In Other News...

A selection of recent announcements from the supply chain community.

March 12, 2003 — Following is a selection of recent press releases that have come into the iSource Business newsroom. These press releases are, for the most part, presented as received. Datelines have been edited for consistency, and trademark and similar notations, as well as "forward looking statement" and similar notices, have been removed.



NYK Strengthens Global Logistics Business Using webMethods

Deploys the webMethods Integration Platform To Integrate Global Logistics Operations and Enable Real-Time Logistics Transactions

Tokyo and Fairfax, VA — March 12, 2003 — webMethods, the leading independent provider of integration software, today announced that Nippon Yusen K.K. (NYK), a leading provider of global transport and logistics services has deployed the webMethods Integration Platform to improve logistics operations at service locations around the world.

As a leader among global logistics providers, NYK is committed to providing customers with high-quality logistics solutions based on the large-scale and diverse capabilities of the NYK group, as well as its advanced information systems.

At the end of 2002, NYK announced the "Logistics Strategy Plan" to largely expand its logistics business. This plan includes enhancing NYK's integrated business solutions as well as strengthening its IT capability to support business expansion. Recognizing that the implementation of an integration backbone was a critical element to the IT strategy of integrating various systems across the total supply chain, NYK began evaluating software products that offered a secure and flexible integration solution to meet the needs of this strategic initiative.

With a proven track record in streamlining the supply chains of global companies, the webMethods Integration Platform was selected and then deployed in only three months in cooperation with the Toyo Engineering Corporation, NYK's chosen systems integrator.

Using the webMethods Integration Platform, NYK is able to link service locations around the world and exchange transport, delivery and storage information. The webMethods Integration Platform enables NYK to support the real-time exchange of data with customers and results in an increase in client satisfaction and a reduction in processing time and errors.

"The ability to provide logistics solutions to reduce lead times and total cost in the global supply chain will determine logistics companies of the future," said Takao Kusakari, president and executive officer, NYK. "We provide seamless operations from the global level to the local level. This can only be possible when all transport methods and distribution centers around the world are seamlessly linked together and managed by the information system network."

"Building a network, in which the logistical flow of products and the related flow of information are tightly integrated, is the key element in the strategic plan," said Michio Ito, manager, Logistics Technology Center, NYK Tokyo. "We have been using the webMethods Integration Platform to support this network. Our selection was based on its proven track record in Global 2000 companies and the logistics industry."

"As companies globalize, there is an urgent need to build an infrastructure that supports the business requirements of trading partners in different countries," said Akimasa Koizumi, president, webMethods K.K., Japan. "The webMethods Integration Platform will support the global service requirements of NYK to increase customer satisfaction and competitiveness."

About NYK

Founded in 1885 in Japan following the merger of Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company and Kyodo Unyu Kaisha, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) was Japan's first international liner. After a century in business, NYK today operates the world's largest and most diverse cargo fleet, as well as providing comprehensive logistics services supporting the total supply chain of its global customers. In addition, NYK operates luxury cruise ships and various other leisure and recreational vessels. Please refer to http://www.nykline.com for details.

About webMethods K.K.

webMethods K.K. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, President: Akimasa Koizumi) founded in October 2000, engages in product development and verification for the Japanese environment; sales and marketing activities; presales and technical customer support in Japan. webMethods K.K. has around 50 partners with major partners including Toyo Engineering Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd., NEC Corporation, Fujitsu Social Science Laboratory Limited, Kawatetsu Systems, Inc., NS Solutions Corporation, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., Otsuka Corporation, Nihon Unisys, Ltd., and NTT Software Corporation. Please refer to http://www.webMethods.co.jp for details.

About webMethods, Inc.

As the leading independent provider of integration software, webMethods, Inc. delivers the industry's most comprehensive platform for enterprise-wide integration, including complete support for Enterprise Web Services. The webMethods Integration Platform allows customers to achieve quantifiable R.O.I. by linking business processes, enterprise and legacy applications, databases, Web services and workflows both within and across enterprises. Through this seamless flow of information, companies can reduce costs, create new revenue opportunities, strengthen relationships with customers, substantially increase supply chain efficiencies and streamline internal business processes.

