UNIVAR EXPANDS ACORN’S SOLUTIONS TO CANADA

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