STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 13, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Intentia International AB (publ) (XSSE INTENTIA B) (Other OTC:IAINF) announced today that it has signed an extensive agreement for implementing its enterprise application Movex, with Mio, a leading Swedish furniture chain.
The deal includes the 70 or so boutiques in the entire Mio chain and will integrate Mio's operations globally and locally. Movex will support a range of business processes including purchase orders, customer orders, cash register, warehouse management and financial management, as well as centralizing customer, supplier and product information.
"The Mio group is investing a total of approximately SEK 80 million over a five-year period to replace its old business system, about half of which will be spent on products and services from Intentia," commented Lars Udd, CEO of the Mio group. "Movex will be an important factor in increasing efficiency throughout all the links in our chain. The market we are in is undergoing rapid changes and a strong comprehensive business concept is key to insuring Mio's continued success."
Mio carried out an extremely thorough pre-study. After defining its internal processes, the company sent a request for proposal to 25 suppliers/resellers, including comprehensive, detailed requirements specifications. "We decided it was better to define exactly what we want rather than install a system first only to then discover what we really would have wanted," says Linus Gustafson, IT controller at Mio.
After an initial demo from each of 15 suppliers/resellers, Mio selected four systems for final evaluation: SAP, IFS Applications, Axapta and Movex from Intentia.
The selected suppliers received comprehensive material from Mio as the basis for carrying out prototypical scenarios in cooperation with Mio. The material included critical business processes optimized to meet Mio's needs, as well as questions regarding each supplier's technology, logistics, resources and competence. Each supplier spent a week working hands-on with Mio in order to assess how well the supplier/system meets Mio's requirements. A series of follow-up meetings were then held.
"This is definitely the most serious and comprehensive run-through I've ever been a part of," said Jan Engstrand, Northern Europe Business Unit Manager for Intentia. "We were really kept on our toes and had to prove that Movex functionality and logistics work."
"Mio's evaluation method was comprised of 45 different measures in the areas of system, functionality and supplier. Each measure was rated and weighted relative to the others. This evaluation method, in combination with the finances involved for the various alternatives, served as an excellent decision-making basis for us," Gustafson explained.
"Movex offers good, integrated functionality on a modern technology platform that fits Mio's requirements well. Movex handles Mio's complex business structure well. The application supports centralized functions and management in combination with individually owned boutiques where everyone must work in the same database and share the same information," Gustafson added. "Throughout the evaluation process, from start to finish, our experience with Intentia was one of concrete and genuine involvement, not just at reporting time and the follow-up meetings at the end."
"There is an excellent match between Mio's strategies, visions and system requirements and what Movex has to offer. This deal once again affirms Intentia's commitment to developing solutions for the retail trade market. Mio is an important customer for us and this contract is yet additional evidence for the success of our strategy of pursuing perfect partnerships with our customers," concluded Engstrand.
About Mio
Since it was founded over 40 years ago, Mio has expanded from being a procurement company to establishing a strong brand name with a nationwide chain of stores. Annual sales in Mio's stores total more than two billion Swedish krona (including VAT) in furniture and decorating accessories. Most of the company's 70 stores are franchises, while some 10 stores are run by Mio. The company's headquarters are in Tibro, Sweden where its service office, display rooms, photography studio and main warehouse are centralized. Mio is owned by just over 30 boutique companies as well as other parties interested in the Mio furniture chain, and has approximately 1,100 employees. Mio is the second largest company on the Swedish furniture market and has approximately 15 percent market share. Mio is the largest company when it comes to number of stores in Sweden. The Mio brand name stands for high quality design, selection and customer service.
Visit Mio's Web site at www.mio.se
About Intentia
Intentia is one of the world's leading suppliers of collaboration solutions. Our vision is to become the leading global collaboration solutions vendor by supplying our customers with tomorrow's solutions today. Intentia offers a one-stop shop for all collaboration needs within numerous industry segments. We develop, implement and maintain our own solutions to produce the highest possible level of customer satisfaction. The Intentia Solution consists of applications covering customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise management (ENM), supply chain management (SCM), business performance measurement (BPM), e-business and value chain collaboration (VCC). Intentia has more than 3,200 employees and serves over 3,400 customers in the manufacturing, maintenance and distribution industries via a global network spanning some 40 countries. Intentia is a public company traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (XSSE) under the symbol INT B.
Visit Intentia's Web site at www.intentia.com