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Technology Stocks : TAVA Technologies (TAVA-NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (22150)	8/16/1998 6:04:00 PM
From: wolfdog2	Respond to of 31646

Christine, TAVA hopes by virtue of its YK2 work to establish working relationships with companies that well lead to additional work after YK2 is over and forgotten. One of the good things about the YK2 work is that the decisions are made at a higher corporate level than most of the factory floor work that they have been doing. So, doors are opening that previously were closed to them.

To: Grainne who wrote (22150)	8/16/1998 6:35:00 PM
From: R.B. Golfing	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 31646

Christine, after Y2K, TAVA's factory integration, one opinion... Tava's core business is control system integration - projects to apply automated controls to industrial machinery and processes. It might be a single machine, an entire assembly line, a process to make a food product or chemical, the list goes on and they all need automation. These projects are upgrades to outdated controls or new systems for plant expansions. These are essentially engineering oriented work, and not IT oriented. Tava's projects extend into operations by applying computer based systems for data acquisition, monitoring, etc. of the processes on the plant floor. The ultimate vision of automation is to connect the factory floor operations and equipment (as well as plant utilities, QC, etc.) with the office information system. Being a complete provider from the basics of plant floor control to the information plant management needs for production is where all the major players in factory automation wants to be, and this is where TAVA seems to be heading. Tava is taking it one step farther by extending their scope into the market for Advanced Planning and Scheduling Systems - maybe this is where the long term growth will be. The Y2K "event" is called an accelerator by JJ because it has introduced them into 100 or so Fortune 1000 firms so far. TAVA offers their services, a methodology on the CD ROM, and maybe best of the all access to their ever growing database of Y2K compliance data to these and other companies. Firms will hire TAVA first to do an inventory and assessment of the Y2K compliancy status of a particular plant or process as a pilot. This should lead the company to either hire TAVA to do I&A of their remaining plants or do the remainder themselves after receiving training from TAVA on the methodology. After assessments are completed, decisions need to be made on how to bring non-compliant processes up to Y2K compliance. The action might be as simple as updating certain hardware components, or might be as complex as a complete replacement of a automation system for an entire process. TAVA seems to like their chances of being the firm chosen to do this follow-on work having worked with the customer on Y2K I&A. See the report from Year 2000 National Symposium Series Conference that was held in Chicago, June 22-25,1998 to see how this can translate into $ for TAVA. After Y2K, TAVA will have established numerous relationships for ongoing factory automation work - a business they said is growing 20% per year. They will have "more than 600 engineers/consultants" which I believe will make them the largest independent control system integrator in the US. After Y2K, they seem to be also planning for a branch into Advanced Planning and Scheduling, a much faster growing industry. They will have both an engineering and IT orientation - sounds like a great plan to me. Finally, from one familiar with the industry for too many years, I like the comments they make about reducing the material and subcontract content of their projects. It just doesn't make sense to provide hardware on a project when you make only 10% on it and have to deal with the follow on warranty replacements, etc. When you are required to provide the hardware because the customer demands, fine, but when you can avoid it, gross margins go up - way up. If this causes a reduction in gross sales, then so be it. I believe the opportunity will be there for TAVA after Y2K. Good luck with your investments.

To: Grainne who wrote (22150)	8/17/1998 8:57:00 AM
From: JDN	Respond to of 31646

Dear Christine: There are others on this thread who are probably more technically qualified to specifically answer your questions. As to the interview, if you ever talked to Mr. Jenkins or listened to one of his CC's you would find that IMHO he is the Master of understatement. I do not believe the man is even capable of Hype which of course has irritated some. haha. As to their Core business--Again-IMHO- I do not think that we or even they know for sure what the future CORE business will consist of. Why?, because they are entering previously unthought of relationships at the highest levels of business, hiring people with skills they never before had at the Management level and I am told also at the engineering level. I was a Partner at a major CPA firm. It was always my experience that once I secured a very large client the client himself generally came up with "Projects" for us which I had never even contemplated when first getting the client. I suspect the same will be true here. What I am saying very NON technically is that I think "Relationships" count. If they are established firmly business will come and its hard to see earlier just what that business will be. JDN