Concord, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/9/2006 -- Discrete part manufacturing companies are experiencing a demanding and difficult combination of price pressure from customers, rising costs both internally and from vendors, international competition, and income growth pressure from investors. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) has become an increasingly important metric as the largest expense item on the income statement; typically 70 to 90% of revenue.

According to Frank Azzolino, President and CEO of aPriori, “This forces companies to focus on product cost and profit margins with renewed vigor.” aPriori has developed a white paper that presents an architecture for Cost Management platform developed through a six year industry/university collaborative research project initiated to address this problem in New Product Introduction (NPI) programs.

Azzolino suggests, “Manufacturers are forced to operate under net margins of only a few percent. A 1% decrease in COGS can equate to a 16 -30% increase in net income in many discrete manufacturing companies.”

Based in Concord, MA, aPriori (www.apriori.com) is the technology leader providing innovative cost management solutions to the discrete manufacturing industry. aPriori’s Cost Management Software Platform enables manufacturers to better understand product cost decisions early and throughout the product lifecycle. aPriori’s Cost Management Platform empowers manufacturers to lower cost-of-goods sold (COGS), provides real-time visibility to “cost-critical” decision information, and builds critical cost knowledge to go on the business “offensive.” aPriori’s patent-protected cost management platform allows companies to assess, control, and reduce cost of goods sold by whole percentages. The aPriori Platform truly enables “Cost Knowledge Before it Matters.”

Contact:
John Busa
aPriori
978-371-2006
jbusa@apriori.com