Shipping Industry Figure Joins Aoraki

Christchurch, New Zealand. 9 April 2001. – Respected shipping industry figure Ken Plowman has joined software company Aoraki Corporation Limited as the General Manager of its transportation division.

Announcing the appointment, Aoraki Corporation's Executive Director of Sales & Marketing, Peter Helms, said the company was delighted to have attracted somebody with Mr Plowman's expertise and standing in the industry, "Ken will help us realise the immense potential of the software products we have built in the transportation area."

"With his expertise in the shipping industry, Ken will play a crucial role in shaping these products and taking them to markets outside of New Zealand, which are now the key focus for all of our products."

Mr Helms said Aoraki's container management software, used by Port Otago Limited, Port Nelson Limited and CentrePort Limited in Wellington was the most advanced of its type available in the world. The company has created other products for the shipping and railway industries in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

"With JADE we have been able to build systems quickly that have the scalability to work in large markets like the United Kingdom, a recent example being an online system for a railway giant that helps them coordinate hundreds of trains and millions of tonnes of cargo every day."

Mr Plowman said he was looking forward to the opportunity. "I've worked at the sharp end of the shipping industry for around three decades so I understand the challenges ports and shipping companies face, and I think the software Aoraki has built is uniquely suited to helping industry players meet those challenges."

Mr Plowman joins Aoraki Corporation with more than 30 years experience in the shipping industry, most recently as Shipping Manager with the Milburn Cement Company, based in Westport.

Prior to that he played a key role in shipping industry reform as Executive Director of the New Zealand Shipping Federation, an industry body representing ship owners. Mr Plowman before that managed the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Fisheries Surveillance Group, having started his career in the industry at sea, spending a decade serving on New Zealand, Scandinavian and British ships.

A Board member of the Maritime Safety Authority, Mr Plowman is a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport, the International Association of Maritime Economists and an Associate Member of the New Zealand Institute of Management.

CONTACTS Greg Williamson, tel 03 365 2500, mobile 021 229 5870, gwilliamson@jade.co.nz

ABOUT AORAKI CORPORATION LIMITED Aoraki Corporation Limited is a privately owned New Zealand company, headquartered in Christchurch. It employs 400 people in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. The company's founder and Chief Executive is Sir Gil Simpson.

Aoraki produces a software development suite called JADE. This suite has everything an organisation needs to build and run enterprise systems for electronic commerce. More than 40 JADE Partners, including companies such as IBM, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Telstra Saturn, Ernst & Young, KPMG, gen-I and Mi Services Group use JADE in their product or service offering. JADE is used in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Korea, India and the United Kingdom.

In addition to its JADE division, Aoraki has five divisions focussed on building software for specific market sectors, namely transportation, healthcare, tertiary student management, customer relationship management and payroll/human resource management.

For more information visit www.discoverjade.com

© Scoop Media