Press release

May 24, 2005

ABB replaces two configurators with one from Tacton

ABB has been working for many years with configurator solutions to support their sales staff and partners. Now the company has replaced two configurators with the Tacton Configurator which offers expanded functionality.

ABB has switched to Tacton's Configurator solution for one of the company's standard products, electrical motors with accessories. ABB sells 15,000 motors with 500 configurable accessories. Six factories and about 1000 partners around the world will be affected by the change.

The Tacton Configurator, which is integrated with ABB's Order Management System and the company's e-commerce online system, will be used by the company's own sales staff and by partners selling ABB products. In addition, all orders involving accessories - over USD 270 million annually - will pass through the Tacton Configurator.

"An important goal is to reduce the number of errors in the order process. Today almost half of the orders are incomplete when they come to the factory. We want to reduce this by 10 percent and we are counting on the Tacton Configurator to do this," says Håkan Delebeck, head of ABB's e-commerce solution Business Online. "A problem order can take four people three days to solve."

Now only one system has to be administered and maintained instead of two - meaning fewer platforms and servers. There will also be less need for ABB engineers to support sales staff, which improves productivity and shortens the lead time from customer inquiry up until delivery. Customized products can now be configured quicker and the sales staff has better and more relevant information.

"The Tacton Configurator doesn't replace sales staff and their expertise. It helps them work better and more efficiently. Last but not least, this totally integrated configurator will allow design and productivity to go hand in hand in the future," says Håkan Delebeck.

The Tacton Configurator has been tested and in April a basic version was launched on the Business Online site. In September, the full version will be launched, which integrates with ABB's Order Management System.

"When it comes to configurators it is important to have a supplier - Tacton Systems - that can work with many different systems." says Delebeck. "Today about 50 different ERP systems are used within ABB."

"ABB uses an extremely high level of technology and is moving into the 2nd and 3rd generation of configuration for more efficient sales. As Tacton is a specialist in the field, we are very proud to be able to replace the previous configurators with this cutting-edge technology," says Christer Wallberg, CEO of Tacton Systems AB.

Further information:
Christer Wallberg, CEO, Tacton Systems AB. tel: +46 8 690 07 50, e-mail: christer.wallberg@tacton.com. Magnus Kjell, Tacton Systems AB. tel: +46 690 0750, e-mail: magnus.kjell@tacton.com

About ABB
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in energy and automation technology. Their solutions improve performance and minimize environmental impact for power companies and industries. Companies in the ABB group are active in around 100 countries and the corporation has about 103,000 employees.

About Tacton Systems
Tacton Systems AB (www.tacton.com) develops and sells embeddable software for sales configuration. Ericsson, Getinge, Cardo Doors, Norstan, and FläktWoods are among the companies that use the Tacton Configurator solution to efficiently sell their complex customized products both offline and online. The Tacton Configurator can be integrated with existing systems and has standard integrations with many leading e-commerce, ERP, CRM, PLM, and CAD systems.