BigMachines, Inc. wins Start Magazine's Technology & Business Award as Technology Enabler for 2003

Start Magazine, The Voice of The Manufacturing Executive, in cooperation with Microsoft Corp., announced the winners of its 6th Annual Technology & Business Awards during a ceremony Thursday held in Kohler, Wis.

"Start Magazine editors were delighted to see such a turnout at this year's event. As a resource for manufacturing executives it's a great feeling to bring together, in one venue, industry visionaries from around the country in a variety of industries," says Peggy Smedley, editorial director/publisher of Start. "The winners of the 2003 T&B Awards are a testament to the time and talent that it takes to achieve a successful technology strategy. The winners have clearly demonstrated their unwavering commitment to work with their suppliers and integrators to achieve a successful technology implementation."

Each year Start enrolls an independent panel of distinguished industry experts and financial analysts to choose the T&B Award winners. This year the judges included: Laurie Balch, Gartner/Dataquest; Yvonne Genovese, Gartner; Marc McCluskey, AMR Research Inc.; Dan Miklovic, Gartner; Bob Parker, AMR Research Inc.; Bill Swanton, AMR Research Inc.; and Jeff Woods, Gartner. Each winner is selected by a panel of esteemed industry analysts, and over the years the T&B Award has become one of the most prestigious bestowed for manufacturing technology. Past ceremonies have been held in Seattle, Wash., Chicago, Ill., and New York, N.Y.

The T&B Vertical Market Solutions Awards recognize end-user companies and their vision for implementing technology to solve business challenges.

Software and hardware vendors used by the winning companies were also honored at the awards ceremony. Some of the many technology companies that were awarded include: Applix, Big Machines, Comergent Technologies, Emerson Process Management, Foxboro, a business unit of Invensys, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, IFS, Manugistics, MAPICS, Microsoft, MRO Software, OSIsoft, Rockwell Automation, SAP, SYSPRO, Sun Microsystems, Webplan, and Wonderware, a business unit of Invensys.

SPX Process Equipment, Lightnin Operation - Industrial Equipment Charlotte, N.C. (www.spx.com)

SPX Corp., Charlotte, N.C., is a conglomerate participating in many industries, some of which it acquired over time for profit growth potential. With revenues of $5 billion in 2002, it is 27% in technical products and services, 32% in industrial products and services, 27% in flow technology, and 14% in service solutions.

The flow technology business of the operating unit Lightnin is said to be the world's largest manufacturer of industrial fluid mixers and agitators to a wide range of industries with diverse applications, and also a global leader in fluid mixing technology.

Lightnin manufactures a broad range of products, form fractional horsepower standardized portable mixers for laboratory and general purpose use to sanitary mixers for biotech, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food processing to complex, engineered-to-order heavy industrial mixers for chemical processing, crude and edible oil storage, and pump and paper applications. Aftermarket parts sales provide an additional important source of revenue.

Lightnin relies primarily on sales organizations made up of 60 - 70 manufacturer representatives around the world, as well as an internal sales, application-engineering, and customer-service organization of approximately 100 people.

Inefficient and time-consuming procedures were extremely costly and far too often resulted in bill-of-materials (BOM) errors. These procedures were essential to the operation, especially with complex mixers that require extensive configuration.

Lightnin and its manufacturer reps relied on manual processes to select, mechanically check, configure, and create quotations, as well as select BOMs and assembly routings, generate quote drawings, and enter orders into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

Mechanical checks and configuration alone required manufacturer reps and application engineers to apply appropriate, often sophisticated combinations of configurable attributes based on complex logic.

As part of the company's quote-to-cash initiative, Lightnin wanted an Internet-based solution that would streamline selling processes to reduce costs and cycle times and improve transaction quality.

Ultimately, Lightnin wanted to set a new standard of customer satisfaction through significantly better responsiveness and service during the buying process.

Lightnin decided on the flagship solution of BigMachines, San Mateo, Calif., BigMachines 5, with its "lean front end" technology. Lightnin wanted it as a channel-management application for its manufacturing reps and application engineers. These users can access it from anywhere in the world to generate quotes and drawings and submit orders on behalf of their customers.

