News Releases - SupplyWorks, Inc.

SupplyWorks® MAX™ 4.0 Delivers Enterprise-wide Purchasing Platform for Direct Materials

New Functionality Extends Choice of Replenishment Methods, While Providing Enterprise-Wide Visibility and Control

BEDFORD, Mass, 5/19/03 — SupplyWorks, Inc., the leader in Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) solutions for discrete manufacturers, today announced the availability of SupplyWorks MAX™ version 4.0, which is designed to enable customers to more efficiently manage their supplier relationships across multiple plants and locations. New functionality in SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 includes additional replenishment methods, role-based management and security, as well as multi-tier supply chain collaboration.

SupplyWorks customers are constantly striving to leverage their supply base for competitive advantage. Key to that strategy is an enterprise purchasing platform that can drive cost savings and synchronize suppliers across multiple manufacturing plants. SupplyWorks customers such as ImagePoint, Inc. and BorgWarner Morse TEC have demonstrated that as they expand their implementation of SupplyWorks they can realize the additional benefits of having a unified enterprise solution to manage the flow of goods and materials into their plants.

ImagePoint, the largest retail identity company in the United States, recently completed a roll-out of SupplyWorks MAX at its headquarters in Knoxville, TN and three manufacturing facilities in Columbia, SC, Cincinnati, OH and Ontario, CA.

"The functions included in SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 allow ImagePoint to streamline purchases with several of our key suppliers," said Steve Hammond, ImagePoint's VP, Information Services. "With SupplyWorks MAX 4.0, ImagePoint is on track to save 10 percent in annual direct material spend this year."

More Rapid Implementation and Increased Control
SupplyWorks MAX is a fully integrated, Web-based suite which provides functionality in the areas of supply chain visibility and synchronization, streamlined procurement execution and collaborative supply chain planning. SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 adds scheduled orders to the preexisting replenishment capabilities of kanban, vendor-managed inventory (VMI), supplier scheduling, consumption-based replenishment, and blanket orders. Scheduled orders provide increased control by allowing manufacturers to specify when and what materials their suppliers are authorized to ship in order to better manage costs and liabilities.

SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 also includes more dynamically configurable role definitions and security functionality to determine which employees are allowed to view and edit various tasks. As a result of its increased flexibility and configurability, SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 can be implemented more rapidly while minimizing unnecessary business process changes.

Multi-Tiered Collaboration and Visibility
The multi-tiered collaboration and visibility capabilities included in SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 are designed to enable manufacturers to gain better visibility and control beyond their tier 1 suppliers. Manufacturers can consolidate higher volumes for materials that their tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers are buying and negotiate blanket agreements with better pricing and terms. By enabling their suppliers to buy off these contracts, they can lower their costs as well as those of their suppliers.

"The new features in SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 were designed to take our customers to the next level in automating their supply chain processes," said Jeff Herrmann, CEO and president of SupplyWorks, Inc. "The volume of purchases going through SupplyWorks MAX has increased more than 400 percent as customers expand their implementation across dispersed plants."

SupplyWorks MAX 4.0 is available immediately and has already been deployed at established SupplyWorks customers in the high-tech, automotive and industrial sectors.

About SupplyWorks

SupplyWorks, Inc. is the leader in direct materials supply management software that helps discrete manufacturers improve procurement execution, optimize the flow of parts and materials into their plants and lower their parts and material costs. SupplyWorks enables manufacturers to communicate and collaborate more tightly with their suppliers, increase throughput, and reduce inventories without reducing manufacturing responsiveness and flexibility. Information about SupplyWorks and its solutions is available on the Web at www.supplyworks.com or by calling 800-626-0220 x1690.

Media Contacts:

Caroline Pavis
Schwartz Communications
781-684-0770
cpavis@schwartz-pr.com