Atlanta June 26, 2002 Enterprise asset management specialist Indus International has formed an alliance with one of its Japanese customers, J-Power, to jointly sell and implement Indus software solutions in Japan.
J-Power, formerly called Electric Power Development Co., is the largest electric power wholesaler in Japan. The company implemented Indus EAM solutions to support its 58 Hydro Power Plants nationally late last year, and this week the company joined with Indus to market these solutions initially to other electric utility companies in Japan.
"We believe the tremendous demand for computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) in the American utility market portends a similar demand for CMMS in Japan as our utility market will be deregulated in the near future," said Masayuki Hori, executive director in the engineering department at J-Power.
Kent Hudson, president and CEO of Indus International, said the new alliance represented a confirmation of his company's commitment to the Japanese market. Indus recently expanded its Tokyo-based facilities.
The alliance is one result of a new management policy at J-Power. Earlier this spring, the company set up its engineering business division to expand and promote international business and new business. The division's staff includes engineers with expertise in the fields of electricity, plant, civil engineering, architecture, geology and environment and procurement, and its mission is to use that varied expertise, in part, to expand external sales.
"J-Power is the ideal partner for marketing Indus solutions in the Japanese utility industry," said Shunichi Murakoshi, Indus' country manager for Japan. "As a leading player in the industry, J-Power has extensive knowledge of and experience with utilities in Japan and fully understands what they require to achieve operational excellence. The knowledge they acquired through the introduction of Indus software at J-Power will be extremely useful as they facilitate the implementation of Indus software at these other utilities."
Initially, the two companies will focus joint sales activities on electric utilities, although they have plans to subsequently include facilities and property management companies, public utilities and businesses that provide maintenance services.
J-Power was founded in 1952 as a government company and has since operated as a power wholesaler principally engaged in operations involving the development of domestic power sources and the establishment of mainstay power transmission lines. The company wholesales power to each of Japan's 10 electric utility companies.
