ISS Group expands into food & beverage

Specialist mining and energy software developer ISS Group Ltd has branched out into the food and beverage sector following a deal with Mars Snackfood to utilise its BabelFish software.

The awarding of the contract to the Nedlands-based software company follows a $17 million deal last month with Schlumberger, where the global oilfield services company has the exclusive rights to market the BabelFish software to the oil and gas industry.

A copy of ISS Group's announcement is below:

ISS Group Limited (ASX : ISS) is pleased to announce it has been awarded a contract for "Provision of a Real Time Integrated Plant Reporting Solution", utilising ISS Group's BabelFish™ and associated modules, by Mars SnackFood Ballarat operations, a subsidiary of Mars Inc, one of the world's largest fully-integrated food & beverage
corporations.

In commenting on this milestone contract for ISS Group, Mr Grant Eggleton, Global Business Development Manager said, "We are delighted with the award of a contract from such a major global food manufacturing organisation. It is a very significant addition to our traditional resource based markets. It demonstrates the versatility of BabelFish in addressing information management requirements in other verticals."

Mr Shane Attwell Managing Director of ISS Group added "We have been marketing this new area to assess the viability and potential for our products in the manufacturing verticals. An order with such a major food group confirms that this segment is a significant global expansion opportunity for the Group."

"This is a strategic extension of BabelFish™ into the complex data management faced by major high volume manufacturing organisations. The profile of ISS Group internationally, and BabelFish™ products in particular, continues to be enhanced by the quality of major contract awards such as this, and the previously announced contracts with Schlumberger, Saudi Aramco, Rio Tinto, FMG, BHP Billiton, BP Indonesia and BG Group".