Founded in 1996, webMethods is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., with offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. webMethods has more than 900 customers worldwide including Global 2000 leaders such as Bank of America, Citibank, Dell, Eastman Chemical, The Ford Motor Company, Grainger, and Motorola. webMethods' strategic partners include Accenture, AMS, BearingPoint, BMC Software, BroadVision, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, CSC, Deloitte Consulting, EDS, HP, i2 Technologies, J.D. Edwards, SAP AG, Siebel Systems and TCS. More information about the company can be found at http://www.webMethods.com.

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NTE Increases Sales Effectiveness with Salesnet; Pioneer Of Online Logistics Services Standardizes On Salesnet's SFA Solution

Boston — March 12, 2003 — Salesnet, the best-of-breed, Web-based Sales Force Automation (SFA) solution, announced today that NTE Inc., a leading provider of transportation management and execution online logistics services, has fully implemented Salesnet to support its Chicago-based headquarters and seven regional sales offices.

"At NTE, we believe that the Internet is a reliable vehicle to deliver business solutions," explained George Abernathy, senior vice president of sales at NTE. "Out of all the Web-based offerings we evaluated, Salesnet has the only one focused on delivering the core SFA features we needed to improve our pipeline management and sales forecasting. We've been using Salesnet for the last six months and have witnessed a tremendous increase in our team's ability to execute successfully. We've also seen an increase in the amount of new business closed."

In addition to supporting its critical sales functions, NTE also uses Salesnet to strengthen its marketing programs. Using Salesnet, NTE easily tracks the results of multiple touches to its prospects and customer base and ensures all leads are pursued. This has helped the company build awareness, close new deals, and increase repeat business.

"We moved from a client/server application to Salesnet," said Abernathy. "Migrating our client/server data into Salesnet was a seamless transition. In less than 24 hours, we were up and running and our salespeople were raving about Salesnet's ease-of-use compared to the complexity of our previous client/server application. There was hardly any ramp-up time."

"For companies that want to outpace tough times, it's critical that they have the right solutions in place to help them sell more effectively," said Mike Doyle, chairman and CEO of Salesnet. "Companies are opting for cost-effective Web-based applications like Salesnet, that can help them quickly execute, analyze, and react to trends within their sales and marketing activities. Salesnet offers the precise SFA functionality that customers like NTE need to improve sales effectiveness."

About NTE

As the pioneer in online logistics, NTE (www.nte.com) offers technology-enabled solutions that improve supply chain efficiency in transportation management. Thousands of companies across America rely on NTE for transportation event management, visibility, planning and execution. Through NTE, they improve their decision-making capabilities, reduce costs, increase revenue opportunities and improve customer satisfaction. Its customers include Target Corporation, Toshiba International Corp., Honeywell, Weyerhaeuser, Dal-Tile, Verizon, Schneider National and Covenant Transport.

About Salesnet

Salesnet delivers an award-winning, Web-based Sales Force Automation (SFA) solution focused solely on improving sales execution - with no compromises or unnecessary extras. Leading organizations, including Charter Communications, Software AG, Sovereign Bank, Staples, and Tellabs, use Salesnet to accelerate revenues, forecast accurately, and get better pipeline visibility. Salesnet is the only Web-based SFA solution built to ensure consistent, top-notch sales execution. Salesnet is easy to use, quick to deploy, and delivers a rapid return on investment. For more information, visit Salesnet's Web site at: www.salesnet.com.

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Newell Rubbermaid Uses ProcurePoint Travel Solutions to Help Drive Savings in $45 Million Annual Travel Spend

ProcurePoint Enterprise Transient and Enterprise Meetings solutions produce significant savings in costs associated with sourcing and negotiating corporate hotel needs

Sausalito, CA — March 12, 2003 — ProcurePoint Travel Solutions Inc., the only software and services provider to optimize 100% of corporate hotel spend through procurement best practices, today announced that Newell Rubbermaid, a global marketer of consumer products, has chosen ProcurePoint to help drive savings in Rubbermaid's $45 million annual travel spend. The over $7 billion consumer products company expects ProcurePoint tools will help trim lodging costs for transient travel and offsite meetings.

