Ameristar Fence Purchases SmartForecasts to Improve Demand Planning

Ameristar to improve inventory management, service levels and asset utilization

Belmont, Mass., February 12, 2007 - Smart Software, Inc., provider of industry-leading demand forecasting, planning, and inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Ameristar Fence has purchased Smart's flagship product, SmartForecasts® Enterprise, to improve it's demand planning.  Ameristar Fence, a 500-employee organization headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of metal ornamental fence and wood fence hardware.  The company's sales are growing annually and its products are distributed through a multi-tiered network, which includes large retailers such as Home Depot and Lowes.  Ameristar hopes to reduce its inventories, increase its service levels, and improve its asset utilization by automating much of its demand forecasting and planning process.  It is also integrating SmartForecasts with its JD Edwards ERP system.

Prior to SmartForecasts, Ameristar's forecasting process was done primarily on a manual basis using spreadsheets. The company has undertaken a major effort to upgrade its information systems, and chose SmartForecasts over other vendors following a competitive evaluation process.

"We were looking for a demand planning solution that was user-friendly and understandable," said Bill Thompson, director of materials/planning at Ameristar.  "We are confident that SmartForecasts can significantly help us improve the accuracy of our forecasts and our financial performance."

Ameristar has traditionally maintained high inventory levels, in part because it didn't have the systems it needed to properly forecast seasonal demands and overall trends.  The company will use SmartForecasts' ability to analyze seasonal demand patterns to help it improve its capacity and inventory planning and better utilize its assets during the slow winter months.

"We've been forecasting individual SKU's largely by history and spreadsheets, and replenishing by re-order point, thus we needed better information to improve product availability and reduce inventory," continued Thompson. "By having good demand forecasts, we will have the information we need to enhance our short-term and long-term planning performance."

SmartForecasts is a cross-industry solution for demand forecasting, demand planning, and inventory optimization.  It integrates easily with host databases, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and IBM DB2, as well as ERP and SCM systems like Epicor, Adonix, JD Edwards, and SAP.  SmartForecasts contains award-winning, patented technology for forecasting hard-to-forecast items with intermittent, or "slow-moving", demand.  This unique technology, which yields nearly 100 percent accurate estimates of inventory stocking requirements for any lead time and desired service level, is being used by scores of companies with service parts operations, as well as industrial tools and capital goods manufacturers.

About Smart Software, Inc.
Founded in 1984, Smart Software, Inc. is a leader in providing businesses with enterprise-wide demand forecasting, planning and inventory optimization solutions.  Smart Software's flagship product, SmartForecasts, has thousands of users worldwide, including customers at mid-market enterprises and Fortune 500 companies, such as Monsanto, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Disney, Pfizer, GE and The Coca-Cola Company.  SmartForecasts gives demand planners the tools to handle sales seasonality, promotions, new and aging products, multi-dimensional hierarchies, and intermittently demanded service parts and capital goods items.  It also provides inventory managers with accurate estimates of the minimum inventory and safety stock required to meet future orders, thereby ensuring the most cost-effective inventory allocation to achieve desired service levels.  Smart Software is headquartered in Belmont, Massachusetts and can be found on the World Wide Web at www.smartcorp.com.

SmartForecasts is a registered trademark of Smart Software, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, please contact Smart Software, Inc., Four Hill Road, Belmont, MA 02478.
Phone: 1-800-SMART-99 (800-762-7899); FAX: 1-617-489-2748; E-mail: info@smartcorp.com

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