Lawson Software Announces Expanded Partnership with Mercatus
New partnership to boost Lawson’s presence in the livestock industry
ST. PAUL, Minn. (October 24, 2007) – Lawson Software (Nasdaq:LWSN) today announced an expanded partnership with Mercatus, a European provider of information technology systems to the aquaculture and agriculture industries, to offer a new livestock solution based on the Lawson M3 Food & Beverage software offerings. The livestock solution was developed specifically around the needs of companies in the farming and production sides of the beef, pork, poultry and fish industries. Lawson and Mercatus, which have a longstanding partnership in Europe, are now expanding this partnership to also focus on livestock farming and production operations in North America, South America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Livestock operations face a number of business challenges, including significant industry consolidation, internationalization and the presence of powerful retail chains that force lower prices and require reliable and flexible delivery of large volumes of uniform-quality product. In addition, these operations are subject to a wide variety of food safety laws and regulations that can vary by jurisdiction.
“Livestock producers are seeing a tremendous amount of pressure in the marketplace, from pricing pressures to the need for more globalization,” said Rob Wiersma, industry strategy director for Lawson. “They need powerful software solutions that will give them visibility and control across their entire value chain to allow them to compete, grow and manage increasingly challenging international regulations in a highly competitive global marketplace.”
Among the customers taking advantage of the livestock solution offered by Lawson and Mercatus is Norway-based Marine Harvest, the world’s leading farmed salmon seafood company. Using the livestock solution, Marine Harvest is able to more effectively align inventory with customer orders, react to changing marketplace demands, and take advantage of the Mercatus and Lawson solutions to track quality and production issues throughout the growth and production stages of its salmon operations.
“Our customers expect us to meet their demands quickly, efficiently and consistently – at the same time they expect us to provide consistent and proven quality with every order,” said Arnt Mjoen, IT manager for Marine Harvest, Norway. “The livestock solution from Lawson gives us the kind of advanced technology solution that we need to continue to lead in our industry and expand our global reach. We also rely on the expertise that Mercatus brings to the table. The joint offerings of Lawson and Mercatus help us deliver on our promise to provide excellence in seafood.”
Mercatus develops a variety of technology solutions for livestock management and livestock production. Based in Norway, it also has regional offices in Scotland and Chile. As its customers look to expand their global reach, Mercatus opted to expand its partnership with Lawson to help it serve customers in a broader geographic area.
“Livestock production is a significant and growing industry, and the companies in this space can benefit from our expertise and the Lawson applications to be more effective about managing the live side – and the production side of their businesses,” said Knut Eikeland, CEO, Mercatus. “Based on our industry-specific solutions, coupled with the industry-specific functionality of the Lawson applications, we believe we can help livestock producers be much more effective in running their businesses. Our offering has helped others control costs and improve their operations around the globe.”
Source: Lawson
