Electrolux Contract Win
Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Wednesday 19th April 2006
Sopheon plc
(`Sopheon')
Electrolux Licenses Sopheon's Accolade Solution
for Enterprise-Wide Deployment
World's Leading Producer of Home Appliances Will Implement System
to Enhance and Manage Innovation Processes
Sopheon, an international software and services company, announced today that
Electrolux, a global appliance manufacturer, has selected Sopheon's Accolade as
its innovation process and product portfolio management solution.
Electrolux will deploy the Sopheon system under an enterprise-wide agreement
that covers company locations throughout Europe, the Americas, and the
Asia-Pacific region, encompassing all product areas including Major, Floor Care
and Small Appliances. Access will initially be provided to approximately 1400
users. Sopheon said that the licenses and services order is among the most
financially substantial in its history. The contract - described as imminent in
Sopheon's results announcement issued yesterday - has now been signed. Specific
terms were not disclosed.
Electrolux is the world's leading producer of home appliances for kitchen and
cleaning use. Its products are sold in more than 150 countries under such
well-known brands as AEG-Electrolux, Electrolux, Frigidaire and Eureka.
Electrolux has stated publicly in recent months that product development is one
of its core processes and that innovation is key to its ability to sustain its
position of market leadership. Electrolux has since year 2000 almost doubled
its investments in product research and development.
Electrolux's adoption of Accolade is part of a broad initiative by the company
to change the way it develops new products. Electrolux will use Accolade's
capabilities to help it more effectively prioritize investments in new product
ideas and to guide its resource support for enhancements to existing products.
The company expects Accolade to help it strengthen the alignment between
innovation strategies and day-to-day development activity, and to enable
improved global collaboration among cross-functional teams responsible for
conception and development of new products. Electrolux will also benefit from
Accolade's capacity to integrate with Microsoft technology, allowing the
company to extend the use and value of the Microsoft systems deployed
throughout the company's worldwide operations.
Sopheon partnered with Arthur D. Little, the global management consulting firm,
in pursuing the Electrolux opportunity. Electrolux, Sopheon and Arthur D.
Little will work together to implement the new system.
"We measure innovation by the amount of business and shareholder value it
generates," said Johan Hjertonsson, director of Electrolux's consumer
innovation program. "Our goal is to continue to lead our industry in revenues
and profits from innovation by supplying the market with a steady stream of
premium, new-to-the-world products that consumers want. We chose Sopheon's
solution because it will help us make the right front-end decisions on which
product ideas to invest in, and enable us to increase the speed, efficiency and
cost-effectiveness of the processes we use to move those product ideas from the
drafting table to the marketplace. Accolade is the most complete tool we've
found for supporting the business of innovation."
"The Electrolux name is synonymous with innovation in the appliance industry,"
said Mike Connolly, European director for Sopheon. "And their strategies for
maintaining their position of innovation leadership are clearly drawn.
Accolade's capabilities are perfectly matched with Electrolux's requirements
for increasing the visibility and coordination of its global product
development efforts."
Sopheon Accolade® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.
Frigidaire, Kelvinator and Eureka are registered trademarks of the Electrolux
Group.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their
respective owners.
About Electrolux
The Electrolux Group is the world's leading producer of powered appliances for
kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use, such as refrigerators, washing machines,
cookers, vacuum cleaners, chainsaws, lawn mowers, and garden tractors. Every
year, customers in more than 150 countries buy more than 55 million Electrolux
Group products for both consumer and professional use. In 2005, Electrolux had
sales of SEK 129 billion and 70,000 employees.
About Sopheon
Sopheon (LSE: SPE) is an international provider of software and services that
help organizations improve the business impact of product development. The
Sopheon Accolade® product development system automates gate- or phase-based
product development processes and provides strategic decision support that
allows companies to improve innovation, cut product development spending waste
and shorten time to market. Sopheon is listed on the AIM Market of the London
Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. For more information,
please visit www.sopheon.com.
Arif Karimjee, CFO Sopheon plc Tel : + 44 (0) 1483 685 735
Andrew Tan Hansard Communications Tel : + 44 (0) 207 245 1100
+ 44 (0) 7957 203 685
Frank Jansen Citigate First Financial Tel : + 31 (0) 205 754 024
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