SPE.L Regulatory News (SPE)

10 Apr 2006 07:00

Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Monday 10th April 2006 Sopheon Plc (`Sopheon') Campina Chooses Sopheon System to Enhance Global Innovation Processes European Dairy Foods Leader Persuaded by Accolade's Superior Functionality and StrongCustomer Endorsements Sopheon, the international software and services company, announced today thatCampina, one of Europe's leading dairy companies and a prominent player in theglobal dairy industry, has selected Sopheon's Accolade product innovationprocess and portfolio management system to support the enhancement of itsinnovation processes. The enterprise-wide deployment will provide access tousers in 20 countries in Europe, Asia and North America.Campina's aim is to achieve international growth by offering innovative dairyproducts in Europe and Asia while maintaining leading market positionsworld-wide for specific dairy ingredients. It faces a challenge common totoday's food companies: satisfying consumer demand for a constant flow of new,appetizing and high-quality products at the lowest price. Campina'sresearch-and-development efforts are concentrated in three centers located inThe Netherlands. Consumer products for the German and Dutch markets aredeveloped by the Campina Innovation international development center atWageningen. The company produces desserts, yogurt, cheese, butter and a varietyof other consumer and industrial products under brand names such as Campina,Landliebe, Yogho Yogho and Mona, a leading line of dairy treats.One of the central elements of Campina's growth strategy is a sustained focuson innovation. The company recently developed a plan for introducing enhanced,uniform innovation processes and capabilities that would displace a mix oflegacy product-development systems being used by its various operating groups.The initiative included finding a technology solution that could reduce theadministrative workload associated with product-development process executionwhile helping to lower product-development project costs, acceleratetime-to-market and increase success rates for new products.The technology selection process centered on a detailed review of ten productlifecycle management solutions. Campina's choice of Sopheon's Accolade systemwas based primarily on the software's superior ease-of-use, its out-of-the-boxsupport for stage gate process methodology, and the speed with which it couldbe implemented. Another important Accolade advantage was its ability tointegrate with information tools already in use throughout the company, such asMicrosoft and SAP technologies and Campina's own timesheet system. Campina'sdecision was also impacted by the strength of endorsements from companies thathad implemented the Sopheon solution."Innovation is a strategic pillar of Campina's business success," said MichaelErdl, director of research and development for consumer products at Campina."We can't afford to risk the critical processes that underpin our innovationefforts on an unproven or functionally limited support system. One of thethings that really separated Sopheon from other suppliers was the enthusiastic,compelling testimonials we heard from Accolade users. We spoke with top foodcompanies who told us about the important contributions Accolade had made toadvancing their processes and productivity. The experiences these users sharedconvinced us that Accolade was a high-value solution that could play a majorrole in helping Campina reach its innovation goals.""Strong, differentiating features and functionality have been the cornerstoneof Accolade's broad market acceptance," said Nigel Cordery, European directorfor Sopheon. "But customer references are our most powerful competitiveadvantage. The willingness of Accolade users to tell prospects about themeasurable benefits of implementing our software is a principal reason thenumber of Accolade clients grew by 30% in 2005. Best of all, the solution'sconsistent performance assures new adopters that they will achieve the samekind of positive results. We're delighted to have Campina, one of the leadinginnovators in its industry, join the ranks of Accolade users."Sopheon Accolade‚® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.Campina, Landliebe, Yogho Yogho and Mona are registered trademarks of Campina.All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the soleproperty of their respective owners.About CampinaCampina is an international co-operative company active in the development,production, sale and distribution of dairy and dairy-related consumer productsand advanced ingredients for the food and pharmaceutical industries. Campinahas an annual turnover of around ¢â€š¬3.6 billion and some 6,800 employees. Thecompany holds leading positions in the markets in which it operates. For moreinformation, please visit www.campina.com.About SopheonSopheon (LSE: SPE) is an international provider of software and services thathelp organizations improve the business impact of product innovation. TheSopheon Accolade‚® product innovation process and portfolio management systemautomates gate- or phase-based product development processes and providesstrategic decision support that allows companies to increase revenue andprofits from new products. Sopheon is listed on the AIM Market of the LondonStock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. For more information,please visit www.sopheon.com. # # # For further information contact:Arif Karimjee, CFO Sopheon plc Tel : + 44 (0) 1483 685 735 Andrew Tan Hansard Communications Tel : + 44 (0) 207 245 1100 + 44 (0) 7957 203 685 Floor van Maaren Citigate First Financial Tel : + 31 (0) 205 754 010ENDSOPHEON PLC