Acquisition of product information management, inventory replenishment solutions expands demand chain management offering
Redwood City, CA — January 28, 2004 — Comergent Technologies Inc., a provider of demand chain management applications, today announced its acquisition of Profile Systems Inc., a developer of product information (PIM) and inventory management solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Comergent Technologies has acquired all the outstanding Profile Systems shares and technology. Profile Systems employees have been retained in the West Springfield, Mass. office.
The companies said that the combined demand chain management software solutions are for manufacturers, resellers and distributors to optimize their product data and order management lifecycles. According to Comergent, customers that have implemented Profile Systems' PIM solution typically see cost savings equal to 1 percent of sales. Additionally, its automated replenishment solution increases inventory turns, with savings that average 6 to 10 percent per replenished location.
A December 2003 report by Forrester Research analyst, Erica Rugullies, explored the need for PIM software. "Internal product information management processes scream for improvement," she stated. "Companies that sell products (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, retailers) need to streamline the process of creating, managing and using product-related information (e.g., structured data, unstructured content), which must be accessed by people in various roles throughout the company.
Comergent said that some of Profile Systems' strengths include its revenue growth over the past two fiscal years; 74 percent in 2002 and 42 percent in 2003. The company also has experience in the automotive, consumer-packaged goods, industrial and healthcare industry verticals and over 1,000 enterprise subscription customers.
"As the economy recovers, businesses are once again turning to technology to support the increasing traffic in their sales and distribution channels," said Jean Kovacs, president and CEO, Comergent. "This acquisition will deliver benefits in costs savings and revenue generation to our customers."
Founded in 1994, Profile Systems is a provider of automated inventory replenishment and product information management software solutions. Profile Systems customers include Fortune 1000 manufacturers, distributors and retailers such as Dana Corp., CVS/pharmacy, Johnson Controls, Stanley Tools, Miller Electric/ITW and Hubbell Inc.
"We are excited to join the Comergent team," said Ed Mallen, former president and CEO, Profile Systems, who joins Comergent as a senior vice president and a board member. "In our discussions with Comergent, we realized that our applications complement each other and that our technology, corporate cultures were a match."
Comergent's acquisition of Profile Systems closed on January 5, 2004 and the former executive management team of Profile Systems has been retained.
