Brooks Software and Business Objects Sign OEM Agreement Monday October 18, 2:31 pm ET Partnership to Provide Discrete Manufacturers with Enterprise Performance Management and Integrated Reporting Solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif., and CHELMSFORD, Mass., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brooks Software, a division of Brooks Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS - News) and a leading provider of real-time applications for enterprises with collaborative, complex manufacturing operations, and Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ - News), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the signing of a new worldwide OEM agreement to offer discrete manufacturers a real-time enterprise performance management (EPM) solution. As part of the agreement, Business Objects will provide the business intelligence platform for Brooks Software's real-time manufacturing execution systems (MES). With Business Objects, Brooks Software provides discrete manufacturers with a world-class reporting environment that seamlessly integrates with Brooks' suite of Sense Decide Respond(TM) real-time manufacturing applications. This unique combination of capabilities creates a comprehensive enterprise performance management solution that extends manufacturers' EPM strategies to the factory floor, where critical data is generated.
"Gaining greater visibility into enterprise performance data is a critical step toward enabling the real-time enterprise," said Joe Bellini, senior vice president of Brooks Software. "Through our OEM partnership with Business Objects, Brooks Software can now provide these companies with the most comprehensive sense, decide and respond real-time manufacturing systems and data visibility, allowing them to gain far more insight into factory floor operations and their manufacturing processes than previously possible. Brooks' Sense Decide Respond real-time application architecture allows discrete manufacturers to turn visibility into critical enterprise data into real business value."
Brooks Software will use the complete Business Objects business intelligence platform, including the scorecard and Web-based portal technology, with its own manufacturing data warehouse solutions for manufacturing performance management. The Brooks Software data warehouse will store data from FACTORYworks®, PROMIS® and other data sources to provide a complete picture of manufacturing operations, including multi-site collaborative environments. The joint solution offers discrete manufacturers in the aerospace and defense, automotive, high technology, medical device and semiconductor industries a complete EPM strategy.
"With the most recent release of the Business Objects product suite, BusinessObjects(TM) 6.5, we have once again raised the bar in the industry and are more focused than ever on delivering a high level of value to customers and partners alike," said Janet Wood, group vice president of global alliance and OEM at Business Objects. "This partnership is another sign that Business Objects is the clear leader in the BI industry, and our agreement with Brooks Software will provide a true win-win relationship for both companies. Business Objects will gain added exposure in the growing manufacturing industry, and Brooks Software gains powerful reporting and analysis software to deliver added value to its customers."
About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance.
In December 2003, Business Objects completed the acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the leader in enterprise reporting. The combined product line includes software for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytic applications, and data integration. In addition, Business Objects offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has more than 26,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and businessobjects.com.
About Brooks Software
Brooks Software, a division of Brooks Automation, provides real-time applications that support enterprise-wide initiatives for greater efficiency and productivity in collaborative, complex manufacturing. Brooks' Sense Decide Respond(TM) manufacturing software solutions are the foundation for enterprise initiatives in supply chain execution, closed loop automation, lean manufacturing and enterprise performance management. Installed in the majority of Fortune 500 manufacturers, Brooks Software delivers competitive advantage to aerospace & defense, automotive, high tech, life sciences and semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. According to recent reports from industry analyst firms AMR Research, ARC and Dataquest/Gartner, Brooks Software is the largest supplier of execution applications to the discrete manufacturing industry. Brooks' adaptive MES solutions deliver a wide range of functionality tailored to support the specific needs of discrete manufacturers, including full product and process traceability and collaborative and multi-site manufacturing. For more information, visit brookssoftware.com.
About Brooks Automation, Inc.
Brooks Automation (Nasdaq: BRKS - News) delivers automation solutions to the global semiconductor and related industries. The company provides hardware, factory and tool management software, and professional services to help manage every wafer, reticle, and data movement in the fab, improving throughput and yield while reducing cost and time to market. Brooks' products and capabilities are used in virtually every semiconductor fab in the world. For information, visit the company's web site at brooks.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The foregoing discussion contains forward-looking statements related to future results and capabilities of the products and services of Brooks Automation and Business Objects and speaks only of Brooks Automation's and Business Objects' expectations as of the date of this press release. The forward-looking statements involve several known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the continued success of Brooks Automation, Inc. (the "Company") in the marketplace, the Company's dependence on the cyclical semiconductor industry, the highly competitive nature and rapid technological change that characterize the industries in which the Company competes, the performance of the Company's products and services, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, there can be no assurance that the Company's future results will not be materially different from those projected. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Brooks Software |