START-IT Magazine Names Sopheon “Company to Keep an Eye On”

Leading Manufacturing Technology Publication Includes Sopheon on List of Most Notable Businesses

Sopheon, the international software and services company, announced today that it has been named by START-IT to the magazine’s list of “Companies to Keep an Eye On” for 2007.  Sopheon is identified among a select number of manufacturing technology suppliers that, in the judgment of the publication, stand to generate the most influence on the manufacturing industry during the next 12 months.  The recognition appeared in START-IT’s May issue.
 
START-IT characterized the companies comprising its 2007 list as the “best in the world at working and partnering with customers to unlock the mounds of hidden information that are residing down at the shop floor, up at the enterprise level, and everywhere in between.”  The START-IT acknowledgement is the latest in a series of honors awarded to Sopheon.  Managing Automation magazine earlier named it a “Company to Watch” in 2007 and, late last year, Manufacturing Business Technology magazine included Sopheon on its list of “40 Emerging Software Vendors,” a recognition highlighting up-and-coming suppliers that are meeting critical enterprise needs with notable success.

“There is no shortage of technology suppliers that sell to the manufacturing industry, but it’s a select club that really ‘gets’ what manufacturers need,” said START-IT editor Michael Jarosik. “Sopheon has continuously studied its customers and the industry in order to develop a system that anticipates and responds to the innovation and portfolio management challenges facing today’s global manufacturing organizations.”
 
Sopheon’s flagship offering, the Accolade^® product life cycle management (PLM) system, automates gate- or phase-based product development processes and provides strategic decision support for innovation decisions.  The solution is used by top innovators throughout the world, including such industry leaders as BASF, Cadbury Schweppes, Electrolux, Land O’Lakes, Mead Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser, SAB Miller, Verizon Wireless and Timex.
 
“Sopheon’s mission is to enable every one of our customers to use innovation to achieve high levels of profitable business growth,” said Andy Michuda, chief executive officer of Sopheon. “To accomplish this, we must ourselves be value-driven innovators.  An important aspect of our formula for success is to work closely with our customers and strategic allies to identify unmet needs and develop new solutions.  We appreciate START-IT’s recognition of our commitment to understanding and delivering the kind of technology support that makes it possible for manufacturers to transform their processes for innovation into engines for performance excellence.” 

Accolade^® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole
property of their respective owners