CARPINTERIA, Calif. and COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—October 25, 2004—QAD Inc. (NASDAQ: QADI), a leading provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturers, and HDI (Company
Profile, Past
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Studies), the world's largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry, today announced that QAD Support Centers in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Mexico and Hong Kong have received HDI Support Center Certification (SCC). These and QAD’s other HDI-certified sites in the United States, Australia and Spain have been recognized as providing world-class support resulting in consistently high customer and employee satisfaction.
The qualification of four more QAD support centers follows QAD’s May 2004 milestone as the first company ever to achieve global certification from HDI. The HDI Support Center Certification (SCC) program is the only open industry standards program of its kind, providing a reference model and industry standards that are recognized worldwide. Evaluation is based on 67 standards statements, each with four levels of maturity. In order to become HDI SCC-certified, a support center must achieve minimum scores as defined by the standards committee.
QAD’s global HDI SCC status marks completion of the second phase of the company’s global support initiative. More than half of customers using QAD Support are part of multinational manufacturers with operating sites in multiple countries. These companies represent the sectors that comprise the majority of global manufacturing, including the automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and medical industries.
“As the first company to achieve HDI Support Center Certification on a global scale, QAD clearly exemplifies excellence in all of the core areas on which the program focuses – leadership, policy and strategy, people management, resources, process and procedure, people satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and performance resuwlts,” said Ron Muns, founder and CEO, HDI. “We encourage more support centers to follow their example, and have accepted QAD onto the SCC standards committee so that industry professionals can learn from the company’s certification experience and high-quality support practices.”
To obtain HDI’s prestigious Support Center Certification, QAD met tough criteria in eight categories that reflect international quality standards. An exhaustive independent audit assessed QAD support management and personnel and all policy and process documentation. Extensive interviews with QAD customers rounded out the information-gathering process. HDI then reviewed the audit results, and determined that all seven QAD support locations demonstrated outstanding performance in categories including leadership, strategy, process and staff management.
Customers Cite QAD Support Center Strengths
Customers of the newly certified support centers singled out QAD Support personnel’s responsiveness, breadth and depth of knowledge, and follow-through as particular strengths.
“We find QAD Support is quick to respond and resolve issues, but more importantly, personnel understand the global and local aspects of our manufacturing operations,” said Pardip Sharma, business information manager for Bell-Fruit Games, a leading UK manufacturer of slot machines and pay-to-play amusement equipment. “As a result, their approach to specific problems shows they are sensitive to the fact that some processes are shared by multiple sites, but there are localized aspects to each implementation.”
Multinational manufacturers also echoed the sentiments of companies interviewed for the first phase of the certification process. "QAD Support has good follow-through. They assign, follow-up, and work hard to resolve issues, and provide good overall support,” said Malcolm Lau, regional business systems analyst, GKN Driveline Singapore Pte. Ltd.,a division of GKN, a world leader in the design and manufacture of automotive components.
According to Raúl Hernández, MFG/PRO and application manager, Mexico Region, Johnson Controls Inc., "The quality of support offered by QAD is world-class in every respect. From installation to technical skills to industry-specific insight, they are adept at identifying the cause of issues and resolving them quickly." Johnson Controls Inc. is a major supplier of seating and interior systems and batteries for the automotive industry.
Pam Lopker, QAD chairman and president, emphasized QAD’s dedication to global manufacturers. “QAD is committed to providing manufacturing customers around the world with a consistently superior experience, and HDI certification is one way we ensure that we do so. For 25 years, QAD has focused on helping customers solve their real-world manufacturing challenges, and a crucial requirement to serving global companies is providing timely, effective support that reflects the industry’s highest standards – anywhere our customers do business.”
About HDI
HDI is the world’s largest membership association for IT service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. Founded in 1989, HDI's mission is to lead and promote the IT service and support industry by empowering its members through access to timely and valuable industry information, including reports and publications; encouraging member collaboration through events and online forums; and establishing internationally recognized, standards-based industry certification and training programs. In addition to membership, certification, and training, HDI produces the highest-rated industry event, the HDI Annual Conference and Expo, for service and technical support professionals. HDI is member-focused, and remains vendor-neutral in its efforts to facilitate open, independent networking and information sharing within the association network. HDI has more than 7,500 members worldwide, (including 90% of the Fortune 500), and more than 50 active U.S.
chapters. For more information, visit http://www.thinkhdi.com.
About QAD
QAD enterprise applications leverage advances in Internet and enabling technologies to provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time. Manufacturers of automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and medical products use QAD applications at approximately 5,200 licensed sites in more than 80 countries and in as many as 26 languages. For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805 684 6614, or visit the QAD Web site at: http://www.qad.com. To receive any of QAD's press releases via facsimile, contact +1 800 356 0747, or outside the U.S. contact +1 213 253 5647.
"QAD" and "MFG/PRO" are registered trademarks of QAD Inc. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the company's software products and products that operate with the company’s products; the company’s ability to sustain strong licensing demand; the ability to sustain customer renewal rates at current levels; the publication of opinions by industry analysts about the company, its products and technology; the reliability of estimates of transaction and integration costs and benefits; difficulties relating to integration of a new business; the entry of new competitors and their technological advances; delays in localizing the company's products for new markets; delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cy cles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; general economic conditions, exchange rate fluctuations and the global political environment. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP), e-business and distributed order management software industries are subject to fluctuations. Software license revenue, in particular, is subject to variability with a significant proportion of revenue earned in the last month of each quarter. Given the high margins associated with license revenue, modest fluctuations can have a substantial impact on net income. Investors should not use any one quarter’s results as a benchmark for future growth. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the industries in which it operates, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2004.
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