Preactor wins prestigious US award for 3rd year running

Preactor again recognised as one of the Hottest IT Companies of 2007 by leading US Manufacturing IT Publisher

Specialist planning and scheduling software provider Preactor International has won its third prestigious Hottest Company award in a row. The award from leading US Manufacturing Technology publication START IT recognises leading companies in their respective markets and reinforces Preactors reputation as one of the leading suppliers of production planning and scheduling solutions for companies of all sizes.

Specifically, Preactors APS (Advanced Planning and Scheduling) and FCS (Finite Capacity Scheduling) solutions were identified as, being unique in manufacturing circles in that they are highly configurable for many different environments. In addition for being noted for its ability to enable manufacturers to solve planning and scheduling problems simply not possible with traditional spreadsheet approaches, Preactor was also praised for the way it enables, as opposed to replacing, traditional ERP solutions. As the publication states, What START-IT likes about Preactor is that its a perfect complement to a traditional ERP system.

Mike Novels, Preactors CEO is understandably delighted at this latest award. What means the most about this award is that its based on the recognition of the real and quantifiable benefits our production scheduling solutions bring to manufacturers. Its an enabling technology which can help companies from small subcontracting operations all the way up to global companies with multiple geographic locations and complex supply chain problems. It is also encouraging to receive a third successive award from an American publication because with over 1900 implementations in 60 countries, Preactor is increasingly being seen at a global level as the definitive production scheduling solution.

About Preactor International

Preactor International is the world leader in production scheduling software with more than 8,000 installations in more than 1,900 companies located in 60 countries. Preactors unique combination of ease-of-use, flexibility and affordability provides planners with a decision support tool that helps companies reach maximum agility in a fast moving, demand driven, make to order, lean environment.

Preactor has been used successfully in many different types of planning and scheduling environment. It has a significant installed base in Automotive, Aerospace, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Printing, Packaging, Plastics, Metals and Metal Fabricated Products, Food and Beverages, Electronics and Electrical Equipment, Precision Engineering, Services and Logistics. There are more than 60 documented case studies showing how companies have saved money through Preactor, in particular through lower stocks and inventory levels, higher productivity through better sequencing and obtaining new business through improved on-time delivery performance.

Preactor is designed for integration with other software such as ERP. These products typically export a list of operations that need to be completed to produce all new and existing demands. Using Preactor, the user then schedules which task to complete, by which production resource, and at what time using a combination of automatic rules and manual drag-drop on the interactive planning board. When released by the planner the schedule information updates ERP with the confirmed production schedule, revised route, sequence and timings from the Preactor plan.   Preactors sequencing engine provides additional functionality over and above competitive products. For example multiple constraints (e.g. machines, staff, tooling etc), attribute based sequencing (e.g. preferred sequencing and campaigning to minimise changeover times), complex, user definable scheduling rules and dependencies between orders.

Some of the most well known mid-market ERP companies including Sage, SYSPRO, Divalto, Softbrands and QAD partner with Preactor to offer their clients the production scheduling power of Preactor. In addition to a huge range of SME companies, Preactor is also used by some of the most well known companies in the world including Toyota, Pfizer, Alcan, CST-Arcelor, Bakkavor, Imperial Tobacco, Diageo, GKN, PPG, Dunlop, Quebicor and many more.