WhereNet Partners with GE Fanuc and InfoServices
Dear Editor, WhereNet Corp., a leader technology provider to Ford Motor Company and winner of the Henry Ford Technology Award last year, recently announced two new strategic alliances with dramatic implications for the automotive industry. GE Fanuc Automation Corporation and InfoServices, Inc. have become authorized resellers of WhereNet’s industry-leading real-time locating technology. InfoServices’ large customer base includes such bellwether companies as Ford Motor Company, Daimler Chrysler, General Motors, Delphi, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Covisint, Visteon, and Lear Corporation, while GE Fanuc boasts General Electric, General Motors and Eastman Kodak as part of its prestigious customer base. Already installed at Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola, WhereNet’s breakthrough supply chain visibility technology will be integrated with GE Fanuc’s CIMPLICITY automation software to provide a completely integrated solution for plant floor operations within the manufacturing and automotive industry. With WhereNet, InfoServices’ customers will have the ability to easily locate, track, and manage capital assets, inventory, and other supply chain resources more cost-effectively. I have attached both press releases as well as copied them below. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Best, Ross FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHERENET BOLSTERS AUTOMOTIVE SALES CHANNEL THROUGH RESELLER AGREEMENT WITH INFOSERVICES INC. Automotive IT Leader to Offer WhereNet’s Industry-Leading Supply Chain Visibility Solutions to Fortune 1000; Customers include DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and Delphi SANTA CLARA, Calif. July 10, 2001 WhereNet®, the worldwide leader in wireless supply chain visibility solutions, today announced that InfoServices Inc., an industry leader providing complete end-to-end IT solutions from the plant floor to the corporate office, signed a comprehensive reseller agreement. WhereNet Corp. is the first company to design, build, and market wireless supply chain visibility solutions for locating, tracking, and managing supply chain resources, critical to success in today's competitive global business environment. InfoServices’ large customer base includes such bellwether companies as Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Delphi, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Covisint, Visteon, and Lear Corporation. With WhereNet, InfoServices’ customers will have the ability to easily locate, track, and manage capital assets, inventory, and other supply chain resources more cost-effectively. InfoServices joins a group of more than 15 leading companies in the WhereNet Aware alliance program as an authorized reseller and service provider of WhereNet’s Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS). The WhereNet solution will enable customers to capture the location of any tagged asset within an accuracy of 10 feet and feed that information to a client's asset management system. By leveraging WhereNet’s breakthrough technology to optimise assets, large corporations are realizing a return on investment in less than a year with aggregated annual cost savings totalling millions of dollars. “WhereNet’s RTLS technology provides us with a significant new capability that yields substantial value to our Fortune 1000 customers, especially those in the automotive industry,” said Mario Bernardo, executive vice president of business development, InfoServices. “By integrating WhereNet’s real-time location technology with our existing automatic data collection capability, we provide customers with a whole new level of strategic asset management, enabling them to better manage their costs and dramatically increase profit margins.” InfoServices, Inc. (ISI), an MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) established in 1993, is a consulting organization that currently services the Detroit Metropolitan area, delivering innovative technology solutions. By combining WhereNet’s supply chain visibility solutions with InfoServices’ automatic data collection capability, customers will be able to rapidly receive information pertaining to asset management, yard management, call systems, and container management, to complete the loop for comprehensive information management. InfoServices plans to integrate WhereNet’s RTLS application with its customers’ existing inventory management systems to provide a best-in-class, asset management solution. “As a respected vendor of the big three automakers and their respective tier one suppliers, InfoServices will provide WhereNet with a new penetration path into the rest of the trillion-dollar automotive market,” said Matt Armanino, vice president of business development, WhereNet. “WhereNet technology, tightly integrated with InfoServices’ automatic data collection capability, presents an optimal, asset management solution for auto makers, giving them new ways to maximize their return on assets and improve customer satisfaction.” About WhereNet Aware The WhereNet Aware Alliance Program is designed to ensure the interoperability of applications, facilities, and locating devices within enterprises, enabling real-time visibility of millions of assets in a supply chain. Launched