Newell Rubbermaid is already integrating ProcurePoint solutions as key components of its travel management initiatives, which are geared towards reducing rates paid, limiting liabilities and exposures from inconsistent application of preferred contract terms, as well as directing its spend to preferred travel-related service providers. The General Procurement organization deployed Enterprise Transient and OpenBid, ProcurePoint's reverse auction tool, to source and negotiate 2003 preferred rates for its four global divisions. Newell Rubbermaid found that by using the ProcurePoint solutions, this typically cumbersome and time-consuming process was completed easily and efficiently in just a few weeks.

Newell Rubbermaid is also deploying ProcurePoint Enterprise Meetings to employees throughout the organization, providing them with an efficient and cost-effective way to identify, negotiate, and contract with hotels to achieve the best value for their individual offsite meeting needs. With this structured solution, Newell Rubbermaid can ensure that all contracts include only pre-approved terms and conditions, thereby reducing the risk and potential liability that can arise when inexperienced planners negotiate with hotels without a full appreciation of the importance of specific clauses such as attrition and cancellation. ProcurePoint Enterprise Meetings' integrated corporate reports, including information about the individual meeting planners, suppliers, and costs of offsite meetings, will also provide new insights that Newell Rubbermaid managers can use to introduce further improvements in company travel policies.

"Together, ProcurePoint Enterprise Transient and ProcurePoint Enterprise Meetings allow us to consolidate and leverage our purchasing power with hoteliers to turn a decent corporate travel program into a world-class program," said Paul Box, Group Vice President of Procurement, Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. "More importantly, we are providing every employee, who needs to negotiate with hotels, with self-service tools that reduce time-to-contract and drive lower costs. Whether employees are responsible for company-wide corporate contract negotiations or individual meeting needs, ProcurePoint solutions help make each of them a sourcing and procurement expert."

"Newell Rubbermaid understands that by providing its employees with better ways to negotiate and conclude hotel agreements for transient travel and offsite meetings, it empowers everyone in the organization with the ability to better manage the overall corporate travel spend," said Ed Sarraille, ProcurePoint Travel Solutions president and CEO. "In an organization as big and complex as Newell Rubbermaid, the challenge is to ensure that everyone charged with negotiating with hotels has the tools and the knowledge to get the right rates and amenities in the right places at the right time, and in compliance with overall company travel policies. It's all about saving time and money across the organization and instituting processes that make that doable."

About Newell Rubbermaid Inc.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. is a global marketer of consumer products with 2002 sales of over $7 billion and a powerful brand family including Sharpie, Paper Mate, Parker, Waterman, Colorific, Rubbermaid, Stain Shield, Blue Ice, TakeAlongs, Roughneck, Calphalon, Little Tikes, Graco, Levolor, Kirsch, Shur-Line, BernzOmatic, Goody, Vise-Grip, Quick-Grip and Irwin. The company is headquartered in Freeport, Illinois and employs approximately 49,000 people worldwide.

About ProcurePoint Travel Solutions

ProcurePoint Travel Solutions Inc. is the only software and services provider to optimize 100% of corporate hotel spend through procurement best practices. Designed to facilitate negotiations with hotels for transient preferred rates and offsite meetings, the ProcurePoint Enterprise suite of products offers corporations a unique combination of process automation and online negotiation tools, including the industry leading OpenBid reverse auction platform. Fortune 1000 companies rely on ProcurePoint solutions to reduce negotiation cycles from weeks to days and to achieve visibility into and control over their total hotel spend. Hotels also benefit from participating in ProcurePoint hosted negotiations through expanded market reach, shortened sales cycles and enhanced competitive intelligence. For more information, visit www.procurepoint.com.

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Canada's Largest Retailer Hudson's Bay Company Selects MicroStrategy's Business Intelligence Platform as Enterprise-Wide Standard

Mclean, VA — March 12, 2003 — MicroStrategy Incorporated, a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence software, today announced that Hudson's Bay Company, Canada's largest retailer and oldest corporation has selected MicroStrategy as its enterprise-wide standard for accessing, analyzing, and sharing information. Hudson's Bay Company chose MicroStrategy after an extensive review of competing products in a deal valued at well over $1 million.