Once logged in, a manufacturer rep enters selection criteria and specifies configurations for new mixers. The application dynamically generates BOMs and computer-aided design (CAD) drawings based in this configuration. The user may also search for and purchase aftermarket parts.

The user can then create and send a quote back to the customer for approval. After the customer accepts the quote, the manufacturer rep submits the order and accompanying BOMs, which are automatically entered into Lightnin's ERP system and sent to the factory floor.

Quotation cycle times have been reduced by 50 - 80% and Lightnin's on-time performance has improved 12 - 17%.

Automated order and BOM generation processes have enabled Lightnin to improve clean orders and BOMs to 100%. As a result, Lightnin reduces misapplications and warrant costs while its customers receive the optimal product for their machinery requirements.

Summing up, Lightnin considers this type of project very difficult and requiring partners who understand how Internet technology can address the needs of industrial-equipment manufacturers and their markets.

Start T&B judges are impressed by combining a Web-based CAM application with other parts of the enterprise.

Julie Fraser - "SPX Lightnin has gained a tremendous business benefit across its enterprise and sales channel by implementing a Web-based CAM tool for product configuration and quoting. Configuration challenges are a major component of costs for similar companies, and the automation and accuracy achieved with BigMachines must provide a competitive edge for SPX."

Jeff Woods - "This highlights the need for integrated configuration management across the enterprise."

Bill Swanton - "SPX's configuration project is a three-way win: it reduces administrative cost, it reduces errors in the data handoffs, but most importantly it cuts their sales lead time, creating a new competitive lever."

Laurie Balch - "Tying design data into other parts of the enterprise - sales, marketing, manufacturing, customer service - is essential in streamlining business operations. SPX took a major step in the right direction with this initiative."

"We are pleased to be able to recognize these industry leaders who have been able to achieve their visions through the use of technology," says John Buell, editor-in-chief of Start magazine. "The T&B Awards ceremony was a truly terrific night. It is gratifying to not only write about manufacturing powerhouses, but to have a chance to meet and talk with our readers one-on-one in a spectacular setting like the American Club."

To learn more about these winning companies and to read a detailed description of their successful implementations, don't miss the T&B Award pullout supplement in Start's October issue.

About Start Magazine
Start, the voice of the manufacturing executive, provides executives with a balance between the technology issues and the greater business management issues facing executives today. Start offers the most sound technology advice coupled with solid coverage of the financial, political, and management news and events shaping manufacturing. Rather than simply pitching the latest concepts in technology, Start focuses on the business issues impacting the manufacturer's bottomline. That is exactly why Start has become, and will remain, the first word on manufacturing innovation, driven by technology. For more information, please visit www.startmag.com.

About LIGHTNIN
LIGHTNIN, a unit of SPX Corporation, is a global leader in mixing technology. LIGHTNIN provides industrial fluid mixers and agitators to a wide range of industries, including chemical processing, mining and minerals, oil and petroleum, pulp and paper, and water and wastewater treatment. SPX Corporation is a global provider of technical products and systems, industrial products and services, service solutions and vehicle components. SPX is a $2.7 billion multi-industry company with operations in 19 countries and is headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan. The Internet address for SPX Corporation's home page is www.spx.com.

About BigMachines, Inc.
BigMachines, Inc., founded January 1, 2000, (www.bigmachines.com) provides software and services to help manufacturers of complex products streamline their selling and customer service processes from inquiry-to-order. BigMachines Lean Front End (LFE) solution digitizes selling processes and captures an organization's tribal knowledge to provide online product selection, configuration, quoting, and ordering capabilities for new products and aftermarket parts and services. BigMachines LFE easily integrates to existing business systems and provides in-depth sales reporting capabilities. Many leading manufacturers, including Crane Co., SPX Lightnin, and Conair have implemented BigMachines LFE to substantially reduce selling costs and improve customer service.