Psipenta Announces Components Initiative to Further Improve Integration With Complementary Systems.

WESTWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1999--

Partnership With Softlab, Two German Institutes to Benefit Small,

Medium-Sized Discrete Manufacturers

Psipenta USA, Inc., a provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the mid-size capital equipment industry, today announced a research initiative between its European operations, two technical institutes and Germany-based SoftLab GmbH, that will lead to improved integration between its own PSIPENTA software and complementary software offerings for small and medium-size discrete manufacturers in Europe and the US.

The joint project, called KobrA (component-based application), seeks to substantially reduce the time it takes to develop applications by reusing software components that are embedded in domain-specific frameworks. The new technologies will provide component suppliers with improved market accessibility and users with greater flexibility and efficiency when implementing applications that are tailored to their business processes. The KobrA project supports the COM/DCOM standard for component integration and focuses on enabling technology that facilitates the use of the standard. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is sponsoring the KobrA project.

"The reuse of software components, which has long been a goal for developers and research groups, continues to remain a problem," said Peter Lopes, vice president of sales and marketing for Psipenta USA. "It is still very costly and time consuming to tailor standard software for specific vertical markets and business processes. This difficulty reduces the advantage of packaged vs. custom software solutions, particularly for small and medium-sized manufacturers that don't have extensive IS staffs or budgets to conduct such projects. By leveraging future KobrA technology within the PSIPENTA component application software, end-user organizations will be able to more easily customize and integrate PSIPENTA with complementary software systems."

The PSIPENTA ERP system currently encompasses three primary areas, including Order Management, Manufacturing and Frameworks. Frameworks is the underlying architecture that enables PSIPENTA to operate on all major hardware platforms and easily integrate with any COM-compatible software using the COM/DCOM standard. It enables PSIPENTA customers to choose the system environment most suited to their needs.

The two research institutes are among the leading organizations in the field of software technology in Germany. GMD is the national research center for information technology and a member of the Hermann von Helmholtz Society of German Research Centers (HGF). The Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering (IESE) develops, with partners from industry and research, innovative software development technologies and supports customers in the continued improvement of their software development processes.

Softlab GmbH, with its tradition in development and maintenance of application systems, is contributing its Repository Technology Enabler platform, which will serve as the project's framework environment. Softlab, a subsidiary of the BMW AG, is one of the leading software firms in Europe, with headquarters in Munich.

Berlin-based Psipenta (www.psipenta.com) is Europe's leading supplier of object-oriented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for medium-size capital equipment manufacturers - and is now established in the U.S. market. Psipenta is a subsidiary of publicly held, Berlin-based PSI AG, which was founded in 1969 and has revenues of more than $102 million. Psipenta has more than 300 employees worldwide with 1998 revenues of $34.4 million. Psipenta has offices throughout Europe including Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, and has its US headquarters outside of Boston in Westwood, Massachusetts.

The company provides medium-sized capital equipment manufacturers with an integrated lifecycle management solution for their engineering or project-driven operations for improved accuracy, visibility, responsiveness and cost effectiveness.

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