FourGen New Product Announcement

FOURGEN DELIVERS 150 NEW PRODUCT FEATURES IN ENTERPRISE RELEASE 4.1 SEATTLE - January 25, 1995 - FourGen Software, Inc. today released Enterprise 4.1, which incorporates over 150 new features developed for more efficient supply chain management (SCM) and financial management. The new software release is designed to improve inventory management and speed product order and delivery time. Key features include User-Defined Order Staging, Automatic Time Stamping, and the full support of radio frequency (RF) hand-held automated data capture terminals. The support and utilization of RF devices in Enterprise Inventory Control create the ability to operate a paperless warehouse. RF bar code scanners are used to pick, track, and update inventory in a real-time environment, automatically updating all product inventory information. Integration with FourGen Enterprise Order Entry allows for an immediate update in product availability information. Automatic Time Stamping through RF devices tracks all warehouse tasks from beginning to end. This feature maintains a productivity database to analyze individual and group performance for the development of warehouse standards for improved efficiency. New features in Enterprise Order Entry, such as User-Defined Order Staging, provide organizations with capabilities that help reduce order cycle time. User-Defined Order Staging allows the user to define the path that different types of orders will follow during the order fulfillment cycle. Additionally, order stages that are unique to an organization can be quickly created and inserted into an order's fulfillment cycle. For example, a new stage which produces export compliance checking can be easily created and inserted into the flow of an international order. In the highly competitive product manufacturing, distribution, and retail markets, organizations require more efficient warehouse, order, and distribution processes to succeed. Automating back-office operations is viewed as an opportunity to create competitive advantages. One of the first organizations to implement FourGen Enterprise 4.1 is Daewoo Equipment Corporation, a division of the multi-billion dollar Daewoo manufacturing conglomerate. Daewoo Equipment Corporation will utilize Enterprise 4.1 applications to speed supply chain processes and move ahead of the competition. "By empowering our front-line people with the information to react quickly to customer requirements, our customers will come back to us," said Manager of IS, Steve Crouch. "We anticipate the ability to become the most cooperative and fastest response organization in our industry based on the FourGen system." Ed Black, Senior Consultant for Aberdeen Group said, "After a decade of downsizing, the order-of-magnitude, profit-creating opportunity is to be found in optimizing the performance of the value chain between and among suppliers -- and ultimately all the way to the consumer. FourGen's latest release of Enterprise positions the company as a key technology supplier to those enterprises seeking to dramatically improve their time-to-market, profit-aware cost management and customer satisfaction." FourGen President, Gary Gagliardi explains, "FourGen Enterprise release 4.1 was designed to improve customer service and increase sales for our customers by streamlining supply chain processes. The 4.1 development effort represents the best-of-class supply chain applications available to this market." FourGen Enterprise Release 4.1 supply chain management (SCM) applications include Inventory Control, Replenishment, Order Entry, and Purchasing. Enterprise 4.1 financial applications include General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Fixed Assets, and Payroll. FourGen's decision support products integrate with Enterprise 4.1 to provide decision makers with visual analysis of warehouse, order, and financial data. Overview of Additional Key Features --------------------------------------- Enterprise Order Entry: Interchangeable Items - Displays suggested item upgrades and substitutes to increase sales values and move promotional items. The customer's price discounts are automatically calculated for immediate price quoting. Single Point Order Processing - Ordering errors and ordering time are reduced by the ability to have multiple shipments per order line. Shipments can be sent to different shipping locations for a customer, and can be scheduled to ship at different times. Additionally, each shipment can be sourced from a different supplying warehouse if desired. Dynamic Credit Management - Credit managers can define credit rules to monitor credit exposure on a customer-by-customer basis. Customized tolerance levels allow high-risk customers' orders to display a credit alert as they near their credit limit, while low-risk customers can exceed their credit limits by a defined tolerance amount or percentage. Situations requiring immediate attention can be flagged as alert items. Also featured is a multi-tiered level of credit hold release authority, as well as the ability to check credit in a customer's functional currency. Enterprise Inventory Control: Unlimited Item Storage Characteristics - Modifiable feature to track and manage unique product storage information, such as the need for refrigeration, gravity fed bins, and hazardous material considerations. Item Code Conditions - User definable condition codes for items such as damaged, returned, or repaired. Allows storage of special coded items along with other items for more efficient use of warehouse space. UPC Linkage and Aliasing - Automatically translates RF-scanned bar codes and assigns appropriate link-codes and code aliases. Automatic Letdowns - Decreases warehouse overhead carrying costs by calculating and recommending item picks from partially filled bins. Also calculates, recommends, and assigns the task of filling of primary bin locations through the use of RF devices. Real-Time Cycle Counting - Automatic cycle counting through RF devices without disruption of normal warehouse activities. Automatic QA Tracking - Quality Assurance (QA) error tracking. Inventory Control system detects errors and "flags" the appropriate manager for quality control. Enterprise Accounts Payable: EFT Payments - Electronically transfers NACHA (North American Clearing House Association) payments through EDI pay-to support. Enterprise Accounts Receivable: Invoice Consolidations - This feature provides the ability to consolidate shipments from multiple locations into one invoice. Multiple orders can also be consolidated into one invoice. This feature reduces invoice tracking time and makes vendor payments less complex. Pricing and Availability ------------------------ FourGen Enterprise 4.1 application pricing starts at $45,000 per module, and varies by type of platform and number of users. All applications are available immediately on a controlled-release basis. About FourGen ------------- FourGen Software is a leading provider of client/server applications and visual decisio