in April 2000, the program focuses on integrating WhereNet systems and services in companies where supply chain management and visibility are critical. WhereNet selects partners based on the applicability and compatibility of their technology with WhereNet systems and the partner’s ability to support the dynamic, ever-changing supply chain environment. Partners include companies such as Catalyst International, Comergent Technologies, Communications Services International, FMC, GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc., GE Medical Systems, Insight Automation, iVita Corporation, Lucas Systems, Marconi Data Systems, Midgard Information Systems, Inc., Nistevo, nPassage, OMI International, Inc., Optum, Symbol Technologies, Syncata, and Unisys. About InfoServices Inc. InfoServices, Inc. (ISI) is a full service information technology solutions provider to our clients providing “solutions for your complex world.” ISI uses the disciplines of the four following Strategic Business Units (SBU’s): Automatic Data Collection, Technical & Integration Services, Application Development, and Infrastructure. With this approach ISI offers very dynamic and complete solutions to its clients. InfoServices, Inc. is an industry leader in providing complete end-to-end IT solutions for the plant floor to the corporate office. InfoServices integrates the “best of breed” tools and cutting-edge technologies to deliver a comprehensive solution that conforms to the client's unique demands and environment. Whether an organization requires wireless solutions, asset management, custom application development, or technical and infrastructure expertise, ISI has the answer. Founded in 1993, InfoServices, Inc. is a (MBE) Minority Business Enterprise with its headquarters in Adrian, Michigan and technical and warehouse facilities in the metropolitan Detroit area. Information is available on the InfoServices website at www.InfoServices-USA.com or by calling 248-584-0880. About WhereNet Corp. WhereNet Corp., winner of last year’s Henry Ford Technology Award, is the first company to design, build, and market wireless supply chain visibility solutions for locating, tracking, and managing supply chain resources, critical to success in today's competitive global business environment. WhereNet systems seamlessly connect a company's resources to its information systems, in real time. WhereNet's real-time locating and tracking technology utilize patented advances in spread-spectrum wireless technology to provide the ability to locate any tagged object with accuracy within 10 feet (3 meters). The result is constant, on-demand information about valuable assets in the supply chain, their physical location, and status. Driven by wireless tags, fixed position antennas and Web-enabled software, WhereNet’s real-time solutions offer lower operating costs, improved return-on-assets, and higher levels of customer service for some of the World’s leading companies such as Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola and FMC. Founded in 1997, WhereNet is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with sales offices throughout the United States and Europe. Information is available on the WhereNet Web site at www.wherenet.com or by calling 408-845-8500. ### WhereNet® is a registered trademark of WhereNet Corp. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WHERENET AND GE FANUC TO PROVIDE INTEGRATED REAL-TIME LOCATING SOLUTION FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST AUTOMOTIVE AND INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURERS GE Fanuc Joins the WhereNet Aware Reseller Program; New Sales Channel to Ignite Wide-Scale Deployment of WhereNet’s Supply Chain Visibility Technology SANTA CLARA, Calif.June 12, 2001WhereNet®, the worldwide leader in wireless supply chain visibility solutions, today announced it has completed an agreement with GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc., a joint venture of General Electric Company and FANUC Ltd. of Japan, to provide wireless, real-time applications for locating, tracking, and managing inventory throughout the supply chain. GE Fanuc is part of GE Industrial Systems, a $6 billion global leader in manufacturing products used to distribute, protect and control electrical power and equipment, and supplying product and service solutions for commercial, industrial, residential and utility applications. Under the terms of the agreement, GE Fanuc joins a group of more than 15 leading companies in the WhereNet Aware alliance program as an authorized reseller and service provider of WhereNet’s Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS). GE Fanuc Automation Corporation is a global enterprise dedicated to helping companies such as General Electric, General Motors, and Eastman Kodak better manage their systems and processes through factory automation supply chain solutions. GE Fanuc plans to integrate WhereNet’s RTLS application with its CIMPLICITY® Automation Software to provide a best-in-class software visibility solution for plant floor operations within the manufacturing and automotive industry. Initially, GE Fanuc will offer WhereNet’s technology as part of its CIMPLICITY Tracker solution to track and locate critical supply chain assets and optimize material flow and as part of CIMPLICITY’s