ESPOO, Finland, Oct. 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- UPM-Kymmene is entering into a strategic partnership with TietoEnator (Other OTC:TTNTF) in the development, delivery and maintenance of Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES).
The goal of this Global MES partnership is to standardize mill systems within UPM-Kymmene in order to harmonize mill management processes. TietoEnator will provide the Global MES template, which is based on TIPS (TietoEnator Paper Solution). TietoEnator will also be responsible for all mill rollouts, UPM-Kymmene's specific configuration, and mill-specific enhancements. UPM-Kymmene's MES template will be ready in March 2003, and the first rollout will take place by the end of 2003.
By standardizing mill systems, UPM-Kymmene expects to improve profitability through lower maintenance costs and uniform mill management processes. Standard interfaces to sales and automation systems will allow fast and cost-efficient MES implementation in the mills.
The TIPS solution includes tools for production planning, production tracking, warehouse management, and quality management. TietoEnator's advanced planning applications will help optimize production. UPM-Kymmene provides its customer with a high level of service. TIPS will help in this area as its tools assure deliveries to customers will be at the right time and of the right quality.
"We wanted to find a partner who is a well experienced system integrator and is capable of a strategic partnership, delivering MES and its rollouts globally to UPM-Kymmene. TIPS was the best product for our purposes, and TietoEnator the best partner. TietoEnator has invested a lot in product development. We found that TietoEnator's strengths were the product functionality, and support and maintenance services. It was also important that TietoEnator's strategy to become the number one supplier world-wide in MES business was in line with UPM-Kymmene globalization strategy," described Jorma Koskinen, IT Director of UPM- Kymmene.
"The partnership-type business is becoming more and more important. Already today we work in many cases with our customers like partners. The customers expect this kind of operating model, and it offers also the greatest growth opportunities. The global partnership agreement with UPM-Kymmene is perfectly in line with our business strategy," said Sakari Ruotsalainen, Director of TietoEnator Forest.
For further information, please contact:
Sakari Ruotsalainen, Vice President TietoEnator Forest phone: +358 40 5116165 e-mail: sakari.ruotsalainen@tietoenator.com Jorma Koskinen, IT Director UPM-Kymmene phone: +358 204 15 5131 e-mail: jorma.t.koskinen@upm-kymmene.com
With almost 12,000 employees and annual net sales of EUR 1.1 billion, TietoEnator is a leading supplier of high value-added IT services in Europe. TietoEnator specializes in consulting, building and hosting its customers' business operations in the digital economy. The Forest Group's services are based on a combination of deep industry-specific expertise and latest information technology. www.tietoenator.com
UPM-Kymmene is one of the leading paper companies in the world. The company's businesses focus on magazine papers, newsprint papers, fine and speciality papers, converting materials, and wood products. The company has production in 17 countries and an extensive sales and distribution network. UPM-Kymmene's turnover in 2001 was nearly 10 billion euros and it employs over 36,000 people. www.upm-kymmene.com
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