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Crowe Metals Industry Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics® AXA Long-awaited ERP Solution

An Effective Alternative to Generic, Niche, and Legacy SystemsFor years, metals businesses have been unable to take full advantage of the benefits that advanced ERP solutions delivered in other industries. Popular, widely supported solutions typically failed to address the metals industry’s unique requirements. Alternatively, specialty solutions designed specifically for the industry were usually unable to interface smoothly with other business systems, carried hidden risk, and lacked broader technology benefits. A final and even less compelling option was developing a customized application internally. Today, this dilemma has been overcome, with the introduction of the Crowe Metals Industry Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics AX by Crowe Horwath LLP. This comprehensive, flexible, readily scalable system delivers full support for the industry’s unique needs, while integrating fully with other management and reporting systems.

Building on the proven, popular, and broadly supported Microsoft Dynamics AX platform, the Crowe solution helps manufacturers achieve a number of key objectives:

� Customer service is enhanced by the linkage of customer tolerance requirements to production and quality reporting, helping to ensure that production adheres to specifications communicated at the time of sale. Multidimensional inventory is managed efficiently, incorporating multiple variations of product shape and physical attributes.

� Quality management is fully integrated, including the capture and validation of results for automatically triggered tests.

� Yield planning and tracking are improved, with automatic flagging of out-of-tolerance material and scrap-management functionality.

� Mixed-mode operations are managed efficiently, accommodating producers, service centers, processors, and fabricators.

Moreover, because the ERP solution is fully integrated with other Microsoft®

products, your employees, customers, and other stakeholders can use familiar tools and interfaces to communicate, track, and share information.

Precisely Tailored for the Metals IndustryThe Crowe Metals Industry Accelerator is preconfigured for metals industry functionality. In broadest terms, it captures and validates customer specifications, translates that data into detailed manufacturing procedures and requirements, creates achievable production schedules, tracks production, and provides sophisticated business analytics. Among its specific capabilities:

� Tracking and management of inventory by attribute including heat or melt properties, dimensions, and other attributes that can differ by lot;

� Automatic triggering of qualitative and quantitative testing at any point in the production process, with automatic generation of printed material test reports;

� More efficient freight management that is fully integrated with the manufacturing process;

� Sales order customer specification management;

� Accommodation of both buy-sell and toll-processing sales;

� Pricing updates to reflect market fluctuations;

� Integrated subcontracting capabilities;

� Combined production and quality reporting by operation;

� Support for slitting and other “one-to-many” production processes;

� Industry-tailored documents such as travelers, inventory tags, material test reports, and shipping labels;

At last: an advanced, widely supported enterprise technology specifically designed for the metals industry.The Crowe® Metals Industry Accelerator for Microsoft

Dynamics AX offers metals companies of all sizes the

opportunity to dramatically enhance the way they manage

their resources and business processes through a robust,

industry-attuned, scalable, and deeply supported ERP

solution specifically designed to meet their needs.

Crowe Metals Industry Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics AX: A Long-awaited ERP Solution

www.crowehorwath.com

� Complete compliance and traceability for certified material requirements; and

� Integrated regulatory support including Sarbanes-Oxley for SEC registrants.

“Try Before You Buy”: Crowe’s Unique Implementation ApproachAs a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Crowe works with clients to precisely tailor Microsoft Dynamics AX to each business’s unique processes and requirements. The result is a powerful ERP solution that offers broad functionality while delivering low total cost of ownership.

Crowe’s experienced Microsoft specialists employ a proven phased implementation approach that includes a unique immersion phase, that offers

your organization the opportunity to “try before you buy.” For a fraction of the ERP investment under consideration, Crowe will install Microsoft Dynamics AX on your company’s hardware and work side-by-side with you to pilot your top five functional needs.

This allows you to assess how well the Microsoft Dynamics AX platform meets your requirements, enabling you to make a confident and well-informed decision on whether to proceed with an implementation. Equally important, it helps ensure a more realistic project timeline and, ultimately, a smoother and more coordinated rollout.

Further, on an ongoing basis, Crowe’s specialists will review every new Microsoft Dynamics AX product release to assess new functionality, can provide recommendations on adoption, as well as training, if desired.

Consulting on technology solutions for more than 30 years, Crowe has gained breadth and depth of knowledge related to industry-specific software, business processes, and integration and support methodologies. This proven expertise, coupled with Crowe’s high level of service, enables your business to realize a quicker return on your ERP investment, while finally achieving the full benefits of a flexible, scalable, integrated system that fully supports the unique requirements of the metals industry. Crowe has been named:

� To the President’s Club for Microsoft Dynamics;

� Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in Information Worker, Integrated E-business, Security, and Microsoft Business Solutions;

� Microsoft Security Partner of theYear; and

� Microsoft CRM Partner of the Year.

Marketing

Leads

Contracts

Projects

View on-hand byattribute

Industry-tailoredsales orders

Estimated scrapcalculations

Requisitions

Quality specs

RFQs

Min./max. level

Blanket POs

Index/provisionalpricing

EDI

Industry-tailoredPOs

Weight tolerances

Heat tracking

Bar coding

Testing against PO specs

Quarantine

Partial receipt

Returns

Delivery schedule

Qualitative andquantitative

Prede�nedtolerances

Auto-testing atoperation

Chemistries

Material testreports

Analysis

Planning andscheduling

Testing againstcustomer specs

Travelers

Scrap mgmt.

Subcontracting

Slitting

Costing

Bar coding

Logistics

Partial shipment

Bill of lading

Scrap credits

Drop shipment

Industry-tailoredshipping labels

Freight mgmt.

Bar coding

Financials HR/payroll Planning Supply chain BI & reportingWarehousing

CRMCOLOR KEY: ISV AX VERTICAL SOLUTION

PURCHASINGSALES RECEIVING PRODUCTION QUALITY SHIPPING & INVOICING

Core ERP System

A Complete ERP Package

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Crowe Horwath LLP is an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, a Swiss verein. Each member firm of Crowe Horwath International is a separate and independent legal entity. Crowe Horwath LLP and its affiliates are not responsible or liable for any acts or omissions of Crowe Horwath International or any other member of Crowe Horwath International and specifically disclaim any and all responsibility or liability for acts or omissions of Crowe Horwath International or any other Crowe Horwath International member. Accountancy services in Kansas and North Carolina are rendered by Crowe Chizek LLP, which is not a member of Crowe Horwath International. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial or legal advice. Please seek guidance specific to your organization from qualified advisers in your jurisdiction. © 2010 Crowe Horwath LLP

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About Crowe’s Manufacturing and Distribution PracticeCrowe’s manufacturing and distribution practice works with clients to develop high-impact solutions in the areas of M&A integration, process redesign, supplier viability, IT advisory, working capital management, risk management, audit, and tax.

About Crowe Horwath LLPCrowe Horwath LLP is one of the largest public accounting and consulting firms in the United States. Under its core purpose of “Building Value with Values,®” Crowe assists public and private company clients in reaching their goals through audit, tax, advisory, risk and performance services. With 26 offices and 2,400 personnel, Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the country’s best places to work. Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of Crowe Horwath International, one of the largest networks in the world, consisting of more than 140 independent accounting and management consulting firms with offices in more than 400 cities around the world.

Contact InformationFor more information about the Crowe Metals Industry Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics AX or any of Crowe’s other practical, cost-effective business solutions, contact:

Vicky Ludema 800.599.2304 vicky.ludema@crowehorwath.com

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