electronic parts replenishment call systems used to re-stock inventory along assembly lines. CIMPLICITY software applications are being used at major automotive installations worldwide. “Given the tremendous benefits realized through successful WhereNet installations at Ford Motor Company and Coca-Cola, we have no doubt that GE Fanuc’s customers will reap similar rapid returns on their investment totaling millions of dollars a year by leveraging WhereNet’s technology,” said Kevin Roach, vice president of software business for GE Fanuc. “WhereNet’s solution further validates GE Fanuc’s mission to improve our customers’ productivity with the best industrial automation technology, reliability, and services worldwide.” The CIMPLICITY Tracker currently uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or manual bar code scanning to determine the approximate location of assets on the plant floor. By developing solutions using WhereNet’s wireless, state-of-the-art Real-Time Locating Systems, GE Fanuc’s customers will know the location of any tagged asset within an accuracy of 10 feet. The WhereNet solution has already been proven by some of the world’s largest corporations to optimize assets resulting in millions of dollars in cost savings. “GE Fanuc provides WhereNet with an established channel of Fortune 100 customers who will dramatically benefit from our real-time locating technology,” said Matt Armanino, vice president of business development for WhereNet. “Without a robust visibility solution, corporations can needlessly spend billions of dollars on excessive inventory. By offering a tightly integrated WhereNet-GE Fanuc joint application, the largest of companies can immediately locate even the smallest of parts, receive real-time data about those assets, and make better decisions about their supply chains.” About WhereNet Aware The WhereNet Aware Alliance Program is designed to ensure the interoperability of applications, facilities, and locating devices within enterprises, enabling real-time visibility of millions of assets in a supply chain. Launched in April 2000, the program focuses on integrating WhereNet systems and services in companies where supply chain management and visibility are critical. WhereNet selects partners based on the applicability and compatibility of their technology with WhereNet systems and the partner’s ability to support the dynamic, ever-changing supply chain environment. Partners include companies such as Catalyst International, Comergent Technologies, Communications Services International, FMC, Insight Automation, iVita Corporation, Lucas Systems, Marconi Data Systems, Midgard Information Systems, Inc., Nistevo, nPassage, OMI International, Inc., Optum, Symbol Technologies, Syncata, and Unisys. About GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc. GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc. is a leading global supplier of industrial control systems and is a joint venture between GE and FANUC, Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., GE Fanuc is part of GE Industrial Systems, a $6 billion global leader in manufacturing products used to distribute, protect and control electrical power and equipment, and supplying product and service solutions for commercial, industrial, residential and utility applications. GE Industrial Systems is one of GE's major businesses. GE Fanuc products and services include CIMPLICITY® industrial automation software, nano to high-end PLCs, a wide range of CNCs, motion control systems, operator interfaces, industrial computers, CO2 and YAG lasers, and a wide range of integration and customer support services. For more information, visit http://www.gefanuc.com or contact: GE Fanuc Information Center, P.O. Box 229, Whitehall, PA 18052, Phone: (800) 648-2001, Fax: (610) 437-5212, e-mail: gefanuc@gefanuc.com. About WhereNet Corp. WhereNet Corp., winner of last year’s Henry Ford Technology Award, is the first company to design, build, and market wireless supply chain visibility solutions for locating, tracking, and managing supply chain resources, critical to success in today's competitive global business environment. WhereNet systems seamlessly connect a company's resources to its information systems, in real time. WhereNet's real-time locating and tracking technology utilize patented advances in spread-spectrum wireless technology to provide the ability to locate any tagged object with accuracy within 10 feet (3 meters). The result is constant, on-demand information about valuable assets in the supply chain, their physical location, and status. Driven by wireless tags, fixed position antennas and Web-enabled software, WhereNet’s real-time solutions offer lower operating costs, improved return-on-assets, and higher levels of customer service for some of the World’s leading companies such as Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola and FMC. Founded in 1997, WhereNet is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with sales offices throughout the United States and Europe. Information is available on the WhereNet Web site at www.wherenet.com or by calling 408-845-8500. ### WhereNet® is a registered trademark of WhereNet Corp. CIMPLICITY® is a registered trademark of GE Fanuc Automation North America, Inc. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.