DTR Plastics Solutions Unveils Revamped Planning and Scheduling Functionality at NPE 2006; Customer-Driven Product Management Processes Produce Market-Leading, Plastics-Specific Solution.

INDIANAPOLIS & CHICAGO -- DTR Plastics Solutions, a leading provider of enterprise software and services that meet the unique vertical market specifications of the plastics processing industry, revealed the advanced planning and scheduling capabilities of its Master Scheduler application to the trade show attendees of NPE 2006 today in Chicago.

"Since becoming a business unit of Made2Manage Systems in August 2004, DTR Plastics Solutions has focused on implementing a number of new customer-centric business practices, including a new product management methodology that solicits customer input at every phase, from initial feature design to the final beta testing process," said Perry Williams, general manager of DTR Plastics Solutions. "One of the first fruits of our increased customer focus is the launch of Master Scheduler, which is perhaps the most high-quality, functionally rich scheduling engine available to plastics processors today."

Packed with customer-driven features and a number of personalization tools, Master Scheduler helps planners and schedulers manage inventory levels, optimize their shop floors, and meet promised delivery dates. Fully integrated with the DTR Plastics ERP back-office production data, Master Scheduler helps users generate forward-finite, queued, and backward-finite scheduling for all their workstations and secondary operations. Other features include:

--APICS-based terminology and methodologies.

--A dynamic, color-coded graphical control center that breaks down relevant scheduling data, from available raw materials to job orders in progress.

--Forecast- and order-driven planning for both make-to-stock and make-to-order items.

--Item customization options that tailor the Master Scheduler to suit unique production environments.

--A management-by-exception tool that flags only troublesome schedule items for quick identification and resolution.

--Capable-to-Promise functionality that manages customer delivery expectations.

Lynn Croley, IT administrator for Indiana-based Perry Foam Products Inc., a custom molder of urethane foams and elastomers, has been observing the utilization of Master Scheduler at her facility and said, "The management-by-exception capability that is included within Master Scheduler has saved us enormous amounts of time and resources by highlighting the problem areas so quickly. Because of this valuable feature, we plan to reduce our 60-day lead time to nearly 30 days--a huge benefit to our customers."

About DTR Plastics Solutions

DTR Plastics Solutions, a business unit of Made2Manage Systems Inc., is a leading provider of enterprise resource planning software and services that meet the unique vertical market specifications of the plastics processing industry. More than 200 DTR Plastics ERP customers across the globe benefit from the product fit and industry expertise of a niche-solution provider, backed by the resources and best practices of a top-tier leader in enterprise software and services. For further information, visit www.made2manage.com/plastics, e-mail at [e-mail], or call [phone].

About Made2Manage Systems Inc.

Made2Manage Systems has a 20-year history of helping companies achieve and sustain productive operations, satisfied customers, and profitable results through technology and services. The enterprise software and services provider is dedicated to becoming a valued business partner by helping each and every customer continuously improve their business processes over time. Toward this mission, Made2Manage Systems invests in the people, processes, technology and tools needed to provide its customers with a unique combination of customer-centric business practices; product fit; a broad range of consulting, IT and business services; and market and industry expertise. Made2Manage Systems currently serves more than 2,200 customers across a variety of manufacturing and distribution industries in 20 countries from 13 regional offices across North America, Europe and Asia. For further information, visit www.made2manage.com, e-mail at [e-mail], or call [phone].