News

LONDON (RNS: London Stock Exchange) - July 14, 2011 - The Board of Avisen Plc, the AIM quoted business technology and profit improvement specialist, is pleased to announce that Unilever Plc ("Unilever"), one of the world's leading consumer goods companies, has entered into a long-term relationship with Avisen, by awarding it a three year contract to provide a Global Cost to Serve Solution for Unilever's Global Supply Chain and Customer Service Function.

Unilever has signed a Global Enterprise License and Managed Service Agreement with Avisen for Acorn's Enterprise Performance Suite, and a Consultancy Framework Agreement to design, configure and implement the solution, which will enable Unilever to understand and manage their cost-to-serve at multiple levels; from broad customer segments and product categories to specific customers or orders.

Marcus Hanke, Chief Executive Officer of Avisen said:

"Unilever's commitment to Avisen as a strategic business partner for the next three years is a testament to the value that Unilever has been able to derive from working with Avisen over the past 9 months. To work with a multi-national company such as Unilever is a great endorsement of Avisen's services, and substantiates the board's strategy to focus the business around delivering high value solutions and services that yield significant returns for our clients".

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever's Chief Supply Chain Officer said:

"This agreement will further enhance Unilever's customer service capabilities and will provide another instrumental tool to further enhance our demand driven operations. This is another important step in our journey to double the size of our business whilst reducing our environmental impact"

HOUSTON, TX - April 26, 2011 – Acorn Systems, the leading provider of cost and profitability management solutions, today announced it has selected PSC Environmental Services as its Global Customer of the Year. Selected from Acorn's wide-ranging North American customer base, the annual award recognizes the customer with the most strategic and innovative use of Acorn's software and solutions.

The award was announced and presented by Acorn President and Chief Operating Officer, J. Alex Fernandez at PSC Environmental Service's Houston, TX office. "PSC Environmental Services is recognized for leveraging technology and innovation to streamline processes, manage cost, and enhance business results. Their partnership with Acorn exemplifies this, delivering a profit-driven culture that still recognizes their customer need for tailored solutions that balance industry-leading service and savings," stated Fernandez.

PSC Environmental Services became a customer in early 2010 as an early adopter of Acorn OnDemand while utilizing Acorn's signature Performance AnalyzerTM. Acorn's solution is being deployed to all of their Transfer, Storage, and Disposal Facilities (TSDF) as well as their strategic 10-Day Distribution Facilities. The results are used in account level discussions with Vice Presidents, Facility Managers, Regional Sales Managers, Area Operations Managers, and several other key personnel to determine clear action items to increase profitability and drive cost efficiency for mutual benefit to PSC Environmental Services and their customers. "The Acorn partnership has allowed PSC Environmental Services to accelerate our philosophy of utilizing technologies, innovation and long-term stewardship to deliver trusted and cost-efficient environmental services," according to Paul Lewis, Division Vice President, PSC Environmental Services. "The Acorn solution provides necessary information to evaluate our business in a more efficient manner."

15 December, 2010 – Avisen plc, the AIM quoted performance management specialist, is pleased to announce that Ernst & Young LLP ("Ernst & Young"), has purchased an annual license to use Acorn Systems’ Performance Analyzer™ ("Acorn Systems") products to perform cost and profitability analysis for its clients. This follows a successful project with one of Ernst & Young’s large Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) clients using Acorn’s Performance Analyzer.

HOUSTON, TX (April 27, 2010) – Empowering businesses to more accurately forecast in an uncertain economy, profitability and cost management solutions provider Acorn Systems debuts Operational Performance Simulator™ (OPS). Seamlessly connecting operational data with financial planning software, OPS allows managers to create proactive plans that accurately reflect up-to-date, enterprise-wide information for key operational performance drivers.

By instantaneously simulating hypotheticals and drawing upon real-time data to deliver results, OPS allows decision makers to answer "what if" questions about operational changes as they conduct driver-based planning and forecasting. For example, what if 20 percent of a company’s customers switch from phone to web-based orders? What’s the impact on fixed and variable costs? How does this affect labor capacity?

"While businesses have long been able to analyze data to see where they’ve been, they’ve lacked tools for accurately assessing where they are headed. OPS changes the game by offering a unique roadmap that uses a company’s operational data to instantly show the impact of intended changes," said J. Alex Fernandez, President and Chief Operating Officer, Acorn Systems. "OPS will help our clients improve performance and make better informed decisions as it eliminates arbitrary allocations and inconsistent forecasting methodologies."

Designed to simplify processes and eliminate headaches and time while improving accuracy, Acorn OPS draws upon Microsoft Excel 2007 to present a familiar, user-friendly interface. The program is a wizard-driven, add-in component that integrates smoothly with other Acorn programs, such as Acorn Performance Analyzer™.

