BURLINGTON, Mass. October 16, 2000 Excara, Inc., formerly PurchasingCenter.com, today introduced products and services to help manufacturers control their sales channel and brand over the Internet. Excaras new ContentCenter", CommerceCenter" and Professional Services provide manufacturers with content creation, content management and syndication, and online commerce.
Excara also announced three new customers: The Stanley Works, EGS Appleton, a division of Emerson Electric, and Bridgeport Fittings.
Electronic product content that can be shared, repurposed and managed is critical to our business, said Joe Nittis, vice president of marketing, EGS Appleton Electric. Excara is building a product content master database that will help our company ensure that our products and brand are properly represented in both paper and electronic product catalogs.
Third parties currently control manufacturer product content on the Internet and are causing significant manufacturer brand dilution, said Paul Baier, CEO and president of Excara. We are the first company to offer Internet-based content and commerce solutions specifically for manufacturers. Our products and services give manufacturers full control over the ownership, quality and distribution of their product content.
According to AMR Research, "Less than 15% of all manufacturer part content is in a usable, searchable, transactive electronic format. The data sources are fragmented, unclassified into standard schemas, and usually hidden behind a suppliers firewall."
Excara is actively addressing these manufacturer needs and building product content databases for EGS Appleton, The Stanley Works and Bridgeport Fittings. Additionally, Excara is working with 3M Electrical Products, a division of 3M, Progress Lighting and Bridgeport Fittings as development participants.