TRW Automotive Upgrades to Niku 6; Driving Change with User-Friendly Performance

    REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--Sept. 24, 2002--Niku Corporation the leading provider of Services Relationship Management (SRM) software, today announced that TRW Automotive, the automotive systems and products division of TRW, Inc., has selected Niku 6 enterprise software to improve business processes, enhance global collaboration, and support strategic initiatives.
    With operations in 24 countries and sales of more than $10 billion, TRW Automotive is one of the largest independent automotive suppliers in the world, developing and manufacturing systems and components for more than 40 vehicle manufacturers and 250 nameplates.
    For the past four years, TRW Automotive has run engineering and product development units in Europe and North America on Niku Portfolio Manager 5.2. The company decided to upgrade to Niku 6 to take advantage of zero-client, browser-based collaboration, enhanced reporting and planning, and fully integrated project, resource, and knowledge management functionalities.
    "We compared upgrading our system internally to Niku 6 out-of-the-box," said Dale Stockman, senior manager of engineering project management in the TRW Automotive Braking Group, "and it was no contest. With Niku 6, we expect to have a powerful, Web-native, more user-friendly application. With the ultra-simple Niku 6 'FastPlan,' for example, more people can now take part in and see the value of planning -- without the overhead of producing detailed PERT and Gannt charts. These tools will still be used, of course, but only where appropriate.
    "With Niku 6 reporting functionality our managers can slice and dice data themselves," Stockman continued, "without any specialized training or lengthy report design and publication processing. This kind of user-friendly attention to detail -- this focus on the needs of people -- was why we chose Niku 6 in the first place. It gives us a powerful tool to drive change throughout the company, to help TRW Automotive grow as we extend our project and portfolio management capabilities and enable corporate initiatives like Six Sigma."
    "It's an exciting time to be TRW Automotive," said Bob Keegan, Niku senior vice president of North American sales, "and we're excited to be part of their revolution in automotive control, convenience, and safety technologies. We're pleased that the people who are raising the standards for our cars have chosen Niku 6 to help them get it done faster and more efficiently."

    About Niku

    Niku Corporation develops enterprise application software for Services Relationship Management (SRM), software that automates knowledge work in companies by integrating portfolio, collaboration, resource, financial, project, and knowledge management in one Web-native application. For more information contact info@niku.com, call 877/846-6458 (NIKU), or visit www.niku.com.

    About TRW Automotive

    TRW Automotive is a leader in active and passive safety systems for the global automotive industry. Products include integrated vehicle control and driver assist systems, braking systems, steering systems, suspension systems, occupant safety systems, electronics, engine valves, fastening systems and aftermarket replacement parts. TRW Inc. provides advanced technology products and services to the automotive, aerospace and information technology markets. The company's 2001 sales were $16.4 billion (USD). TRW news is available on the Internet at http://www.trw.com.