CRITEREON INTRODUCES INNOVATIVE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PLATFORM

New product forges a bond between process and measurement to lower risks and build business value

(March 31, 2003) Iroquois, South Dakota… Critereon announces Authentix™, an innovative quality management system platform that enables companies to efficiently monitor the procedures involved in producing and tracking products throughout value chains.

Authentix is a web-based platform for monitoring criteria that impact quality or compliance risks across interrelated manufacturing, production and distribution systems. Authentix is configured to gather information for a specific value chain and then facilitates oversight and control by allowing users to quickly check processes for conformance through dynamic exception reports. The technology further allows the criteria related to any product to be dynamically traced throughout its life cycle.

“The flexibility of Authentix allows criteria to be monitored very cost effectively, affording companies the specific fit of a tailored solution without the high price,” says Critereon CEO Tim Aughenbaugh. “And all companies can benefit from greater visibility of the processes that affect quality, especially when those processes are performed by an associated entity elsewhere in a value chain.”

Authentix’s low total cost of ownership is achieved through a unique component-based design which allows it to be rapidly customized. The process experts that configure Authentix typically deliver on-target solutions in days, as opposed to custom programming solutions that can take months to create and troubleshoot. The componentized design of Authentix also allows it to easily adapt to changing market and business needs, thus reducing ongoing costs.

Authentix is capable of collecting remote process information in a variety of ways. Its interface technology not only enables rapid integration with existing information systems, but also enables the use of a variety of emerging data collection technologies. In the coming months, Critereon will introduce a series of data collection tools that interface with Authentix. The first of these will be an upgraded version of its Pocket PC handheld data collection tool which enables field staff to dynamically capture process and product information and transfer it to appropriate points along a value chain.

Critereon is a leading provider of quality management solutions and services for many influential global businesses. Critereon offers demonstrated expertise in providing customized blends of innovative technologies and talents that produce practical, cost-effective, and measurable results.

For more information about Authentix and other services provided by Critereon, please visit our Web site at www.critereon.com or contact us at info@critereon.com.

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