Avalon Unveils New Synergy Partnership Program; leading vendors integrate client/server offerings to deliver new solution for "Mass Customization".

TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 1995--Avalon Software today unveiled the Avalon Synergy program, a new client/server partnership program which will broaden the enterprise-wide integration of Avalon's solution.

The Avalon Synergy alliance empowers companies to rapidly achieve a "Mass Customization" manufacturing and distribution environment, while substantially reducing the risks associated with integrating multiple solutions from diverse vendors. The first Avalon Synergy partners include:

-- Trilogy -- Sales configuration and quotation;

-- IBM/ProductManager -- Engineering Product Data Management;

-- i2 Technologies -- Rapid manufacturing planning and scheduling;

-- EnaTec -- Manufacturing Execution System;

-- LPA -- Complex inventory forecasting, planning and replenishment;

Mass Customization is a management paradigm described by industry author B. Joseph Pine II, which combines management techniques, business processes, and technology, employed by companies to deliver a greater variety of customized products and services in response to rapidly changing customer demand.

Enthusiastic Customer Interest

Kimball International Inc. is among the first of Avalon customers to embrace the Avalon Synergy solution. Based in Jasper, Indiana, Kimball is a leading manufacturer of furniture for offices, hospitality, healthcare, and consumer/residential markets. Additionally, Kimball provides contract electronic assemblies, molded plastics and process work material to manufacturers around the world. The company is presently integrating i2 Technologies' Rhythm, with AVALON to quickly and accurately quote product completion and delivery dates.

Other companies currently reviewing Synergy solutions include AT&T Network Systems, Baker Furniture, Donaldson, Houghton Mifflin and Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.

About the Avalon Synergy Program

Avalon Synergy solutions integrate the processes of engineering, sales, marketing, manufacturing scheduling, shop floor control and distribution resource planning with the AVALON Applications family of solutions for manufacturing, distribution, and financials. Avalon's open, client/server architecture is particularly well-suited to this type of multi-vendor integration because of Avalon's use of native tools database development and database- stored business rules and triggers.

In a typical installation, AVALON Applications will serve as the core repository of all enterprise resource planning information. The Synergy products will access AVALON to deliver additional functionality to the manufacturing and distribution enterprise, and will use AVALON's extensive stored database rules and triggers to maintain data integrity and control across all applications.

Customers may draw on the expertise of leading technology consulting firms currently working with Avalon under the Certified Avalon Implementor Program (CAIP) to implement Synergy solutions, including KPMG THE ALLIANCE GROUP, a division of KPMG Peat Marwick, and Grant Thornton.

Avalon's new Synergy Program is built on a strong foundation of industry partners, with a reputation for delivering superior, functional solutions to their respective markets. Today's five Avalon Synergy product offerings include:

Trilogy SalesBUILDER: SalesBUILDER is Trilogy's Enterprise Sales and Marketing System, and includes modules for customer needs assessment, order configuration, quotation and proposal development, enterprise reporting and analysis and order entry integration. As a Synergy product, SalesBUILDER will work with AVALON and other Synergy products to calculate reliable delivery dates, transfer information to Avalon's order management system, and share pricing and customer data. SalesBUILDER's integration to AVALON also ensures that product solutions promised by sales representatives are accurate and deliverable from the manufacturing standpoint.

IBM ProductManager: Tight communications between design and manufacturing will be facilitated with the integration of AVALON and IBM's ProductManager, a market leading Product Data Management solution. User organizations will be able to shorten the design-to-manufacturing cycle by achieving a concurrent engineering environment, in which manufacturing planners have early visibility to design engineering changes and other product data. Manufacturing and engineering departments can then more rapidly determine the feasibility of engineering changes, and maintain accuracy in Bills of Materials.

i2 Rhythm(TM): Integration of i2 Technologies' Rhythm, a constraint-based decision support product, and AVALON will empower companies to rapidly factor capacity or material constraints into manufacturing planning and scheduling. With this integration, companies will be able to develop executable plans, based on realistic information, enabling them to more quickly respond to changes.

EnaTec Chinook: EnaTec's Chinook, an easy-to-use next-generation Manufacturing Execution System (MES), manages detailed execution, tracking, and reporting at the shop floor level. Chinook provides material and resource tracking and control, as well as specification management and quality data management, enabling companies to improve productivity and reduce costs for enhanced quality and customer service.

LPA Distribution Resource Planning (DRP): For complex inventory forecasting, planning and allocation. LPA's DRP is installed in world class, high-tech manufacturing environments around the world. It is also utilized for spare parts replenishment and in repair and overhaul operations to help reduce inventory investment and optimize the distribution process. Customers can feed demand requirements information directly into the Avalon Manufacturing System to ensure that all inventory is being used before it is obsolete, and to better plan scheduled inventory re-orders. DRP ensures that companies have the right part, at the right place, at the right time.

Pricing and Availability

Integrated AVALON Applications and Synergy products are currently available through Avalon Software for all major UNIX servers, and Windows, Motif, and character-based clients. Prices for AVALON Applications range from $100,000 to $1,000,000 depending on hardware configuration, number of users, and modules purchased. Starting prices for Synergy products are as follows: i2 Rhythm, $100,000; Trilogy SalesBUILDER, $5,000 to $10,000 per user; IBM ProductManager, $64,000; EnaTec Chinook, $72,000; and LPA's DRP, $180,000. For additional information, contact Avalon at 602/512-2000.

About Avalon Software

Avalon Software distinguishes itself by offering Global 1,000 companies an integrated family of applications for manufacturing, distribution and financial management. The company's flagship product, AVALON Applications, is the only solution which leverages the native strengths of the Oracle and Sybase relational database management systems (RDBMSs), and supports a distributed, client/server architecture; computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools; and a range of hardware and operating platforms. The company additionally introduced a new family of decision support products, the AVALON Analyst family.

More than 200 blue chip customers at 325 sites world-wide use Avalon today. Avalon has sales and support offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific, and also works with a network of leading technology distributors around the world. Additionally, Avalon has strategic marketing and development partnerships with major hardware and software vendors.

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Note to Editors: Avalon is a trademark of Avalon Software, Inc. All other products are trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Avalon Software, Tucson

Jorge Lopez, 602/512-2000

The Horn Group

Bill Freed or Annette Shimada, 415/579-6400