LaBarge Selects Information Builders as Its Business Intelligence Standard.

WebFOCUS Automates Enterprise Reporting for Multiple Departments A- From Purchasing to Customer Service

NEW YORK -- Information Builders, the enterprise business intelligence (BI) standard of choice for organizations around the world, announced that LaBarge, Inc. has selected WebFOCUS as its enterprise standard for business intelligence, reporting, and information delivery. The electronics manufacturer plans to use WebFOCUS to improve essential business processes throughout the company, including finance, purchasing, customer service, human resources, and sales.

LaBarge, one of the top 100 fastest-growing small companies in America according to Fortune Small Business magazine, is an electronics manufacturing services firm serving a wide range of market sectors, including defense, aerospace, homeland security, industrial, and natural resources. The company's manufacturing expertise attracts clients looking to improve the efficiency and profitability of their production lines. After using the same MRP system to monitor quality service and production for twenty years, LaBarge needed to update its mainframe reporting system to deliver the modern capabilities expected of a technology leader.

LaBarge began by upgrading the reporting capabilities of its WDS mainframe system, a custom ERP application that stores information in VSAM databases. While WDS supplied rudimentary reporting capabilities, the output was rigid, giving employees little flexibility to create or manipulate reports. IT professionals closely examined several Web-based reporting tools before selecting WebFOCUS. They decided to partner with Information Builders because of its longevity in the industry and superior support staff.

Today, using WebFOCUS, LaBarge has unlocked this mainframe data, giving authorized users easy access to information. From purchasing to customer service, contracts, and accounting, LaBarge employees no longer struggle to extract the information they need. There are currently 350 WebFOCUS users, with many more coming on board every day.

WebFOCUS has a unique way of enabling users to request reports through a parameter-driven reporting environment with drill-down capabilities. Thanks to its comprehensive set of native database connections, LaBarge's operational data is easily accessed in its current location and format. Users simply need a Web browser to obtain and share this mainframe information - no plug-ins or additional software is necessary.

"We wanted to do business with a vendor that has been working in the business intelligence sector for a long time," said George Hayward, director of information systems at LaBarge. "Information Builders has consistently focused on quality third-party report generation across a variety of platforms, so we felt confident that the software would be extremely useful for five, ten, even fifteen years down the line. We're making data more accessible to our people, helping them do their jobs better and more efficiently. We're turning everyone into a decision-maker."

Using WebFOCUS has made enterprise reporting substantially faster and more efficient, added Hayward, who said the creation of reports with WebFOCUS is as easy as ordering books from Amazon.com. Creating custom reports was virtually impossible with LaBarge's former reporting system. Now it's routine and carries many more options. For example, users can automatically export data to Excel for additional analysis.

"LaBarge is a highly successful firm well known for its emphasis on quality and efficiency," said Gerald Cohen, president and CEO of Information Builders. "Now they are bringing this same mindset to enterprise reporting, as they use business intelligence technology to reduce inventory costs, ensure efficient production operations, manage product quality issues, and lower the cost of sales."

About LaBarge, Inc.

LaBarge, Inc. is a broad-based provider of electronics to technology-driven companies in diverse markets. The company provides its customers with sophisticated electronic products through contract design and manufacturing services. Headquartered in St. Louis, LaBarge has operations in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The company's Web site can be accessed at www.labarge.com.

About Information Builders

Information Builders is the leader in enterprise business intelligence and real-time operational reporting. The company's WebFOCUS product - the industry's most scalable, secure and flexible - is able to meet all the reporting needs of the extended enterprise, ranging from analysts to power users to the widest deployments for hundreds of thousands of users. Additionally, WebFOCUS' empowerment of organizations seeking to leverage all their data - by accessing it all from legacy to data warehouse - is unmatched.

Information Builders' award-winning technology has successfully provided quality software and superior services for over 31 years to more than 12,000 customers, including most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,600 people and has over 350 business partners. For more information, visit www.informationbuilders.com.