Preactor sees manufacturing APS investments surge

In a year marked by stalled investment in manufacturing software, Preactor saw sales of its APS rise by more than 50% over 2009, itself a record year – and following the firm's year-on-year, average growth rate of 20% since 1994. Interestingly, chairman and CEO Mike Novels says that, while customer profiles have not changed significantly, increasing number of larger multinational and multi-site manufacturers are now turning to Preactor for enterprise-wide solutions. Typically, he says, such companies implement Preactor at a pilot site, before deploy the APS software across the group. He cites examples as Eurocopter, Technip, Areva, and Cofel. Europe was Preactor's most active market, with the company reporting growth of 66%, taking the total number of European accounts including the UK to over 2,800. France and the Netherlands have been particularly active on APS, with Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic also showing strong growth. New customers include Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, Martell and Pepsico International. "While elements of economic uncertainty remain across many markets, Q1 figures suggest that the growth is continuing, with a 15% further increase in net revenues," states Novels. "The challenge now is to maintain this in the remainder of 2011 and beyond. With the strength of our product and global partner network, I believe Preactor is placed to succeed."