Acorn’s Operational Performance Simulator:
• Utilizes familiar technology – Microsoft Excel – to enhance ease-of-use and comfort
• Displays key components from a company’s Acorn operational model
• Filters data to highlight the specific slice of business desired for simulation
• Allows users to adjust values in the worksheet by period to see how simulations affect cost totals, costs per time period, driver quantities, capacity utilization and more
• Leverages Excel functions, such as charting, for business analysis and presentations
• Saves simulations for future review and modification

About Acorn Systems
Acorn Systems is a leading provider of profit improvement solutions for growing revenues profitably, reducing costs and improving operational efficiencies. Over the past 12 years, Acorn has delivered profit improvement results for Global 2000 companies in the Financial Services, Retail, Consumer Products, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics and Services sectors. Utilizing a trademarked technology and proven methodology, Acorn reveals profit opportunities across the enterprise, including customers, channels, segments, products, vendors, and processes. Acorn’s unique approach enables clients to achieve results in a fraction of the time of traditional approaches, and to make continuous, fact-based decisions to improve their bottom line and Earnings per Share (EPS), yielding over $5 billion in profit improvements and creating billions in new shareholder value.

Contact:
Acorn Systems
Susan Wanek
713-963-9000
swanek@acornsys.com

HOUSTON, TX (March 25, 2010) – Acorn Systems today announced they have entered into the Partner Network with Rackspace® Hosting, (NYSE: RAX), the world’s leader in the hosting and cloud computing industry. This relationship is designed to add mutual value for their current clients and to increase targeted exposure and reputation for both companies.

Avisen, the AIM quoted technology consultancy specialising in performance management, announces that it has been named the exclusive distributor of Acorn Systems' profitability and cost management software in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Acorn Systems provide software and consulting services which deliver accurate and validated insight into the true cost and net profitability of any business dimension, a critical foundation to the success of all corporate performance management initiatives.

Avisen and Acorn have successfully teamed via client engagements in the UK, including the recent new contract with Tesco in the UK and also via Harvey Jones in South Africa, a legacy Acorn partner acquired earlier this year by Avisen as the cornerstone of their South African operations. Building on this experience, both companies are committed to the success of their clients and excited that the partnership will allow even greater coordination, support and success of shared clients.

Avisen will serve as Acorn's distributor in the named geographies, which includes direct relationships with clients and a teaming arrangement with other leading consulting and advisory firms to bring Acorn's solution to their diverse client base.

Marcus Hanke, CEO of Avisen said: "Our goal at Avisen is to equip every client with the ability to realise a distinct level of clarity within their business. An insight into profitability and cost management is an essential part of achieving this objective and Acorn's world class Performance Analyzer™ software, combined with Avisen's advisory services, will enable our clients to successfully manage business performance through accurate cost and profitability analysis".

"Avisen has the depth and breadth of experience in a variety of industries and the performance management space, both of which are critical to enabling companies to identify sustainable ways to grow revenue profitably, reduce costs and operate more competitively," said Chris D. Fraga, President, Acorn Systems International. "Together, Avisen and Acorn provide unmatched value and experience in helping companies define and execute a cost effective and profitable strategy, helping them enhance their operational and financial results."


Avisen
Avisen is a business and technology consultancy specialising in performance management with a focus on strategy creation, development and implementation. It provides advisory services and software distribution of solutions in the corporate performance management market. Avisen aims to provide specialist advice to enable organisations to build more effective capabilities to manage the performance of their businesses and allow them to achieve their desired targets.


Acorn Systems
Acorn (www.acornsys.com) is the leading provider of profit improvement solutions for growing revenues profitably, reducing costs, and improving operational efficiencies. Over the past 12 years, Acorn has delivered profit improvement results for Global 2000 companies in the Financial Services, Retail, Consumer Products, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics and Services sectors. Utilizing a trademarked technology and proven methodology, Acorn reveals profit opportunities across the enterprise, including customers, channels, segments, products, vendors, and processes. Acorn's unique approach enables clients to make continuous, fact-based decisions to improve their bottom line and Earnings per Share (EPS), yielding over $5 billion in profit improvements and creating billions in new shareholder value.


For further information, contact:

Avisen plc
Marcus Hanke (CEO)   |   Tel: +44 (0)870 880 2978
Louis Peacock (Executive Director and Acting CFO)   |   Tel: +44 (0)7899 667533

NOMAD and Broker
Merchant John East Securities Limited
Bidhi Bhoma   |   Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 2200

Financial PR
Bishopsgate Communications
Robyn Samuelson/Siobhra Murphy   |   Tel: +44 (0)20 7562 3355
avisen@bishopsgatecommunications.com

LONDON (ShareCast) - Performance management specialist Avisen (LSE: AVI.L - news) said supermarket chain Tesco (LSE: TSCO.L ADVERTISEMENT - news) has signed up for its System's Performance Analyzer.

"Tesco has selected Acorns System's Performance Analyzer to enhance its financial reporting capability," said Avisen in a company statement.

Commenting on the deal, CEO Marcus Hanke said, "Typically companies adopt Acorn Performance Analyzer to help them focus on making improvements on their bottom line. Fundamental to that is finding the right balance between containing costs and ensuring that cost-cutting measures do not compromise an organisation's ability to maintain service levels and pursue fruitful business strategies."

