Week of January 22, 1999 Manufacturing News IMI Acquires Abalon Industri-Matematik International (IMI) (Marlton, N.J.; www.im.se), a provider of supply chain management software, has acquired the Abalon customer relationship management software operations from Astea International (Horsham, Pa.; www.astea.com) for $9.5 million. All 80 Abalon employees in the U.S. and Europe will join IMI. The combined IMI and Abalon solution will feature marketing automation, sales management, order capture, global fulfillment and service management capabilities. The joint solution will enable companies to acquire, develop and retain customers by managing the complete lifecycle of their business interactions. IMI will integrate Abalon Customer Management Solution (CMS) software, which supports sales, marketing, service and call center operations, with its Advanced Supply Chain Execution Suite for managing customer-driven fulfillment in complex logistics environments. Both products support the multi-language, multi-currency environments of global companies and provide e-commerce capabilities that allow companies to collaborate with customers and partners. The Manufacturing Report © Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 by Lionheart Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. E-mail Editorial Dept: tmr-editorial@lionhrtpub.com Lionheart Publishing, Inc. 2555 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 299, Atlanta, GA 30339 USA Phone: 770-431-0867 | Fax: 770-432-6969 E-mail: lpi@lionhrtpub.com Web Design by Premier Web Designs E-mail: lionwebmaster@preweb.com