Euro-Ready ERP Package Available From Fourth Shift

Fourth Shift Corp. said yesterday that an EMU (European Monetary Unit) version of its enterprise resource planning software is available for European customers preparing for the Jan. 1 conversion to the new euro currency. An EMU version for customers outside Europe is slated for mid-1999.

Fourth Shift says its ERP software, the Manufacturing Software System, will provide the key functions needed for currency conversions involving the euro, which 11 European countries will begin to use on Jan. 1. Fourth Shift Europe, the European operation of the Minneapolis vendor, says it will ask the Business & Accounting Software Developers' Association in London to certify its ERP package for compliance with EMU specifications.

Countries adopting the euro will be able to conduct transactions using the euro or their own currencies until July 1, 2002, when the monetary conversion must be complete.