Emptoris builds momentum; announces an acquisition and new service offerings

By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 7/20/2006 6:26:00 AM

Building on the momentum gained from its merger with diCarta earlier this year, Emptoris today announces its acquisition of Mindflow Technologies as well as new service offerings.

Revenue from sales of the company’s supply and contract management software increased by 68% in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2005, says Ammiel Kamon, senior vice president of marketing and product management. “We’re excited by the growth. We have positive momentum from the business fueling our ability to do more.” Emptoris also has recently doubled its sales force. The company now employs 380 people all told.

Kamon sees the acquisition as having benefits for both Emptoris and Mindflow customers. Mindflow gives Emptoris a foothold in the food and beverage and retail industries as well as expertise in product management and development. The company has been working over the past few months to migrate Mindflow customers to its spend and contract management products. “Our transition is proceeding exceedingly well thanks to the attention and spirit of collaboration Emptoris brings to the conversation,” says Dennis Clabby, vice president of purchasing, Independent Purchasing Cooperative, the purchasing arm for Subway restaurants in North America.

Today Emptoris also is releasing Overdrive, an offering that combines new tools and services including benchmarking assessment, adoption workshops, advanced analytical reporting and access to a broad user community that promotes the exchange of knowledge.

“Not only able to grow and thrive but also grow and add additional capabilities,” says Kamon. “We believe we are a unique leader from this perspective in the marketplace.”

In the second quarter of this year, the company released Emptoris 6 which provides functionality to support the supply and contract management process and includes tools for spend analysis, sourcing, contract management, compliance and supplier performance management. In June, Emptoris released its SAP integration package for Emptoris 6. Based on the SAP NetWeaver Exchange Infrastructure (SAP NetWeaver XI), companies can drive sourcing and contract decisions directly into the ERP procure-to-pay process, helping ensure day to day operations meet requirements of strategic agreements.

Emptoris has doubled its operation in Europe, opening offices in France and Germany and in this spring held its first annual European User Forum, bringing together executives and practitioners to share best practices in driving adoption and discuss supply management trends.

In May, Emptoris was inducted by Informs into the Franz Edelman Academy. The academy is a who’s who of achievement in operations research. Emptoris was selected for its collaboration with Motorola to re-invent the supplier negotiation process, enabling Motorola to save $600 million. Emptoris is the only software supplier selected to the academy based on applying optimization to the procurement process.

Emptoris has more than 160 customers globally including purchasing operations at American Express, Bank of America, Boeing, Dow Corning, GlaxoSmithKline, Motorola, Owens Corning, Samsung America and Toro.

Since its inception, Emptoris has invested more than a third of its revenue back into research and development.