COMPANY NEWS

VP Live on CNN

ILOG optimization is making a difference, as then-Vice President of ILOG Marketing Bill Scull has explained as a "Maverick of the Morning" on CNNfn's morning show "Market Call."

Mr. Scull was interviewed by Rhonda Schaffler, CNN's senior correspondent at the New York Stock Exchange. She began the interview by introducing ILOG as being "part of the whole productivity story we've seen over the years." ILOG sells optimization software that makes companies more efficient, productive and profitable, Mr. Scull responded.

"In the current economic situation, companies are sharpening their pencil so that they can take their productivity, (and) their efficiency to the next level," he added "And that's really where we come in. ILOG's business is about helping companies make the most of their scarce resources."

ILOG optimization software is widely used in planning and scheduling operations, and allocating resources that include personnel.

"The technology we sell is much more pervasive than your viewers might realize," Mr. Scull explained. "The last time you went to the supermarket, many of the items you put into your shopping cart are ones that have been managed through the supply chain and the production process by using optimization software from ILOG.

"Similarly, the last time you were on an airplane, it's likely that the crew was scheduled onto that airplane, as well as that airplane onto that flight, by software from ILOG."

Citing a recent example, Mr. Scull explained how Nissan had boosted production capacity at its Sunderland automobile factory in the United Kingdom. By using ILOG optimization software to add a virtual production line to the plant, the carmaker increased production by as much as 30 percent, from 236,000 cars per year 337,000. That works out to about 38 complete vehicles every hour.

"In tough economic times like the one we're in, as companies search for more better ways to be more efficient, that's certainly going to drive our business on a going-forward basis."

First citing transportation as an example of an industry constantly finding more uses for optimization software, Mr. Scull went on to explain the growing importance of the technology in e-commerce.

"One of the areas where we see optimization really now coming into its own is in the area of Web self-service," he said. "As the Web is what's touching your customers and your prospective customers, it's important that your web software be smart and it that it do a good job matching what you have with what your prospective customer is asking for. So, optimization is a good way of doing that."

First Union, for example, has built an online home-equity lending service that uses ILOG optimization to accurately tailor loans to customers' specific needs. One of the largest banks in the United States, First Union has used the service to make its brokers twice as efficient and dramatically cut its underwriting costs.

"And best of all, the consumer got a better loan through looking at more alternatives."