Chris Fraga, President of Acorn Systems International, added, "We are confident that Tesco will be another strong Acorn success story, combining the company's vision and leadership with actionable and accurate analytics to robustly enhance their bottom line."

Longview Profitability Analytics Enables Intelligent Cost Management and Profitable Revenue Growth

Toronto, Canada– July 27, 2009 -- Longview Solutions, a leader in Corporate Performance Management software today announced the availability of Longview Profitability Analytics, a powerful profitability and cost management application. Longview Profitability Analytics is powered by Acorn Systems, Inc. flagship product – Acorn Performance Analyzer, and will be marketed and sold under the Longview brand as an extension of Longview's Performance Management Platform.

Longview Profitability Analytics is an enterprise-scale application that holistically measures the revenue, cost and net profitability of any dimension of a business, including customers, products, suppliers, channels, orders and transactions, to intelligently drive cost reduction and maximize profitable revenue growth. From a value perspective, a CFO study conducted by a Tier 1 consulting firm found that clients who focused on profitable growth and revenue initiatives rather than simple cost reductions saw as much as 5 to 15 percent of revenue improvement in net profitability. For example, a $4B Financial Services firm added $600M in annual profit improvement due to the new insight provided by profitability modelling and optimization, resulting in a $9B shareholder value improvement.

From a business perspective, there are many benefits to adding profitability management and optimization (PMO) to an existing performance management strategy. "Organizations need to look at the areas where they have the most pain and where they can get a quick return. Typically these are in the areas of budgeting, planning and forecasting and profitability modeling," says Nigel Rayner, Research Vice President at Gartner, Inc. "Very few organizations have a solution that lets them really understand the drivers of profitability by product, market segment, customer, etc. and can then bring that information into their planning process . This is what the CEO and management team need in order to make intelligent decisions that drive business value."

Longview Profitability Analytics is tightly integrated with Longview's CPM Suite that includes Planning, Budgeting, Forecasting, Consolidation, Management Reporting and Tax Provisioning. Benefits include:

BELLEVUE, WASH. AND HOUSTON, TEXAS, July 14, 2009 - Leading chemical distributor Univar has decided to expand its relationship with cost and profitability management solutions provider Acorn Systems. Beginning in the summer of 2009, Univar will grow its use of Acorn to include Univar Canada.

Univar USA has been an Acorn client since September 2008; the original implementation replaced a profitability model designed by a strategy consulting firm. Acorn delivered a more scalable version of the model to provide greater understanding of what drives profitability. Acorn automated the generation of profitability data, allocated all costs associated with Univar's facilities and overhead, as well as cost of capital for inventory. In addition, Acorn generated comprehensive Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) cubes that are accessed through Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) tools and used in making decisions regarding customers, orders and contracts.

"With more than 250,000 customers, it's essential that we have the capabilities to accurately record and track data that will enrich insight into our day-to-day operations," said Jeff Siegel, Univar's vice president and controller. "Acorn's programs dramatically improved the fundamentals of how we analyze Univar USA's internal information, including profits and costs. This has been invaluable, and we are confident that we will achieve the same benefits by expanding our use of Acorn to Univar Canada."

Univar will expand its current use of Acorn's Performance Analyzer and Acorn Advanced Analytics for Microsoft BI to Univar Canada, the leading chemical distributor in Canada.

"We believe Acorn's results speak for themselves, and have 12 years of case studies to back that up," said J. Alex Fernandez, President and Chief Operating Officer, Acorn Systems. "But it is always rewarding to work with happy clients who can see and feel the differences Acorn makes in their businesses. We look forward to expanding our relationship with Univar to the north and helping them continue to profitably grow their business."


About Acorn Systems
Acorn Systems is the leading provider of profit improvement solutions for growing revenues profitably, reducing costs, and improving operational efficiencies. Over the past 12 years, Acorn has delivered profit improvement results for Global 2000 companies in the Financial Services, Retail, Consumer Products, Manufacturing, Distribution, Logistics and Services sectors. Utilizing a trademarked technology and proven methodology, Acorn reveals profit opportunities across the enterprise, including customers, channels, segments, products, vendors, and processes. Acorn's unique approach enables clients to achieve results in a fraction of the time of traditional approaches, and to make continuous, fact-based decisions to improve their bottom line and Earnings per Share (EPS), yielding over $5 billion in profit improvements and creating billions in new shareholder value.

About Univar
Univar is one of the world's leading independent distributors of industrial and specialty chemicals and related services. Univar provides its customer base, made up of 250,000 customers, with a full portfolio of products. Univar operates a network of approximately 170 distribution facilities throughout North America, Europe and China. In 2008, Univar reported sales of $9.4 billion. For more information, visit: www.univarcorp.com.

Contact:
Acorn Systems
The Rosen Group
Zachary Hastings Hooper
202-862-4355
Zachary@rosengrouppr.com

Univar
Karen Weber-Millstein
Corporate Communications
425-638-4911
karen.webermillstein@univarusa.com