Project Leader:
University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)

1. Department of Technologies and Innovation (DTI):
a) ICIMSI, the Institute of Computer Integrated Manufacturing for Sustainable Innovation (ICIMSI), is part of the DTI at SUPSI. Since 1998 ICIMSI has functioned as a venue for applied scientific computer applications and industrial technology to increase the innovation capabilities of local SMEs. The Institute collaborates with different networks of national and international centres of expertise committed to provide technological and sustainable solutions to SME’s taking into consideration the economical, social and environmental impacts. (see the website)

b) SUPSI-DTI-ISIN, The Networking and Information Systems group (INSI) is part of the Department of Innovative Technologies (DTI) in the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). Researchers at INSI carry out both teaching and research in different fields such as: software engineering and design, information systems technologies, data bases and data warehouses, content management systems, markup languages, web standards, semantic web, distributed web architectures, SOA and operating systems. (see the website)

c)  SUPSI-DTI-TTHF, The Telecom, Telematics and High Frequency (TTHF) organizes and manages research projects cooperating with companies and institutions of the domains telecommunication (wired and wireless), non destructive analysis of materials and other specific HF applications. (see the website)

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne is one of the two Swiss Universities of Technology. The Laboratory for Production Management and Processes was created in 1995 in order to answer to the challenges faced by the manufacturing industry in the medium and long-term. The LGPP Production Management group activities are devoted to the development of decision support and simulation tools for the design, the management and the control of production and logistics systems. New production and logistic concepts, adapted to dynamic environments, are elaborated and validated in collaboration with industrial partners.

This SME started operations since 1987 to develop an ERP solution called ProConcept ERP. The company invests continuously in R&D, analysis, and the design of new functionalities together with several Swiss Universities and research institutes; as a result Pro-Concept offers global and customized software solutions. Their ERP is been used in several industries to solve different management problems. The company looks forward to be part of the knowledge based society offering products that can enable SMEs to leverage their knowledge for competitive advantage. The company has offices in Switzerland, France and China
In the beginning of 2007, ProConcept has been purchased by the SAGE group (United Kingdom) which is one the leading ERP global companies. The company has published an interim report in March 2007 where it presents its last year growth and acquisitions. In total the company currently servers 5.4 million customers with the following geographical distribution (Figure 2). During 2006-2007, SAGE completed seven significant acquisitions which enhanced our range of products and services and expanded their global reach.