3M to sell HighJump Software for undisclosed sum
Diversified technology company 3M (NYSE:MMM) announced on Friday (9 May) that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell HighJump Software, the company's business unit and a provider of flexible supply chain execution software and services, to Battery Ventures, a technology venture capital and private equity firm. Upon completion of the transaction, a stand-alone company will be formed focused on providing supply chain solutions to a global customer base. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter, were not disclosed.

Haley Limited: Haley and Lagan Expand Strategic Partnership Serving Public Sector Clients; Haley's Natural Language Technology, Time-Based Reasoning, and Full Auditability Strengthen Lagan's Solutions for Social Service Agencies and Citizens' Benefits Elig
RDATE:12052008 London -- Haley Limited, the technology leader in business rules management systems, announced today that its strategic partnership with Lagan has expanded to enable Lagan to deploy Haley Office Rules within its case management and customer relationship management solutions for government and public-sector clients worldwide. The agreement broadens and deepens a May 2007 OEM alliance between Lagan and Haley Systems, a Pittsburgh-based provider that was acquired by RuleBurst Limited of Sydney, Australia, in November 2007. Under the previous arrangement, Lagan offered Haley Business Rules as an optional plug-in capability within its Human Services Suite.

INFORMATION BUILDERS: Mid-Market companies embrace multiuse business intelligence from Information Builders; WebFOCUS helps mid-size companies take control of their information assets
RDATE:12052008 London, UK -- Information Builders, the independent leader in pervasive business intelligence (BI) systems, today announced that mid-market leaders have become a significant sector for its WebFOCUS BI solutions. Mid-market companies have unique characteristics that are often overlooked by functional enterprise software vendors. Despite their size and financial constraints, these organisations have all the same business processes as global enterprises and are focused on staying competitive. "Our customers want to use WebFOCUS in every department so we have adapted our solutions to better meet their needs," says Information Builders CEO Gerald Cohen. "They strongly object to having to pay for it on a per-seat basis because it restricts their flexibility in deployment, so we have special licensing for our mid-market customers to remove this obstacle."

Research and Markets: The Global Wireless M2M Market Is A Unique Report Analysing The Latest Market Developments In All Regions Of The World
RDATE:12052008 Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91471) has announced the addition of new Berg Insight report "The Global Wireless M2M Market" to their offering This strategic research report from Berg Insight provides you with unique business intelligence including 5-year industry forecasts and expert commentary on which to base your business decisions.

iBASEt to launch manufacturing operations management software
Solumina G7 provides a platform for integration and extensions that leverages standard JEE technologies including enterprise service bus and web services to integrate ERP and engineering CAD and PLM systems. Solumina G7 will include support for industry clients including SAP, Oracle, and Dassault Systemes. Vic Sial, president of iBASEt, said: "Our focus on driving down costs, improving customer ROI and end-user experience is resulting in quicker implementations with fewer customizations. The upcoming product release includes standard integration interfaces to enable customers to quickly bridge the enterprise systems and the shopfloor."

AmerisourceBergen announces organizational changes
Michael DiCandilo, executive vice president and CFO of AmerisourceBergen, expands his responsibilities with the added position of COO for AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation (ABDC) and continues to report directly to David Yost, president and CEO of AmerisourceBergen (ABC). The ABDC functions reporting to DiCandilo in his new role as ABDC's COO are supply chain management, Operations, including the distribution network and financial operations, which previously reported to him. Yost continues to lead ABDC and continues to have the executives leading sales and marketing reporting to him. Steven Collis, executive vice president of AmerisourceBergen and president, AmerisourceBergen Specialty Group (ABSG), expands his responsibilities to include supervision of PMSI, the company's workers' compensation business. Steve continues his responsibilities for helping shape the policy and strategy of ABC and for more closely integrating ABSG across AmerisourceBergen. He continues to report directly to Yost. Terrance Haas, executive vice president of AmerisourceBergen and chief integration officer, has left the company to pursue other interests. Thomas Murphy, senior vice president and chief information officer, expands his responsibilities to include the leadership of business transformation, the company's multi-year process improvement project, which includes design of an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system for ABDC and the corporation. Yost continues his executive leadership of business transformation. Murphy continues to report directly to DiCandilo.

John Daniel Associates, Inc. Announces Authoring and Release of: IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence: The Official Guide
PITTSBURGH, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- John Daniel Associates (JDA), a Platinum Reseller and accredited Cognos partner, has announced the release of the first Cognos 8 Business Intelligence (BI) book, IBM Cognos 8 Business Intelligence: The Official Guide. The book is published by McGraw-Hill and is the only book IBM Cognos recognizes as official representation of its Cognos 8 BI solution. The book is authored by Dan Volitich, president and owner of John Daniel Associates. It debuts today at Cognos Forum 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, it is available on various popular online bookstores.

