ANDOVER, MASS. (Aug. 2, 3:25 p.m. EDT) — Apps4biz.com has targeted the plastics industry with a new software package to assist with day-to-day operations, and has formed an alliance with Everdream Corp.
The Andover-based company will allow access to its Web site for help with specialized industry needs, Peter Lopes, Apps4biz vice president for worldwide marketing, said in a June 22 interview at NPE 2000 in Chicago.
The site offers efficient tools in such areas as manufacturing, order processing, inventory management, supply chain management, electronic commerce and finance, Lopes said.
The firm is targeting companies with less than $50 million in annual sales, Lopes said. Many of those companies cannot afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars to install sophisticated in-house computer software, he said.
Instead, Apps4biz — an application service provider — will offer a less-expensive model. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee, typically ranging between $50 and $250, to use the Web-based service, he said.
The company´s manufacturing software suite is available this month and its e-commerce suite, offering online transactions, will be offered by September, Lopes said. Information on the applications can be found at www.apps4biz.com.
The company recently secured $8 million in a second round of financing. Several European venture capitalists, led by Zurich, Switzerland-based Venture Partners AG, invested in the company.
The company has hosted computer business-solutions applications for more than 300 customers in Europe. The plastics industry is its first industry-specific application. The dot-com also plans to offer its approach to the printing industry later this year.
In other news, Apps4biz.com has formed an alliance with Everdream to outsource the company´s products to plastics-based companies.
Apps4biz.com plans to use Everdream´s computer services to run its software. Everdream, based in Fremont, Calif., offers monthly subscriptions to maintain and upgrade computer packages for users.
The use of monthly fees is especially suited for companies with annual sales of less than $50 million, according to a joint news release from the companies.
Apps4biz will supply its Web-hosted applications to Everdream, Lopes said.
"This way, (processors) can focus on running their businesses and not their information technology operations," Lopes said.