NEW LONDON, N.H., July 12, 2006 -- Oliver Wight Americas, Inc., has introduced Version 5.2 of its Enterprise Sales & Operations Planning Tool (ESOPT), a decision support product that facilitates the transition to S&OP and optimizes the ongoing use of the S&OP process. The new release enhances the ability to drive the demand forecast into options that supply can understand and execute. ESOPT V. 5.2 also improves the methodology to manage inventory to targets.

Version 5.2 improves the ability of S&OP coordinators and participants to use the tool to manage data and provides new ways to present the data to facilitate decisionmaking. It also reduces the time required for data entering and management.

The Enterprise S&OP Planning Tool provides charts and graphs that enable management to obtain a clear view of the business and make more informed, timelier decisions; project demand, supply, new product development and financial requirement up to 24 months into the future; and "What-if" scenarios to view different demand, supply, and resource implications.

Version 5.2 enhances the features that facilitate monthly reviews, such as comments for aggregate family and strategic business unit (SBU) rough cut capacity planning, and improves the financial appraisal process when reviewing the data. The updated tool models complex demand-supply relationships and enables S&OP coordinators and participants to review the data as a "read only." ESOPT also includes import and export features that improve the ability to import data into the tool and export data from the tool to perform analyses. It also includes additional support functions for global formatting, and has the capability of automatically calculating performance measures of both demand and supply data.

All of the upgrades are based on the needs that Oliver Wight consultants have identified or been requested by the client base. "Version 5.2 improves the abilities to use the tool to implement the S&OP process and to obtain quick results," says J. Robert Tearnan, an Oliver Wight principal. "Once a client achieves Class A level of performance, the tool will help them to maintain the process at the Class A level."

Version 5.2 of the Enterprise Sales & Operations Planning Tool is scheduled for general release during June 2006. For additional information, contact Oliver Wight at 1-800-258-3862, or visit, http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/sop/esop.htm

About Oliver Wight

Oliver Wight professionals are leading business improvement specialists who educate, coach, and mentor people to lead and sustain change on the journey to business excellence and outstanding business performance. With offices throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific, our consultants are at the leading edge of management thinking and practice. For over thirty-five years, Oliver Wight has worked with hundreds of companies worldwide to achieve Class A results. Class A certification continues to be a hallmark of manufacturing excellence, and demand-driven S&OP is enabling more and more of our clients to perfect the communications and operational controls that are fundamental to achieve and sustain that excellence. For more information, go to http://www.oliverwight-americas.com/sop/esop.htm

Contact: Susan S. Hansen
             1-603-526-5800 X103
             shansen@oliverwight.com