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Visiprise, BAE Systems Partnership Clears Takeoff for Joint Strike Fighter Program

ATLANTA – November 16, 2006 —  Visiprise, Inc., a leader in integrated manufacturing operations solutions, and transatlantic aerospace and defense company BAE Systems have enabled the successful delivery of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The partnership paired Visiprise’s manufacturing solutions with BAE Systems’ already efficient standards and processes.

BAE Systems was tasked with the build and delivery of specific Major Units and Systems for the F-35 Lightning II. To meet the program standards, BAE needed to modify its current standards to abide by contractual requirements and deliver the product on a compressed timeline.

“Visiprise worked closely with BAE Systems and other vendors over a four year period to help us develop a site specific solution for the F35 Lightning II program,” said Chris Wren, JSF Site Specific Solutions Lead, BAE Systems. “I don’t believe we have ever achieved such a rapid development schedule on any other project and for everyone involved, this has been a most impressive solution.”

To meet the program standards, BAE Systems engaged long-time partner Visiprise to meet manufacturing objectives. Working with project and manufacturing teams, Visiprise ensured BAE Systems delivered to the program’s rigorous demands. Several of Visiprise’s integrated manufacturing operations solutions were employed, including:

• Visiprise Manufacturing Change Management as a documentation tool that also routes, audits and monitors each design and manufacturing change authority and item from initiation through incorporation into the product build
• Visiprise Process Planning to plan and define the manufacturing and assembly process for machining and fabrication of parts, build of subassemblies and major assemblies
• Visiprise Bill of Material Management to manage the reconciliation of part content between EBOM, MBOM and As-Built bill of material views and to define, control and navigate a multi-level product structure to generate accurate material requirement plans
• Visiprise Nonconformance Management to manage incoming and in-process nonconforming materials from their initial detection, through preliminary review, to their final disposition

Visiprise’s solutions allowed BAE Systems to conduct “design intent” checks throughout manufacturing to ensure the specific F-35 Lightning II components were built to specification. Additionally, an electronic work instruction system powered by Visiprise provided standardized, digital work instructions, reducing hours per unit, scrap and rework during production.

“Our customers rely on us to provide them with solutions needed to improve their ability to efficiently manufacture on-time, defect-free products,” said Sean McCloskey, president and CEO of Visiprise. “In the case of the F-35 Lightning II, we were able to provide BAE Systems with increased visibility and standardized processes which helped facilitate the on-time completion of this important project.”

For more information about the Visiprise-BAE Systems partnership to help deliver the F-35 Lightning II visit http://www.visiprise.com/BAE.

About BAE Systems

BAE Systems is the premier transatlantic defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with more than 100,000 employees worldwide, had 2005 sales that exceeded $28 billion.

About Visiprise

Visiprise is a leading provider of business solutions for integrated manufacturing operations. Visiprise solutions help customers plan, define, control, execute and analyze manufacturing operations in a single environment, to easily integrate with existing enterprise applications. Focused on aerospace and defense, electronics, automotive and specialty vehicles, and the medical device industries, more than 200 customers around the globe turn to Visiprise for improvements in operating costs, quality and manufacturing visibility. Customers include Actia, BAE Systems, Boeing, Celestica, ConMed, E-Z-GO Textron, Lockheed Martin, Philips Lighting, Solectron and Thales Avionics. For more information, visit www.visiprise.com.

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Media contact for Visiprise:
Brian Boudreaux
404-929-0091 x211
bboudreaux@arketi.com