NASHVILLE, TN - - September 3, 2003 - - Point Balance, LLC, a leading executive education and management consulting firm serving the printing and publishing industries, today announced that it is making available the 2003 Print Management Information Systems / Activity-Based Costing Support Survey to purchasers of the recently published and well-received book, Activity-Based Costing For Printers: An Implementation Guide. The book was co-authored by G. David Dodd and William K. Lavelle, both Point Balance principals. The survey includes the responses from several popular MIS software companies. The participating companies indicate what type of support they provide activity-based costing and comment on their future plans on the subject. This survey will be provided in a PDF format through email to people who purchase Activity-Based Costing For Printers: An Implementation Guide online at www.pointbalance.com for $39.95 plus shipping and handling. Participating MIS software companies include; Graphic Arts IT, Prism USA, Pace Systems Group Inc., Tailored Solutions Inc, Heidelberg, PRIMAC Systems Inc., Printcafe Software Inc., Syskoplan Consulting and SAP. Companies interested in activity-based costing asked Point Balance if they could identify MIS software companies who have or are planning to have support for activity-based costing. Point Balance sent sixteen invitations to participate and eight companies replied. Eleven software products are placed in a Response Grid where companies indicate if they support up to nineteen different functionalities that are useful when implementing activity-based costing. Additionally, several companies share their position and thoughts on the operational cost accounting management system. Point Balance shares its perspective on how MIS software can facilitate the implementation of a complete ABC system. Dodd recalls some of the feedback the authors received shortly after the publication of their book. “Some people thought we could have discussed specific software packages in chapter six of our book. We thought about that but we concluded that we could not discuss every MIS package and that software functionality is a moving target.” Dodd elaborates on Point Balance’s approach. “The MIS/ABC Support Survey is a knowledge companion to our book. People need to read the book, understand the subject, then they can better understand and analyze the results of the survey.” Dodd was pleased with the participation although he hopes more suppliers will participate in future surveys and industry educational events. “We greatly appreciate the efforts of the participants and believe their feedback will lead to greater ABC understanding and progress in our industry.” As to the results of the survey, Lavelle has his views. “It seems to me we have a Catch 22 paradox when it comes to making progress with our print MIS software and printers adaptation of ABC. Software companies seem willing enough to develop certain ABC functionality if printers will buy and use it, yet some printers may not be moving forward with ABC because they feel their software doesn’t support it.” Lavelle contends that someone must take a leadership role in order to break the standoff. “Point Balance has made and continues to make educational efforts to bring ABC to printers. We are convinced that complacency with currently outdated costing and pricing practices are extremely detrimental to our entire industry. We are working towards increasing awareness of the critical need for our industry to make greater strides in improving the fundamentals of our management.”