.

Informance 7 can be leveraged to achieve the following objectives:

• Global Manufacturing Visibility- with forces such as globalization and outsourcing, having real-time visibility into manufacturing operations becomes a business imperative
• Strategic decision support platform allowing manufacturing and supply chain executives to make optimal manufacturing and supply chain improvement decisions
• Real-time synthesis of production events with actionable information for plant staff to continuously improve manufacturing efficiency
• Supply chain objectives such as inventory reduction, cost reduction, and capital avoidance can be achieved by actively managing shop floor production levers

Informance 7 is built around a modern IT architecture based on Web Services and Operational Business Intelligence to prepare an enterprise for future manufacturing and supply chain requirements.

An enterpriseÁs manufacturing plants are arguably one of the most important components for business success. Plant level performance can have repercussions up and down the supply chain. Valuable information is often hidden in events and trends on the shop floor. An enterprise has to uncover this information and convert it into insight, making "Manufacturing Intelligence" a competitive weapon against its competitors. An enterprise needs to leverage Real-Time "Manufacturing Intelligence" to achieve a higher level of manufacturing efficiency and supply chain performance.

"In todayÁs cut-throat environment, global manufacturers must make decisions in real-time. InformanceÁs Manufacturing Intelligence solution provides manufacturers with valuable real-time insights on how to run their manufacturing operations and supply chains more efficiently and profitably," said Sunil Singh, CEO of Informance International. "With Informance 7 our customers will be able to attain a higher level of business performance."

Informance has been supporting large-scale rollouts of its Manufacturing Intelligence solution for consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, automotive, and consumer electronics manufacturers since 1996. A unique "Hub-and-Node" architecture accelerates multi-site enterprise deployment by requiring only lightweight software footprints at the plant locations. The result is a uniform deployment model across all sites that lowers overall installation and ongoing maintenance costs.