Ann Taylor Increases its Outlook for the First Quarter and Announces Preliminary First Quarter Sales Results
NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AnnTaylor Stores Corporation(NYSE:ANN)today announced that it now expects earnings per diluted share for the first quarter will exceed its previous guidance range, due primarily to stronger results at LOFT and better overall expense and inventory management. Based upon preliminary figures, the Company's net sales in the fiscal first quarter ended May 3, 2008 increased 2% to approximately $592 million, versus net sales of $580 million in the first quarter ended May 5, 2007. Comparable store sales for the quarter declined 4.3%, with the Ann Taylor division down 11.5% and the LOFT division up 0.7%. The Company indicated that it currently expects earnings per diluted share for the quarter, excluding previously-announced restructuring costs, to be approximately $0.45-0.47, versus its previous guidance range of $0.35-0.40 per diluted share. The improvement in the Company's earnings per diluted share outlook for the quarter largely reflects stronger results at LOFT, as well as better overall expense and inventory management and the benefit of the Company's share repurchase program. The Company indicated that its inventory per square foot was down approximately 15% at the end of the quarter, with both Ann Taylor and LOFT down significantly.

GibbsCAM Featured at Mori Seiki Innovation Days; Leading CAM Provider Will Demonstrate Comprehensive Support of Mori Seiki's Product Line
MOORPARK, California, May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cimatron limited(NASDAQ:CIMT), a leading provider of integrated CAD/CAM solutions for the toolmaking and manufacturing industries, announced today that GibbsCAM(R), its CAM software for programming CNC machine tools will be demonstrated at Mori Seiki's upcoming Innovation Days on May 14th - 16th. Innovation Days, which highlights Mori Seiki's latest CNC technology and also celebrates Mori Seiki's 25th Anniversary, is being held at Mori Seiki USA's Chicago Technical Center. Gibbs will demonstrate GibbsCAM's NC programming support of Mori Seiki's conventional and advanced multi-tasking machine tools. Gibbs will also demonstrate the latest GibbsCAM enhancements which fully supports Mori Seiki's innovative spinning tool turning. GibbsCAM support for Mori Seiki's spinning tool operation includes rough and finish turning on any type of lathe part and the ability to control the tool axis in a variety of ways to provide an optimal tool-part cutting condition.

Compass Diversified Holdings Reports 2008 First Quarter Financial Results; Cash Flow Available for Distribution and Reinvestment for Q1 2008 Increased to $9.9 million from $6.4 million for Q1 2007
WESTPORT, Conn., May 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Compass Diversified Holdings (Nasdaq: CODI or the "Company"), a leading acquirer and manager of middle market businesses, announced today its consolidated results of operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. CODI increased cash flow available for distribution and reinvestment ("CAD") to $9.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, compared to $6.4 million in the prior year quarter. For the 12 month period from April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008, CODI reported CAD of $49.8 million, or approximately $1.64 per share, yielding a coverage ratio of approximately 1.3x on the four quarterly distributions paid through April 25, 2008. During this 12 month period, CAD exceeded shareholder distributions by $9.6 million. CAD and CAD per share are measures used by the Company to assess its performance, as well as its ability to sustain and increase quarterly distributions. A number of CODI's businesses have seasonal cash flow patterns, with the first quarter typically being the lowest cash flow producing quarter of the year. Accordingly, the Company believes that the most appropriate measure of its performance is over a trailing or expected 12 month period.

C5 Medical Werks Applies for Clearance, Certification and Licensing for the Global Marketing of ZirDent(TM) Ceramic CAD/CAM Dental Blocks
"Achieving these multiple milestones underscores our dedication to serving unmet needs in the marketplace," said Brad Coors, President and CEO of C5 Medical Werks.

British Inventor Develops Wellbore Conditions Forecasting Systems
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 10 -- Florent Kelfoun of Aberdeen, Great Britain, has developed drilling and measurement systems. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Methods and systems are provided for displaying and forecasting the lithology and wellbore conditions to be encountered while conducting drill string operations in a wellbore."

U.S., Canadian Inventors Develop Data Warehouse Management Method
ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 9 -- Kevin Leo Beck and Paul Michael Brett, both of Portland, Ore., Jeffrey James Goss of Toronto, Dieu Quang La of Markham, Canada, Catherine Suzanne McArthur of Uxbridge, Canada, and William T. O'Connell of Etobicoke, Canada, have developed a method for managing a data warehouse.

