Companies join forces to strengthen service to small, midsize manufacturers
Indianapolis and Seattle — July 14, 2006 — Made2Manage Systems Inc., a provider of software and a broad range of services for the enterprise, today announced that it has acquired Seattle-based Intuitive Manufacturing Systems (Intuitive), a provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for discrete manufacturers.
The acquisition of Intuitive, backed by investors Battery Ventures and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners, marks Made2Manage Systems' sixth since being taken private in August 2003. The company said it enhances its portfolio of ERP products focused on the manufacturing sector and reaffirms its commitment to the small and midsize manufacturing space.
I'm thrilled to bring two very strong companies together, said Jeff Tognoni, CEO of Made2Manage Systems. The Intuitive product line will become a sister product line to the Made2Manage product line, allowing us to serve an even broader share of discrete manufacturers in the small and midsize enterprise market.
Tognoni believes that Made2Manage Systems' strategic initiatives of providing product fit and industry expertise will be enhanced by growing both the Made2Manage and Intuitive product lines within the same company. As the companies form synergies and share best practices, we can create new value for our community of customers in discrete manufacturing, he said.
Made2Manage Systems' technology strategy will allow the two product lines to enhance one another while protecting customers' investments. Intuitive's product line is 95 percent pure Microsoft .NET — and it's not a .NET wrapper around legacy technology, said Steve Bailey, chief technology officer for Made2Manage Systems. We can leverage the expertise and best practices of our new colleagues while we implement an event-driven, service-oriented architecture across our other Microsoft-technology-based product lines.
Made2Manage Systems will continue to support, maintain, enhance and sell the Intuitive product line, just as it has with all previous acquisitions, using its proven integration model. The model ensures that customer touch-point roles, including support, service, account management and development, remain focused on each of their respective product lines. Tognoni added that the primary reason Made2Manage Systems supports and enhances each of its acquired products is the company's ongoing strategy to be the industry leader in customer care. In the spirit of customer care, he said, we believe in protecting our customers from the disruption of forced upgrades.
Using the same integration model, Made2Manage Systems also intends to support, maintain and enhance Intuitive's recently-acquired product lines: SupplyWorks (acquired in March 2006) and Relevant (acquired in April 2006).
Intuitive's headquarters in Seattle, which will remain open to serve customers, adds a west coast presence to Made2Manage Systems' existing offices in Indianapolis (headquarters), Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati and Jacksonville.
