Auto Executives Cite Need to Manage Costs Early in Product Development; Spry Survey Reveals Critical Areas for Improvement

    DETROIT--Aug. 28, 2002--Over 90 percent of automotive executives revealed in a questionnaire that their inability to track the financial impact of engineering changes is eroding their profitability. A major trend that emerged pointed to the escalating costs linked to collaboration demands of increasingly complex product launch processes. The survey, taken at the AUTO-TECH Conference, Detroit, Michigan was sponsored by Spry Technology, a provider of custom internet solutions that improve product launch profitability.
    Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said the complexity of their products and the number of partners involved in the product launch process is increasing, a trend that is making the challenge of achieving product launch profitability even greater.
    While five percent report satisfaction with their product launch process, almost 75 percent report that they have considerable issues managing multiple disparate information systems, needing to re-key data and spend an excessive amount of time searching for information. Additionally, the Spry survey revealed that:

--	Only 26% said their existing systems were effective in tracking the financial impact of customer-driven change
--	Over 70% of the respondents believe the number of partners involved in the product launch process is increasing

    Spry Technology, which launched its automotive industry product launch profitability initiative at AUTO-TECH, offers automotive executives the ability to track customer-driven change.

    About Spry Technology

    Spry Technology helps companies increase product launch profitability with custom Internet solutions that provide an enterprise view of changing product and program information. Spry's solutions integrate information from disparate systems; manage collaboration internally and with customers and partners; provide visibility into cost drivers and predictive tools to optimize profitability; and help companies evaluate and respond rapidly to new customer opportunities and change requests. Major clients include ADC, Johnson Controls, and Tyco Electronics. Spry is a MatrixOne co-development partner and an IBM WebSphere advisory board member for manufacturing. For more information about Spry, visit them on the web at www.spry-tech.com.