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4R Systems Names Jiri Nechleba as President and CEO
TH Lee Putnam Ventures and TSG Equity Partners anticipate new round of funding
Wayne, PA - March 5, 2003 - 4R Systems, Inc., a leading provider of analytical software that enables retailers and manufacturers to more accurately match supply with demand throughout the product lifecycle, today announced the appointment of Jiri Nechleba as President and Chief Executive Officer. At the same time, the company also announced that it has received a signed term sheet from its lead investors, TH Lee Putnam Ventures and TSG Equity Partners, for additional funding for increased product development and sales support.
"Jiri is a seasoned manager who has successfully led technology organizations with his vision, strategy and management experience," said Marshall Fisher, 4R Chairman and Co-founder. "Jiri's proven leadership and the continued support of our lead investors will enable us to focus on product development and customer support for leading retailers and manufacturers such as Linens 'n Things and American Pacific."
Mr. Nechleba comes to 4R with 25 years of experience in the technology sector. As President and CEO of INTERLINQ Software Corporation, a publicly traded software company serving the mortgage banking industry, he achieved average annual revenue growth of 22% after leading an aggressive turnaround. Earlier, as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nielsen SolutionWare, the technology business unit of AC Nielsen, he held P&L accountability for the market research company's internal IT development and services as well as key applications solutions to the consumer packaged goods industry. Mr. Nechleba also spent 15 years consulting with Fortune 500 companies on strategic planning, new product and business development and technology, both as an independent consultant and at Management Decision Systems.
"In today's competitive world, companies increasingly look to their supply chain management technologies and practices to gain cost advantages that can drive both revenue and profit growth. 4R's product suite helps retailers and manufacturers apply sophisticated analytics to up the quality of information, better optimize its use and realize these goals," said Mr. Nechleba. "I am excited to join a world-class team that is driving substantial and measurable benefits for industry and am looking forward to leading the company to further success."
Renny Smith, managing director at TH Lee Putnam Ventures, said, "As investors, we are excited about the potential of enterprise software solutions in addressing the real-world problems that retailers face every day. Forecast and supply planning errors in short lifecycle products cost the retail industry billions of dollars every year in product markdowns, stock-outs and inventory obsolescence. 4R is uniquely positioned to help clients deal effectively with those issues."
Mr. Nechleba holds a B.S in Physics and a B.S. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He succeeds Jeffrey Singer, who has left 4R to pursue other interests.
About 4R Systems
4R Systems, Inc. is a leading provider of analytical software that allows retailers and manufacturers to increase the profitability of short lifecycle products by accurately matching supply with demand. 4R's products leverage transactional and point-of-sale (POS) data and turn it into critical decision-making information for forecasting and supply planning. The company was founded by supply chain experts Marshall Fisher of The Wharton School and Ananth Raman of Harvard Business School, whose groundbreaking research on product lifecycles with over 30 world-class retailers pioneered the retail analytics sector.
Headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, 4R's notable clients include Ahold, American Pacific, Kenneth Cole Productions, Linens 'n Things, Nokia and Stride Rite. For more information, please visit www.4rsystems.com or call 1-866-4RSYSTEMS.
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