ADC KRONE: New ADC KRONE Shielded Physical Layer Management Solution Designed to Significantly Reduce Network Operating Costs; TrueNet PLM Solution Features 20-year Zero-Bit-Error Warranty
RDATE:09052008 ADC KRONE (NASDAQ: ADCT; www.adckrone.com) announced today the addition of a shielded copper variant to the company's TrueNet Physical Layer Management (PLM) solution. This comprehensive solution is designed to enable network managers to identify and monitor the location and connectivity of every PC, printer, server, switch port, Ethernet device and copper or fibre circuit throughout a single or multi-site enterprise. This latest addition to the TrueNet PLM family can manage shielded and unshielded copper, as well asfibrechannels. The new PLM solution uses an additional conductor in all copper andfibrepatch leads and patch panels, and features an additional contact per jack that is designed to not affect the transmission performance of the TrueNet connectivity components. This enables ADC KRONE to offer the TrueNet PLM with a full 20-year Zero-Bit-Error performance warranty. The solution also interfaces via SMNP into the switches within the network to aggregate all the necessary information into a real-time picture for the network manager. An optional CAD software module enables floor-plan display of relevant information.

Audi extends simulation management environment with SimManager
The system of Audi represents a global installation of SimManager Enterprise to date, helping multiple engineering groups within Audi as well as their supplier community to accelerate the vehicle development process of Audi and improve their insight into system level functional performance. SimManager Enterprise manages currently more than 180,000 simulations, with up to 850 new simulations created per day and enables collaboration amongst 400 internal and external users on all new vehicle multi-discipline programs, for crash, pedestrian safety, occupant safety, head impact and NVH engineering disciplines. SimManager Enterprise allows automotive and other manufacturing organizations to harness and fully exploit both the large quantities of simulation content for their inherent knowledge. This is crucial in high value product development. SimManager Enterprise is designed to complement existing PDM and PLM systems, saving time and cost with easy integration of simulation content within the existing IT infrastructure. Additionally, SimManager goes beyond traditional data management approaches in additionally enabling process-based automation of the required simulation tasks.

ITT Industries selects ToolsGroup supply chain planning suite
ITT will use the supply chain solution for sales forecasting and managing purchasing plans. Part of the US group of ITT Industries, ITT Industries Friction Products is a worldwide market leader in the manufacture of pads for brake systems. ToolsGroup is a certified partner of SAP (powered by SAP NetWeaver) and the SO 99+ suite is particularly suited to integration with operating processes managed by SAP R/3. Using the Demand Planner component of SO 99+, ITT will calculate sales forecasts and manage the collaborative process, which balances client purchasing plans with promotions negotiated by distributors. In addition, the advanced Inventory Planning module manages the stock planning process and determines the optimum stock level required to achieve the desired level of service, while balancing market variations in the logistics-production chain.

ObjectVideo signs OEM partnership with Dowshu
Dowshu's 32- and 64-channel digital video recorders will feature ObjectVideo OnBoard video analytics. ObjectVideo OnBoard technology is expected to enable Dowshu to increase the value and effectiveness of its solutions by embedding video analytics into a wide variety of devices, including Dowshu's Intelligent DVRs. ObjectVideo claims that the new product set will allow Dowshu DVRs to automate many day-to-day tasks, eliminating the need for constant camera monitoring by security staff. Users will now be able to gather business intelligence in retail and other sectors and be alerted to potential hazards or threats in secure areas. Brian Eckert, vice president of sales and marketing at ObjectVideo, said: "Dowshu's reach into retail, commercial, industrial and public/civil markets in the UK and Ireland is incredibly strong. Enhancing its robust DVR series with ObjectVideo technology provides them a market leading offering. By partnering with Dowshu, we are reinforcing our worldwide leadership in intelligent video solutions."

SoftBrands extends partnership with SAP
Under the partnership, the companies will jointly pursue opportunities for affiliates and smaller sites of large enterprises. The goal and commitment is to pursue an SAP-centric solution at the plant level for large enterprises. SoftBrands is one of the partners to work with SAP on a joint market approach and strategy for this market segment. Ralf Suerken, senior vice president and general manager of SoftBrands Manufacturing, said: "While we have been working with SAP informally to sell to the affiliate level in the past, we now have formalized our efforts and defined a shared vision of success. By leveraging this partnership we can reinforce our ability to deliver ERP solutions and services of the highest caliber."

u-blox Appoints SmartCore as Brazilian Representative
THALWIL, Switzerland, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- u-blox, the leading Swiss provider of GPS receiver technology, has appointed SmartCore Business Intelligence as its Brazilian representative. The move aims at offering customers better sales and design-in support in Brazil. The founders of SmartCore Business Intelligence have a combined experience in selling sophisticated components of more than 25 years. The company also provides technical and commercial support to electronics manufacturers and resellers in Brazil. Their product portfolio includes GPS modules and chipsets, GSM/GPRS modems, computer modules, wireless modules and accessories, and data storage products.

EDS Named Leader in Outsourcing Services by CRM Magazine
PLANO, Texas, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EDS today announced it has once again been named a leader in the Outsourcing Services Category by CRM Magazine in its 2008 Service Awards. This represents the fourth consecutive year EDS has been recognized for its leadership by one of the world's foremost customer relationship management (CRM) publications.