Actio Corporation announces Gatekeeper for improved Six Sigma initiatives and integrating with supply chain data

PORTSMOUTH, NH February 15, 2009 – Actio Corporation, the leading provider of chemical management software, today announced functionality enhancements to its successful SaaS product, Actio Gatekeeper^TM. The new functionality allows manufacturers to better implement and manage Six Sigma initiatives in chemical handling, manage supply chain substance data, and streamline material disclosure processes towards mitigating risk and attaining corporate sustainability objectives.

The new Gatekeeper features direct import to Actio Material Disclosure. Material Disclosure is the leading supply chain communication tool for secure collection and warehousing of regulatory and compositional information surrounding the materials, chemicals and substances that make up a product.

Now, if a raw material has inadequate compositional information, Gatekeeper transparently invokes Material Disclosure to initiate an email campaign to the supplier requesting specific compositional information or a declaration that the material doesn’t contain particular components.

Actio Gatekeeper screens and analyzes substances at the gate, before they are brought into a facility. Analysis and screening is accomplished using Actio’s robust regulatory content database of over 150 global, federal, state and local regulatory lists. Companies can upload their own content lists if particular chemicals need to be isolated for sustainability or ISO 14000 initiatives. Gatekeeper manages the procurement of materials from request to receipt on site and improves Six Sigma initiatives by streamlining the vetting and subsequent procurement of chemicals and substances using an automated workflow environment that manages and tracks new and existing material requests.

Gatekeeper’s demonstrated Six Sigma functionality now links with Actio Material Disclosure.

“The new version of Actio Gatekeeper is easier to use, with added features such as customizable form fields that mimic existing manufacturer paper approval systems,” said Russell McCann, President, CEO and co-Founder of Actio Corporation. “Gatekeeper gives manufacturers the ability to gather all necessary material and substance information prior to purchasing approval.

“Now, Gatekeeper links to Material Disclosure,” McCann said. “It’s a huge step for manufacturers to reduce risk, product liability and subsequent recalls by knowing what the composition of their raw materials are before the substance is purchased for manufacturing. The bottom line is no wasted resources for unusable substances and control over the supply chain.”

“One of the largest building products companies uses Actio Gatekeeper in conjunction with Material Disclosure to manage risk and streamline processes associated with substances, supply chains, and environmental compliance,” said McCann. “They have reduced request time and streamlined internal business processes associated with Six Sigma initiatives.”

“In this stringent global regulatory landscape, new products and formulations are becoming more complex and risky for manufacturers,” said Kal Kawar, EP, CIH, 30-year manufacturing EH&S veteran, and co-Founder of Actio Corporation. “Gatekeeper manages the business process challenges in today’s manufacturing.

“Product introduction requires a cross-section of stakeholder approval,” Kawar explained. “For example, safety and hygiene departments must identify new material toxicity and personal protection. Environmental and risk management stakeholders must confirm that substances in raw materials pass global regulatory standards and meet corporate sustainability objectives. Materials engineering entities must approve component information for compatibility with existing and future materials. And Purchasing of course must be advised of approvals before they can approve.

“From a business process point of view, there are complex approval channels in a manufacturing company around the procurement of chemicals,” said Kawar. “We set out – with improved Gatekeeper – to simplify and streamline the process – and it seemed obvious that integrating with Material Disclosure was the way to extend processes out into the supplier network.”

Actio has been helping manufacturers achieve environmental compliance, reach corporate sustainability objectives, and improve Six Sigma initiatives for over ten years.

About Actio:

Since 1996, Actio has been helping companies and millions of their employees, in a wide range of industries, cost-effectively manage the complexities surrounding the use of chemicals in the global workplace. Actio is a leading provider of chemical management solutions delivered as SaaS (software as a service). Our chemical management portfolio manages all phases of the chemical life cycle, enabling corporations to utilize Six Sigma or a “best practices” approach for chemical management. Actio solutions track raw material chemical composition for compliance with global regulations including: REACH, RoHS, WEEE. For more information about Actio Corporation, visit www.actio.net.

MSDS VAULT, ACTIO REGULATOR and INTELLIGENTEXT are registered trademarks of Actio Corporation. MSDSXCHANGE, ACTIO GATEKEEPER, MSDS VAULT LABELMAKER and MATERIAL DISCLOSURE.COM are trademarks of Actio Corporation 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Contact:

Kathleen Hurley, Director of Corporate Communications

khurley@actio.net or 603-433-2300 x35

Actio Corporation, www.actio.net, @actiocorp on Twitter