Dacor Earns Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award For QAD Enterprise Applications Implementation

March 16, 2011 - PRLog -- QAD Inc. (NASDAQ- QADA, QADB), a leading provider of enterprise software and services for global manufacturers, announced today that its customer Dacor, a globally respected manufacturer of premium kitchen appliances made in the USA, has been selected as a 2011 Progressive Manufacturing 100 (PM 100) award winner in the Data & Integration Mastery category.

Sponsored by industry publisher Manufacturing Enterprise Communications, the PM 100 industry awards program honors 100 manufacturing companies from around the world for their successful completion of projects using information technology to transform their business and deliver demonstrable competitive advantages.

Dacor was selected over hundreds of nominees for improving its manufacturing, supply chain and IT efficiency while reducing costs and bringing new products to market, faster, using QAD On Demand — QAD’s cloud ERP solution delivered in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Dacor’s objective was to leverage QAD On Demand to help achieve several quantifiable milestones, including improving system availability and reliability to 99.9% from approximately 78%, prior to implementation; effectively doubling its IT staff and resource availability to the organization; improving its delivered services and response times; and reducing its IT budget by 20%.

Dacor also reduced inventory by 30% and realized a savings in excess of $1 million; initiated a shop floor performance initiative with its successful Kanban system that resulted in improved process flow with a 25% efficiency improvement in material planning and work in process (WIP); and increased overall system uptime by 14%.

“We’re honored to receive this award,” said Hugo Valldejuli, chief information officer at Dacor. “QAD On Demand not only met our IT expectations, but with the improvements it provided to our manufacturing and business processes, we were able to deliver more product faster, at a time when many of our competitors were cutting back.”

About Dacor®
Family-owned since its founding in 1965, Dacor is an innovator of stylish, American-made, luxury kitchen appliances that provide a premium culinary experience for those who are passionate about the details and finer points of gourmet cooking. The company has introduced many industry firsts including an outdoor grill with built-in halogen lights, Illumina™ Burner Controls with blue LED lights, the patented RapidHeat™ Bake Element, and color-infused glass appliances. Dacor offers a complete line of luxury kitchen appliances, including wall ovens, ranges, cooktops, dishwashers, warming drawers, microwaves, ventilation hoods, refrigerators, and wine storage, and outdoor appliances. The company also features an affordable line of designer appliances to bring the luxury of Dacor to a broader range of consumers. Dacor is committed to reducing the energy demands of its operations, maximizing the efficiency of its products and implementing sustainable business practices. For more information on Dacor, its product line and local dealer locations, visit http://www.dacor.com/, contact Customer Care at (800) 793-0093 or visit the Dacor Design & Culinary Centers in Atlanta or San Francisco.

About QAD
QAD is a leading provider of enterprise applications for global manufacturing companies.  QAD applications provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time.  Manufacturers of automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life science products use QAD applications at approximately 6,100 licensed sites in more than 90 countries and in as many as 27 languages.  For more information about QAD, telephone +1 805 684 6614, or visit the QAD Web site at www.qad.com.

"QAD" is a registered trademark of QAD Inc. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

“QAD” is a registered trademark of QAD Inc. All other products or company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to Investors: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, evolving demand for the company's software products and products that operate with the company's products; the company's ability to sustain license and service demand; the company's ability to leverage changes in technology; the company's ability to sustain customer renewal rates at current levels; the publication of opinions by industry and financial analysts about the company, its products and technology; the reliability of estimates of transaction and integration costs and benefits; the entry of new competitors or new offerings by existing competitors and the associated announcement of new products and technological advances by them; delays in localizing the company's products for new or existing markets; the ability to recruit and retain key personnel; delays in sales as a result of lengthy sales cycles; changes in operating expenses, pricing, timing of new product releases, the method of product distribution or product mix; timely and effective integration of newly acquired businesses; general economic conditions; exchange rate fluctuations; and, the global political environment. In addition, revenue and earnings in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software industry are subject to fluctuations. Software license revenue, in particular, is subject to variability with a significant proportion of revenue earned in the last month of each quarter. Given the high margins associated with license revenue, modest fluctuations can have a substantial impact on net income. Investors should not use any one quarter's results as a benchmark for future performance. For a more detailed description of the risk factors associated with the company and the industries in which it operates, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2010 ended January 31, 2010.

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Founded in 1979, QAD has been recognized as a leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications for global manufacturing companies. Today, QAD enterprise applications leverage advances in Internet and enabling technologies to provide critical functionality for managing manufacturing resources and operations within and beyond the enterprise, enabling global manufacturers to collaborate with their customers, suppliers and partners to make and deliver the right product, at the right cost and at the right time.

QAD enterprise applications are focused and optimized for select manufacturing industry segments: automotive, consumer products, electronics, food and beverage, industrial and life sciences.