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Palaiseau, October 21st, 2005

W4, a leading provider of Business Process Management solutions (BPM), is pleased to announce that the major French supermarket retailer, Système U, has selected W4 Suite to manage and optimize its (MDD) product life cycle process.

With some 800 retail outlets across France, Système U is a leading national player and as a cooperative chain of independent retailers it has close links with regional and national decision-making bodies.

Système U is highly valued for the quality of its customer service and products. It offers a wide range of own-label brands known as ‘Produits U’ (‘Product U’), which provide consumers with a low-cost quality alternative compared to its main competitors.

To stay ahead of its competitors, Système U is increasingly under pressure to shorten product cycles, improve production rates and costs and be more responsive to market needs. This has pushed the Group to review its critical business processes in order to boost efficiencies and productivity.

In this context Systeme U has selected W4 Suite to trace and manage its different product lines through product life cycles. The deployed solution covers all stages of the product life cycle from product launch to the management phases for stocking its warehouses and stores. It covers such varied steps as: handling requirement documents for suppliers, recording receipts, creating packaging and implementing control and analysis programs.

This is a strategic project for Systeme U and aims to eliminate process inefficiencies, shorten product launch cycle times and increase process visibility. It shows that by following a structured approach of Business Process Management, it is possible to achieve significant efficiency.

Thanks to the close involvement of the various actors concerned in the process, in particular the departments responsible for product and packaging quality, W4 Suite has significantly reduced manual administrative tasks and maximized operational effectiveness giving the retailer tighter control over its development costs. The deployment of this system has also provided better access to mission-critical information and real time follow-up of product launches.

All these elements contribute to reinforce Système U’s position in the market place, while providing it with an information system that manages critical quality processes and enhances information sharing throughout the Group.