News | September 11, 2008

RockBlocks® Group Inc. Announces New Product Solutions And Company Name, Arigo™

N. BILLERICA, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RockBlocks Group Inc., the leading provider of Global Sourcing and Trade Management (GSTM) solutions for manufacturers and retailers in consumer products, grocery, electronics, branded apparel and footwear, today announces the creation of its new trade name Arigo™.

Arigo, derived from Latin meaning "beginning" or "source", is a pioneer and a leader in the global sourcing and trade management space. The Company's STM Suite is the most widely deployed sourcing and trade management platform in the industry.

The name change to Arigo was precipitated by the need for a name that reflects the growing range of the company's business activities, new functionality, and the increasing emphasis on international trade and compliance management.

This change coincides with the unveiling of a new business model that provides users with a more flexible, modular approach to sourcing, costing analysis, logistics and order management, and intelligent decision support. Arigo's modular, web-based approach scales easily, is rapidly implemented, and is readily accessible to large and medium-sized companies worldwide.

Designed to be deployed as either a hosted SaaS or as an on-premise enterprise platform, customers can opt for the full solution, the Arigo STM Suite™, or start with a limited set of functionality and expand capabilities based on need and budget.

"Supply chain visibility, collaboration and social compliance are critical in today's increasingly challenging environment for all parties involved in bringing product to market," said Erik LaValle, Senior Manager, Kurt Salmon Associates. "Arigo serves this space where the rubber hits the road for the realization of a company's product vision, and can provide the platform for internal and external collaboration."

The Arigo STM Suite of products offers a full spectrum of functionality for global sourcing, total cost management and trade / import management. Capabilities include:

Arigo Private Label & Sourcing (PLS)TM, for collaboratively designing, refining, specifying and managing branded and private-label goods. PLS provides item and PO management, import document management and process reconciliation for improved supply chain agility, efficiency, and margins.
Arigo Total Cost Management (TCM)TM, for identifying, understanding and maintaining complete control and visibility over all direct and indirect costs by product, line, supplier, region, and business. TCM drives down costs and increases profitability for increased gross and net margins.
Arigo Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)TM, for determining the highest quality, most reliable suppliers for balanced operational and corporate social responsibility objectives. SRM provides operational dashboards, KPIs and supplier scorecard filters that deliver a variety of timely and actionable data to help companies manage associated risks.
Arigo Compliance & Quality Management (CQM)TM, for establishing, tracking and maintaining quality and compliance programs on a global scale. CQM offers a systematic approach for ensuring the highest standards and regulatory requirements are met in quality, labor, environmental, customs and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) categories.
Arigo Collaborative Order Management (COM)TM, for "track & trace" visibility into SKU, case and carton-level details. COM ascertains that shipments are delivered with required documentation, tagging and labeling properly and rapidly every time.

"Our new corporate identity is the most tangible way to reflect Arigo's advanced capabilities, deep new functionality and modular implementation approach. I am excited about sharing all of the innovations and the fruits of the initiatives we've undertaken to best serve our customers in manufacturing, wholesale and retail" says David Diamond, CEO of Arigo.

All of the advanced capabilities introduced in the Arigo solutions tie back to strong ROI models that deliver value across a spectrum of productivity, process and efficiency improvements. These include reduced cycle times, lowered inventory carrying costs, reduced errors and increased profit margins. For more details about the company and more in-depth descriptions of Arigo's new modular solutions, please visit www.arigo.com.

About Arigo

Arigo provides a complete Global Sourcing and Trade Management platform to develop and source products, assess and track sources / suppliers, manage cost and complex supply processes, and accelerate, automate, and optimize supply chains. Arigo's web-based, collaborative platform enables businesses to visualize and improve their sourcing pipeline at a granular level, driving efficiency throughout the entire supply ecosystem. Customers including JCPenney™, Staples™, Bon-Ton™, Argos™, Home Depot™, Payless™, RadioShack™, Timberland™, and Target™ are leveraging Arigo to drive product innovation, increase speed to market, reduce inventory cycle times, and increase profitability. Annually, Arigo's customers source over $100 billion in goods from over 50 countries; manage over 40 million SKUs; track over 2,000,000 containers; provide production visibility and support into 75,000 suppliers; and deliver critical information to product managers, merchants, logistics planners, financial managers, agents, factories, service providers, financial institutions, and executives.