Purdue News

July 16, 1999 Purdue tenant helps streamline big business operations WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A new Purdue Technology Center tenant is in business to help big business work better. Advanced Process Combinatorics Inc. helps established companies make business decisions more effectively through sophisticated computer software designed at Purdue University and redeveloped by APC for commercial use. Its software schedules manufacturing operations through supply chain management and capital outlay analysis. "Companies that make thousands of products with customers located all over the world come to us to figure out where they should be making those products, where they should be building warehouses, and how they should be moving their materials and products around," said Michael Zentner, president of APC. "Our software enables them to get their products to their customers in the most cost-effective and timely fashion." APC is one of a handful of tenants that have moved their operations into the Purdue Technology Center, the second of Purdue's business incubators. The center is a brand new, 60,000-square-foot building at 3000 Kent Ave. in West Lafayette. The center provides assistance from the Gateways Program to fledgling, technology-based companies. The program makes available resources that can identify market prospects, develop prototypes, launch marketing activities or develop financial resources. The Purdue Research Foundation provides these companies with a shared office concept, flexible leases, attractive rental rates and some shared office services. "The incubator program put together shared Internet access capability that was affordable in the early stages of our business," Zentner said. "By entering the program, we were able to secure certain co-development research grants that are only available to businesses working closely with an academic research institution." APC has been profitable since its inception in 1994, and its client list includes Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly and Co., SmithKline Beecham, Procter & Gamble, and Castrol. APC now is looking to expand into a mid-size company market, Zentner said. The company will hire three more full-time employees this year: a computer expert, an industrial project manager, and a marketing/sales associate. The Purdue Research Park, which opened in 1961, is home to 81 companies that employ 2,500 people. It covers almost 700 acres, of which 120 have been developed by the Purdue Research Foundation, the nonprofit corporation that sponsors the park. Sources: Michael Zentner, (765) 497-9969; zentner@combination.com Stan Mithoefer, director, Purdue Research Park, (765) 494-1726; smithoef@purdue.edu Writer: Jeanine Smith, (765) 496-3133 or (765) 423-2923; jeanine_smith@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page