BigMachines Sees Focus Shift to Lean Front-End for Industrial Manufacturers, due to Upheaval in ERP Market.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2003

Reluctant to evaluate new ERP systems, industrial manufacturers

are seeking instead to improve business efficiencies across

quote-to-order processes

BigMachines, Inc., the premier provider of innovative IT solutions for industrial manufacturers, has announced a surge in activity for its Lean Front-End (LFE) solution. According to the company, the current ERP market consolidation and uncertain direction have generated vigorous new interest in BigMachines' next-generation applications for industrial manufacturers, especially those with complex quote-to-order processes.

BigMachines' management team states that the rise in demand is being fueled by two distinct segments of the industrial marketplace. First, an increasing number of customers of top-tier ERP vendors have tabled their ERP discussions in favor of investigating the use of BigMachines LFE to transform their complex front-end processes to create an immediate and significant ROI opportunity. The second group comprises industrial manufacturers using legacy ERP solutions - MANMAN, MacPac, BPCS, PRMS - who are understandably wary about evaluating vendors and selecting a new system until the playing field becomes clear. Many of these companies are satisfied in general with back-end performance and see greater gains to be made by improving front-end processes.

Commenting on these market trends, Godard Abel, CEO of BigMachines, said: "Although many industry analysts and our own senior management team anticipated the ERP market consolidation, I don't think anyone could have predicted the ripple effect now being caused by today's consolidation conditions. When we introduced our LFE solution, we expected a traditional product rollout. Now, with the uncertainty of where ERP vendors are going in terms of customer support, our solution has become a more serious consideration for all industrial manufacturers. This is primarily due to the immediate value we can add to the front-end of the business, as well as the flexibility our solution offers to hook into whichever enterprise application suite they ultimately choose."

"Smart companies are always pursuing process improvement and improved business metrics," continued Abel. "With our Lean Front-End solution to standardize and synchronize their front-end processes, they can reduce quote-to-order cycle times by 50 to 100 percent and reduce operating costs by two to five percent of revenue, while boosting operating profits by 30 to 60 percent."

BigMachines' customers often comment on how the LFE solution extends the life of their legacy ERP systems because the LFE demands accurate data to drive production. "It's amazing what clean and complete data throughput can do to improve the health of an aging ERP system," said Jack Upton, business systems director, Crane Pumps & Systems (CP&S).

In addition to ERP extension, CP&S CEO Lynn White considers BigMachines LFE a proven enabler of the company's growth-through-acquisition strategy. White noted: "Merging companies without merging their information systems led to multiple sales policies and even multiple sales forces offering disparate prices - a confusing situation for us and our customers. As a result, we decided we had to consolidate our channels, as well as consolidate and leverage our product lines and policies." CP&S's implementation of BigMachines' LFE took just eight weeks and the company was quickly able to simplify workflow processes, increase productivity and improve order accuracy.

BigMachines' LFE was specifically designed around the concept of lean thinking to streamline the complex front-end business processes of industrial manufacturers to eliminate waste and increase throughput. With LFE, these manufacturers will capture a substantial opportunity to accelerate quote-to-order conversions, cut front-end costs, root out unnecessary activities and rework, and maintain a higher level of customer satisfaction.

About BigMachines, Inc. and BigMachines AG

BigMachines (www.bigmachines.com) enables industrial manufacturers to quickly transform their front-end sales and customer service processes by delivering the Lean Front-End. The Lean Front-End leverages both lean principles and software technology to quickly optimize value streams. A Lean Front-End creates a global platform that integrates all of a manufacturer's knowledge, information, and tools. This eliminates waste, mistake-proofs the processes, and establishes rapid information flow, all of which results in lower costs and better, faster customer service. BigMachines' customer base includes business units of Crane Co., SPX Corporation, US Filter, Conair Group and other leading industrial manufacturers.

BigMachines, the BigMachines logo, and the Lean Front-End Solution are trademarks of BigMachines, Inc.