Construction Material Giant Selects MySQL Network for Flexibility & Cost-Savings

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Critical Business System Migrated from Sybase SQL Anywhere to Open Source Database Leader

Paris -- October 3, 2006 -- The Lafarge group, a global leader in building materials, has selected the MySQL® database to operate the real-time management of the different sales and dispatch phases of its Aggregates & Concrete business. The system is already installed at over 100 quarries, with plans to service up to 250 production sites in Europe by the end of autumn 2006.

The Lafarge group (Euronext: LG, NYSE: LR) operates in 76 countries and employs over 80,000 people. Its business is split into four divisions (Cement, Aggregates & Concrete, Roofing, Plaster), with Lafarge holding the position of world leader in each of these areas.

The operations of the Aggregates & Concrete division amounted to over 5 billion euro in 2005, with a workforce of 20,000. This division recently developed a database application called Quartz, which uses the open source database MySQL and enables real-time control of the various phases in the sales and dispatch process of its materials. As in any industrial process, the tool had to fit in perfectly with Lafarge's business procedures and trained staff.

According to Mr J.P. Palau of Lafarge, Project leader to the IT department of Lafarge Aggregates: "Our objective was to reduce maintenance costs while keeping the tool simple and user-friendly, since the Lafarge group staff using Quartz does not typically have IT skills. Furthermore, this application is replacing an older internal program that users were familiar with. Thanks to MySQL, the bet has now been won."

The Quartz application is used in quarries, stockyards, and factories to handle calculation of the material loads picked up by carriers from its production sites. It issues delivery notes, manages inventories, and prints out reports and analyses.

Quartz is connected to an internally developed ERP system and to a weighing indicator that determines the weight of aggregate loaded into each lorry. When a vehicle reports for loading, it goes onto a weighbridge where it is weighed empty. Lafarge employees then select the customer account, the delivery site, the materials, or else they create a new account in the database. Once the lorry has been loaded and reweighed, a delivery note is automatically printed. Quick execution of these tasks is a basic requirement in the context of a highly competitive business sector and Lafarge's constant concern to meet the constraints placed on road transport carriers.

The client/server application was developed in Java and runs on Windows XP using the Hibernate server. MySQL's compatibility with Hibernate, along with its speed, matched up to Quartz requirements; in fact, MySQL offers unparalleled response times. Moreover, MySQL proved very easy to install and to administer.

Lafarge chose MySQL first and foremost for its inherent qualities: simple administration, robustness, openness of the code, performance, interoperability at low cost, and no vendor lock-in. The main advantage of migrating from Sybase SQL Anywhere to MySQL resided in the freedom to manage applications and control the source code. This flexibility enables Lafarge to effectively pilot the development of the application and to roll it out to up to 500 sites while keeping tight control over the budget. Furthermore, the MySQL Network offering, which includes maintenance and fast round-the-clock support, was also a determining factor.

After running the project in pilot mode for 45 days, the system was successfully rolled out in early 2006 covering 17 sites. Today, over 100 quarries are equipped and the group is continuing installation at the approximate rate of ten sites per week. By the end of the autumn 2006, Lafarge plans to deploy the system at 250 production sites throughout Europe.

Initial training of Lafarge's staff was provided by MySQL AB.

Richard Mason, MySQL AB's vice president of EMEA, states: "Open source solutions such as MySQL offer flexibility and independence advantages -- in addition to dramatic cost savings. Lafarge's choice of MySQL is an excellent demonstration of this."

About MySQL

MySQL AB develops and supports a family of high performance, affordable database products -- including MySQL Network, a comprehensive set of certified software and premium support services. The company's flagship product is the MySQL Server, the world's most popular open source database, with more than 10 million active installations. Many of the world's largest organizations, including Yahoo!, Alcatel, The Associated Press, Suzuki and NASA are realizing significant cost savings by using MySQL to power high-volume Web sites, business-critical enterprise applications and packaged software.

With headquarters in Sweden and the United States -- and operations around the world -- MySQL AB supports both open source values and corporate customers' needs in a profitable, sustainable business. For more information about MySQL, please visit www.mysql.com.

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