Embargoed Release: 07:00hrs Tuesday 22nd May 2007
Sopheon plc
(‘Sopheon’)
ColepCCL Uses Sopheon’s Accolade® to
Enable and Manage Innovation Process
Europe’s Largest Contract Manufacturer Implements Group-wide Process to
Support Proactive Innovation on Behalf of Customers
Sopheon plc, the international software and services company, is pleased to announce that ColepCCL (‘
the company’), Europe’s largest contract manufacturer of personal and household care products and
associated packaging solutions, has selected Sopheon’s Accolade product life cycle management (PLM)
system to support group-wide implementation of the company’s innovation management process. The
system will be used by ColepCCL’s newly instituted Innovation Centre to provide the automated structure
for deployment of the process across plant locations in the UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Poland.
ColepCCL was formed in July 2004 as a result of the merger between Colep and CCL Custom
Manufacturing.
The company consists of four product and packaging divisions and employs
approximately 2,100 people throughout Europe. Its contract manufacturing operations produce items
such as hair gels and sprays, over-the-counter pharmaceutical preparations, oven cleaners, air
fresheners, car waxes and veterinary supplies, as well as a wide range of metal and plastic cans, bottles
and pumps associated with the packaging and use of these products.
ColepCCL had historically derived the lion’s share of its revenues from manufacturing products and
supplying tinplate and plastic packaging according to customer specifications, and from then fulfilling
product orders. In recent years, as competitive pressure on both product and package manufacturing has
emerged from Asia and other regions, ColepCCL has shifted to a strategy of proactive innovation. Based
on this charter, the company’s contracts increasingly center on the development of new products and
solutions, thereby positioning ColepCCL as an integral partner in the customers’ innovation efforts.
In early 2006 ColepCCL established the Innovation Centre to foster creativity and innovation. The Centre
is run autonomously, reporting to the ColepCCL Board and providing services to all divisions of the
company. A central aspect of the Centre’s charter is to coordinate and support implementation of a
common innovation process across ColepCCL’s geographically decentralized infrastructure of business
units. The Centre was assisted in the design and implementation of the process, a variation of the widely
used Stage-Gate® methodology, by Lisbon-based Inogate. Inogate, a consultant that specializes in
enterprise innovation, is a Sopheon partner. It introduced Sopheon’s Accolade to ColepCCL as a support
solution that would enable the company to automate and more effectively manage its innovation system.
Accolade was subsequently chosen over competing solutions due to such considerations as its ease-ofuse, the speed and ease with which it can be implemented, and because of a broad mix of advantages
stemming from the fact that the Sopheon software is specifically designed to support the process of
innovation.
“ColepCCL is committed to reshaping the packaging industry,” said Grant A. Coupland, leader of the
Innovation Centre. “Our strategy for achieving this goal is to raise our value to customers by leading in
the turnkey development of innovative solutions and services. Accolade gives us a unified, sustainable
process structure that will enable our business units to effectively innovate with a local focus, but also
operate in alignment with the overarching objectives and best practices of the group. Accolade is a
cornerstone of ColepCCL’s foundation for innovation excellence.”
“When ColepCCL came to us, they had a clear vision of the type of process they wanted to support their
innovation initiative,” said Paulo Janeiro, chief executive officer of Inogate. “Based on that vision, we
completed the technical validation, blue printing, installation and configuration of the system in less than
60 days. Accolade’s simplicity and technical integrity were key enablers of the speed with which that
implementation was executed. The resulting robust, global innovation management process positions
ColepCCL to assume a position of innovation leadership within its industry for a long time to come.”
Accolade® is a registered trademark of Sopheon plc.
Stage-Gate® is a registered trademark of the Product Development Institute.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.
About ColepCCL
ColepCCL is part of the RAR Group, one of the largest economic groups in Portugal, registering a
turnover of 320 million euros and with approximately 2,100 employees in Europe. ColepCCL supplies its
clients – some of the most important consumer goods brands in the world – from its industrial units
situated in Portugal, Spain, UK, Poland and Germany.
For more information, please visit
www.colepccl.com.
About Inogate
Inogate is a consulting firm in enterprise innovation, with offices in Lisbon and Coimbra, Portugal. Inogate
is dedicated to the improvement of its customers’ innovation performance. The firm’s team of experts
specializes in the implementation, systematization and optimization of processes that increase the ROI
from innovation. Inogate developed the KIEL Modeltm , an approach to innovation dynamism that
ensures long-term process success. Inogate is the exclusive representative of Sopheon and its Accolade
software in Portugal. For more information, please visit www.inogate.pt.
About Sopheon
Sopheon (LSE:SPE) is an international provider of software and services that help organizations improve
the business impact of product innovation. Sopheon’s Accolade system automates and governs the
innovation process, enabling companies to increase revenue and profits from new products. Sopheon is
listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Euronext in the Netherlands. For
more information, please visit www.sopheon.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Barry Mence, Chairman
Arif Karimjee, CFO
Sarah Wharry, Nominated Adviser
Andrew Tan
Floor van Maaren
Sopheon plc
Tel :
+ 44 (0) 1483 685 735
Seymour Pierce Limited
Tel:
+44 (0) 207 107 8000
Hansard Group
Tel :
Citigate First Financial
Tel :
+ 44 (0) 207 245 1100
+ 44 (0) 7957 203 685
+ 31 (0) 205 754 010