Hudson's Bay Company's deployment of the MicroStrategy business intelligence platform will be enterprise-wide, with nearly 5,000 users expected to harness the MicroStrategy platform for reporting, analysis and information delivery. These users will include store managers, company executives, financial and marketing analysts, and outside vendor personnel. The specific, diverse applications will include reporting of store sales and advertising expenditures, merchandise management, category reviews, vendor scorecards, financial analysis, and supply chain reporting and analysis. MicroStrategy will provide visibility into Oracle and Teradata databases of 2 to 3 terabytes, and these databases are expected to grow significantly over the next three years.

"We chose MicroStrategy over other vendors because their platform delivers understandable, high-value business intelligence to all our users," said Hudson's Bay Company's Vice President of Information Services Gary Davenport. "Our end-users loved MicroStrategy's easy-to-use web interface and its exceptional reporting features. MicroStrategy's zero-footprint web interface will enable increased information sharing with our vendors, allowing us to realize efficiency and productivity gains that will help us more proactively serve our customers."

"MicroStrategy is proud to be selected as the business intelligence standard at Hudson's Bay Company," said MicroStrategy's Chief Operating Officer, Sanju Bansal. He added: "Our deal with Hudson's Bay Company is part of a broader trend of success with large companies -- Canada's largest financial services, telecommunications and drug store companies are all MicroStrategy customers."

According to the 2002 Fortune listing of top U.S. domestic companies, MicroStrategy customers include four of the top five diversified financial companies, four of the top five commercial banks, and seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, MicroStrategy boasts as customers eight of the top ten telecommunications companies and six of the top ten automotive companies in the Fortune 2002 Global 500 list.

About Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company (Hbc), established in 1670, is Canada's largest department store retailer and oldest corporation. The Company provides Canadians with the widest selection of goods and services available through numerous retail channels including more than 500 stores led by the Bay and Zellers chains. Hudson's Bay Company is Canada's fifth largest employer with 70,000 associates and has operations in every province in Canada.

About MicroStrategy Incorporated

Leadership in a Critical Market: Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy is a worldwide leader in the increasingly critical business intelligence software market. Large and small companies alike are harnessing MicroStrategy's business intelligence software to gain vital insights from their data to help them proactively enhance cost-efficiency, productivity and customer relations and optimize revenue-generating strategies. MicroStrategy's business intelligence platform offers exceptional capabilities that provide organizations -- in virtually all facets of their operations -- with user- friendly solutions to their data query, reporting, and advanced analytical needs, and distributes valuable insight on this data to users via Web, wireless, and voice.

Enterprise-Class Business Intelligence: MicroStrategy 7i is a truly integrated, enterprise-class, Web-based business intelligence platform. With MicroStrategy 7i, enterprises can now standardize on one business intelligence platform and deploy high-value business intelligence enterprise-wide. MicroStrategy 7i's configurable query, reporting, and OLAP Web interface is designed to support all users, from casual report viewers to power analysts.

Diverse Customer Base: MicroStrategy's customer base cuts across industry and sector lines, with over 1,900 enterprise-class customers, including Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, AT&T Wireless Group, Wachovia and GlaxoSmithKline. MicroStrategy also has relationships with over 400 systems integrators and application development and platform partners, including IBM, PeopleSoft, Hewlett-Packard, and JD Edwards.

MicroStrategy is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol MSTR. For more information on the Company, or to purchase or demo MicroStrategy's software, please visit MicroStrategy's Web site at http://www.microstrategy.com .

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ICG Commerce Helps The BOC Group Identify Significant Savings

Leading Industrial Gas Supplier Already Seeing Results of Strategic Procurement Initiative Hit Bottom Line

London — March 12, 2003 — ICG Commerce, a leading procurement services provider, announced today that The BOC Group has completed the sourcing phase of a three-year strategic procurement initiative within its U.K. operation that is expected to provide the company with significant savings over the benefits already delivered in 2002.

BOC engaged ICG Commerce in December 2001 to provide selective sourcing services across more than 40 buying categories, including telecommunications, IT services, logistics and a range of technical items. Upon completing an analysis of BOC's U.K. expenditures in order to identify the most significant savings opportunities, ICG Commerce leveraged its hosted, integrated suite of eSourcing tools to identify and qualify suppliers and negotiate new supplier agreements for the company. ICG Commerce's experts were able to identify double-digit percentage savings in certain categories for BOC.

