The software deployed for MAC-PAC XE Users as MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager is the OTTO (‘On-Time Orders') software product developed by Systems Plus Inc. OTTO was honored at the 2003 APICS International Conference and Exposition with the 2003 APICS Corporate Awards for Excellence ‘Innovation Award'. According to an article in the APICS e-newsletter, “winning this award indicates that a company has truly developed something special; a product that breaks new ground in the resource management area.”

Based on the OTTO software , MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager is designed to support the principles of Reality-based Priority Management (RPM). RPM is an emerging approach to manufacturing execution that analyzes and organizes supply/demand information already existing in systems such as MAC-PAC XE to clearly identify the near-term actions operations managers need to take in order to ship orders on time, reduce expediting activity, and minimize inventory levels. Applying the principles of RPM, dozens of manufacturers have already made dramatic improvements in throughput and delivery performance. MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager brings these capabilities to users of MAC-PAC XE .

MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager uses the planning information from MAC-PAC XE and identifies the ultimate source for each demand, at all levels, for all items and activities. A series of reports and inquiry screens give buyers and production managers a clear view of where each item is going to end up - i.e. which order for which customer on which date. Priorities and sequencing of activities can then be tied directly to what is most important and what is needed to meet customer obligations.

MAC-PAC XE Priority Manager operates on the iSeries or AS/400 server and can be used with or without the MAC-PAC Requirements Planning (RP) module or the MAC-PAC Expert Configurator (EC) module. Several MAC-PAC XE users have already deployed the base OTTO product with notable success, including Link-Belt and Gilbarco Veeder-Root.

A story about Link-Belt's adoption and use of OTTO is available on-line at: http://www.systemspluscorp.com/Testimonials/CS1.html