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UGS, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions and Tata Consultancy Services Launch Asian Sourcing Network (ASN)


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First-Ever Joint Solution of Information Technology, Software and Consulting Services to Facilitate Low-Cost Country Sourcing.

First ASN center, in Coimbatore, India, will focus on engineered machined parts

March 6, 2006, CHICAGO, PLANO, Texas and COIMBATORE, India – A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, a leading global sourcing services firm, and UGS Corp., a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today launched a groundbreaking initiative designed to enable manufacturers to connect companies from low-cost countries to their global innovation networks through a first-ever joint solution of information technology, software and consulting services.

Calling the new joint solution the Asian Sourcing Network (ASN), the companies are teaming with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading information technology and engineering services organization, to open the first ASN center in Coimbatore, India. Through the ASN center, which the companies opened on March 4, the three companies will find, develop and on-board companies from low-cost countries from which manufacturers and their suppliers can electronically source engineered machine parts. ASN will provide companies with a perpetual local presence which is critical to the success of low-cost country sourcing activity.

“Identifying and building effective long-term relationships with the right low-cost suppliers will be a distinguishing characteristic of leadership companies going forward,” said Joseph Raudabaugh, President, A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions. “Finding, developing and on-boarding these key suppliers and getting them fully embedded into supplier-partner networks is critical.”

“ASN combines the extensive supplier research assessment and negotiation capabilities of A. T. Kearney with the collaboration, content exchange, and sourcing enablement of UGS technologies and the far reaching business experience and recognized quality services of TCS to offer low-cost country sourcing as a packaged solution,” added Raudabaugh.

Maximizing Global Innovation Networks

The ASN targets the increasing need for manufacturers to tie low-cost country suppliers into their global innovation networks to help reduce cost. According to the Aberdeen Group, the leading provider of fact-based research and advice for the global technology-driven value chain, medium and large enterprises expect to double their average spend in low-cost countries from approximately 20 percent in 2005 to 40 percent in 2008.

The new category-specific ASN center, focused on engineered machine parts, will include 100 dedicated collaboration workstations, engineering support and supplier development services. The center will initially target over 400 small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) that provide machining services.

“The ASN represents a major step forward in enabling companies to leverage global innovation networks by establishing the local presence critical to the success of low-cost country sourcing activity,” said Raj Khoshoo, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, UGS. “The fusion of technology, services, content, data integration and best practices deployment is a logical extension for existing UGS Teamcenter customers. In addition, both existing and new customers will reap benefits including improved process coordination, reduced travel demands and radically enhanced supplier performance.”



“This initiative by A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions, UGS and TCS will enable the global manufacturing industry to achieve desegregation of their value chain and restructure their supply chain to include global suppliers based on the selection criteria of an optimum combination of capability and cost,” said Dr. Ravi Gopinath, Vice President, Engineering and Industrial Services, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. “TCS’ extensive understanding of the manufacturing industry puts it in a unique position to make this initiative a big success. TCS is committed to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing and SME sector in low-cost countries through supply network management and guiding continuous improvement cycles.”

ASN focuses on addressing both classical sourcing needs, such as supplier identification, supplier assessment and evaluation, and sourcing negotiations as well as providing for critical process and supplier management requirements, such as:

§ Supplier participation through “global” collaboration to enable key operational processes, for example, quality monitoring, engineering changes, and inter-company teaming

§ Supply market transparency in low-cost countries

§ In-country engineering services support

§ Technical capabilities mapped to support requirements-driven sourcing analytics

§ Version control and tracking of all inter-company documents and communications

§ Joint project management and issue tracking

§ Configurable workflows and performance tracking

About A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions
A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions provides comprehensive strategic procurement services to clients with needs that range from tactical cost savings to outsourced strategic sourcing services to complete procurement transformation. A.T. Kearney Procurement Solutions augments the strategic sourcing expertise of A.T. Kearney (www.atkearney.com), one of the world’s largest management consulting firms. With a global presence that includes more than 60 offices in 37 countries, spanning major and emerging markets, A.T. Kearney provides strategic, operational, organizational and technology consulting and executive search services to the world’s leading companies.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS) is the world leading information technology consulting, services, business process outsourcing and engineering services organization that envisioned and pioneered the adoption of the flexible global business practices that today enable companies to operate more efficiently and produce more value. TCS achieved this by creating and perfecting a unique method of global deployment and delivery of high quality, high value services and products in IT consulting and business process outsourcing. Known as the “Global Delivery Model,” this strategic services delivery concept has reshaped the IT services industry.

More than 95% of TCS customers reward the company’s reliability, passion, creativity, and unique ability to handle the broadest range of their IT needs by continually extending and deepening their partnerships with TCS. With over 50,000 of the world’s best trained IT consultants located in 34 countries, TCS is uniquely positioned to deliver its flexible world class services seamlessly to any location. TCS reported consolidated revenues of $2.24 billion (U.S.) in the fiscal year 2004-2005. The company is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information: www.tcs.com

About UGS
UGS is a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services with nearly 4 million licensed seats and 42,000 clients worldwide. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, the company promotes openness and standardization and works collaboratively with its clients in creating enterprise solutions enabling them to transform their process of innovation and thus begin to capture the value of PLM. For more information on UGS products and services, visit www.ugs.com.

UGS, Teamcenter and Transforming the process of innovation are trademarks or registered trademarks of UGS Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. A.T. Kearney is a trademark or registered trademark of A.T. Kearney, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. TATA is a trademark or registered trademark of TATA Consultancy Services Ltd. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks belong to their respective holders.


The statements in this news release that are not historical statements, including statements regarding expected benefits of the initiative, adoption by customers, continued innovation and other statements identified by forward looking terms such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate” or “project,” are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements, including, among others, risks relating to developments in the PLM industry, competition, failure to innovate and intellectual property. UGS has included a discussion of these and other pertinent risk factors in its registration statement on Form S-4 most recently filed with the SEC. UGS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



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