"BOC has a wide range of sourcing strategies to better manage its costs, and this initiative has really exceeded our expectations, not only from the standpoint of the savings identified but also in terms of how it has positioned us to interact more strategically with our global supply base going forward," said Craig Lardner, manager of supply management for The BOC Group. "These results are now hitting the bottom line, and our measurement and tracking process proves it."

With initial sourcing work complete, ICG Commerce is now focused on leading the change management process required to implement the benefits from the project and ensure BOC continues to realize the savings. An internal BOC Web site displays all negotiated deals, providing consistency of information throughout the organization to ensure that savings are realized as the company moves further into the transaction phase of its procurement initiative. In addition, monthly savings reports from ICG Commerce provide BOC management with total visibility into the process so that compliance can be tracked and cost reductions can be maintained on an ongoing basis.

"ICG Commerce brings decades of procurement expertise and leading technologies to the table for our clients for greater savings, significant process efficiencies and ongoing improvements in their procurement activities," said Ed West, chairman and chief executive officer of ICG Commerce. "We are pleased that our comprehensive and unmatched services are helping industry leaders like BOC achieve incremental cost reduction goals."

Services to The BOC Group are being provided by ICG Commerce's European operations headquartered in London.

About The BOC Group:

The BOC Group is one of the world's largest suppliers of industrial gases, a leading supplier of materials, systems and services in the semiconductor industry and a specialist logistics company. BOC serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs nearly 43,000 people and had annual sales of over $6 billion in 2001. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at http://www.boc.com .

About ICG Commerce:

ICG Commerce is the leading Procurement Services Provider delivering total procurement cost savings through an unmatched combination of exceptional people and superior technology. ICG Commerce provides a comprehensive range of services to help companies identify savings through strategic sourcing, realize savings through implementation and transaction management and drive continuous improvements through category management. ICG Commerce, Inc., a privately held company founded in 1992, is a member of Internet Capital Group's network of partner companies. While headquartered in the United States, ICG Commerce has operations in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and The Netherlands and can be found on the Web at www.icgc-europe.com.

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Plexus Selects Datasweep for Worldwide Operations Performance Management Solution

San Jose, CA — March 12, 2003 — Datasweep, Inc., the leader in operations performance management for manufacturers, today announced that Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS), a leading provider of design, manufacturing, and testing services to the electronics and medical industry, has chosen the Datasweep Advantage(TM) suite for global deployment of an enterprise-wide operations performance management solution.

"We are very pleased that Plexus selected the Datasweep Advantage suite," said Vladimir Preysman, president and CEO of Datasweep. "Manufacturers such as Plexus require solutions that can dramatically improve performance across the product lifecycle. The Datasweep system's ability to collect and integrate data in real-time, control critical processes and then provide visibility and business value through roles-based metrics and analytics, has helped us build momentum with major manufacturers such as Plexus."

The Datasweep Advantage suite supplies integrated manufacturing execution, quality management (including corrective and preventive action), supplier management, service and business intelligence solutions. The suite enables organizations to improve processes, quality and performance across worldwide manufacturing operations. Datasweep solutions are designed to help manufacturers meet regulatory compliance while achieving predictable quality. Datasweep solutions support current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and Six Sigma initiatives, and address 21 CFR Part 11 electronic signature requirements.

About Datasweep

Datasweep is the leader in operations performance management solutions for manufacturers. Datasweep solutions uniquely enable global manufacturers to collect, aggregate, analyze and act on product and operational data from the entire product lifecycle and supply chain, improving process efficiencies and product quality, reducing product lifecycle costs and ensuring regulatory compliance. Datasweep customers are achieving fast time-to-benefit and lower cost of ownership, deploying in as few as eight weeks. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Datasweep serves customers in high-tech, life sciences, automotive, telecommunications and other industries, including Flextronics International, Ltd. (FLEX), General Electric (GE), Harris Corporation (HRS), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC), Lucent (LU), Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.(SI) and SonoSite (SONO). Additional information can be found on the Internet at www.datasweep.com.

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