PARIS, LONDON and ATLANTA, March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Manhattan Associates(R), Inc. , the global leader in providing supply chain execution and optimisation solutions, today announced that Norauto, the automotive products and services specialist, has chosen the Warehouse Management and Performance Management components of Manhattan Associates' Integrated Logistics Solutions(TM) to improve the efficiency of its supply chain and to support the strong international growth the business is experiencing.

Norauto's three warehouses in France, and a fourth in Spain, supply goods to more than 350 'auto centres' located throughout Europe and South America. A fifth warehouse in Poland will become operational later this year. To support this expansion and to bring the company's ageing business systems up to date, Norauto launched a complete re-organisation of its IT infrastructure at the beginning of 2004. The programme is being executed in several phases and is aimed at enhancing the company's overall service levels and the efficiency of its logistics operations.

Currently being deployed at the 13,000m(2) warehouse at Lesquin in Northern France, Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management solution for Open Systems, which will operate on IBM's eServer platform, will provide Norauto with the ability to manage the flow of goods across the supply chain from source to consumption. A central aspect of the project is the integration of the solution to Norauto's ERP system from SAP. This will allow Norauto to easily exchange data between its front-end supply chain execution applications and its back-office enterprise system on aspects of its operation such as supplier orders received, picking requests completed, stock levels and orders fulfilled. Manhattan Associates' solution will also be complemented by Vocollect's voice-recognition technology. Already integrated with Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management solution, the combined technologies will deliver efficiencies specifically in Norauto's picking operations.

Norauto has also selected Manhattan Associates' Performance Management solution which, amongst other functions, will help the company to track productivity levels and monitor business trends. Such features will allow Norauto to make informed decisions to optimise supply chain performance.

"With its advanced execution and optimisation capabilities, Warehouse Management for Open Systems, operating on the IBM eServer platform, will enable us to improve our warehouse productivity and the efficiency of our supply chain," declared Franck Lechelle, project manager at Norauto. "The ability of the solution to be easily integrated with SAP's ERP system and Vocollect's voice-recognition technologies was a crucial aspect of our choice to go with Manhattan Associates."

"We are delighted that Norauto has chosen Manhattan Associates," said Henri Seroux, managing director for Manhattan Associates in France. "Norauto's decision adds to a growing trend we are seeing where companies are recognising the greater overall value that can be unlocked from a supply chain when integrated, best-in-class, logistics solutions are combined with the complementary strengths of an ERP system."

About Norauto

Founded in northern France in 1970, Norauto develops, sells and distributes products and services to fulfil motorists' needs in relation to equipment, maintenance, comfort, safety, well-being, etc. Norauto owns an international network of more than 350 centres under the brands Norauto, Maxauto, Auto 5 and Midas. Norauto is part of the Mulliez group, which owns Decathlon, Auchan, Leroy Merlin, and Pimkie. For more information, please visit http://www.norauto.com/

About Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Associates, Inc., is the global leader in providing supply chain execution and optimisation solutions. It enables operational excellence through its warehouse, transportation, distributed order management, reverse logistics and trading partner management applications, as well as its RFID, performance management and event management capabilities. These Integrated Logistics Solutions(TM) leverage state-of-the-art technologies, innovative practices and our domain expertise to enhance performance, profitability and competitive advantage. Manhattan Associates has licensed more than 900 customers representing more than 1,600 facilities worldwide, which include some of the world's leading manufacturers, distributors and retailers. For more information about Manhattan Associates, visit http://www.manh.com/ .

CONTACT: Xanthe Vaughan Williams, xanthe@fourthday.co.uk , or Andy
Woolnough, both of Fourth Day PR, +44-0-207-403-4411; or John Bird,
International Marketing Communications Manager of Manhattan Associates,
+44-0-1344-318071, or jbird@manh.com

Web site: http://www.manh.com/
http://www.norauto.com/