SMART Move to Improve Operations Performance

Canadian manufacturer selects software to manage rapid growth, product innovation

Canadian manufacturer selects software to manage rapid growth, product innovation

Ottawa, Canada — September 12, 2005 — SMART Technologies Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of interactive whiteboards, said today that it has deployed Kinaxis Corp.'s (formerly Webplan) RapidResponse software to improve operations performance while managing rapid growth.

SMART Technologies is an industry pioneer in interactive whiteboards and other group collaboration tools. Its family of products includes SMART Board interactive whiteboards, interactive pen displays, wireless slates, multimedia cabinets and software.

Given SMART's growth and product innovation cycles, the company sought the ability to respond more rapidly to change to improve operations performance. After conducting a search for a solution provider, SMART said it selected Kinaxis RapidResponse because it offers the "what-if" simulation and interface necessary for broad adoption. SMART also valued the ability to get up and running quickly and realize immediate value from its investment.

"Our rapid growth requires us to respond to change in real-time," said Alan Richards, vice president, operations at SMART Technologies. "By deploying RapidResponse, we can achieve this goal and realize measurable improvements in our operations performance."

Kinaxis explained that RapidResponse enables manufacturers to anticipate potential problems, review multiple action alternatives and align operations to respond to changes at the point-of-action. The RapidResponse architecture connects to front- and back-end systems and supports a flow of information across multiple sites.

RapidResponse has also been integrated with SMART's financials system, so employees can perform an analysis on current data in about 30 minutes and conduct "what-if" scenarios to understand the potential impact of a product change-saving time and preventing excess and obsolete inventory. SMART is also using RapidResponse to balance supply and demand in light of rapid growth to reduce both shortages and safety stock.

Randy Littleson, vice president of marketing at Kinaxis, said, "We are pleased to see that SMART Technologies recognizes that a Response Management Solution can help them deal with these changes, and we look forward to working with the company to help it achieve measurable improvements in operations performance and continued success."

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