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Northrop Grumman, Lucent Technologies, and Delta Air Lines/SAP/SmartSignal
Receive APICS Corporate Awards of Excellence

San Diego, CA (October 12, 2004) APICS—The Educational Society for Resource Management of Alexandria, Virginia, presented its annual Corporate Awards of Excellence today to companies that value education in the workplace, demonstrate innovative solutions, and work in partnership to solve challenges.

Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems Sector of Melbourne, Florida, was the recipient of the APICS Education Award of Excellence; Lucent Technologies of Murray Hill, New Jersey, was the recipient of the APICS Innovation Award of Excellence; and Delta Air Lines of Atlanta, Georgia, with SAP America, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and SmartSignal Corporation, Lisle, Illinois, were the recipients of the APICS Technology Partnership Award of Excellence. Representatives from the companies received the awards during the 2004 APICS International Conference and Exposition here this week.

Northrop Grumman, the education award recipient, elevated the level of commitment to its employees by providing APICS' Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) education through video teleconferencing and Internet meetings so that the instructor in Melbourne could teach and communicate with four of Northrop Grumman's East Coast facilities.  The driving force to pursue APICS training was the migration of materiel functions into a new data management and MRP computer application. After learning the APICS body of knowledge and understanding the fundamentals of business planning, master scheduling, and material requirements planning, the implementation went more smoothly. Employees recognized that consistent terminology, techniques, and best practices from the APICS body of knowledge helped them learn how the new systems should work, making the conversion period shorter.

The innovation award recipient, Lucent Technologies, sought a better way to predict future gross margins for making portfolio choices, prioritization of product development activity, and prioritization of supply chain support for greater margin improvements. The margin forecasting tool enhances financial and portfolio planning and has been incorporated into the product development and management process from conception to exploration, to execution, to volume deployment, to end of life cycle. The tool reveals better uses for development resources, supports decisions to discontinue development, monitors business health, and triggers redesign activity. The model serves as a benchmark for all supply chain organizations, bringing together knowledge from diverse disciplines, such as finance, supply chain management, software development, and product and portfolio planning.

Delta Air Lines with the help of SAP America reduced its inventory, increased visibility, and cut maintenance expenses, but Delta also wanted to improve its ability to maintain its engines. Delta Turned to SmartSignal's solution to provide better engine monitoring, reduce maintenance costs and improve aircraft availability. Delta was able to forecast spare parts requirements more accurately, better manage spare parts inventory, and get a better handle on long-term engine wear. The integration of SAP solutions and SmartSignal systems needed seamless exchange of data. Early warnings generated by SmartSignal systems more quickly triggered maintenance work orders and new orders for spare parts in the SAP system, and engines that seemed to be wearing unusually fast were scheduled for overhaul sooner rather than later.

Pfizer of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was the runner-up in the education category, and UCB Pharma of Brussels, Belgium, received honorable mention. Prescient of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was the runner-up in the innovation category, and Lucent Technologies with Agile Software Corporation of San Jose, California, was the runner-up in the technology partnership category.

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APICS—The Educational Society for Resource Management is the global leader in professional certifications, educational programs, and publications for manufacturing and service industry professionals across the entire supply chain. Founded in 1957, the society supports nearly 60,000 members in 20,000 companies worldwide. To learn more, visit the APICS community at www.apics.org.