Apexon Opens Michigan Office to Serve Growing Automotive and Industrial Product Customer Base

     Former Cisco Executive and Automotive Industry Vet to Oversee Sales

    SAN JOSE, Calif., July 17 Apexon Inc., provider of the
manufacturing industry's first solution for strategically managing an extended
enterprise of design, manufacturing and supply partners, today announced the
opening of an office in Troy, Michigan in a move to expand its reach in the
automotive and industrial equipment sectors. Douglas Allardyce, formally with
Cisco Systems, Inc., has been named sales manager at the new location. A long
time veteran of the automotive industry, he will oversee all aspects of sales,
marketing and customer service for Apexon in this important vertical market.
    "Companies in the automotive and industrial equipment sectors -- who
increasingly work with hundreds of suppliers and business partners -- need
capabilities to efficiently manage and control of their extended networks,"
says Ram ChandraSekaran, Apexon president and chief executive officer. "With
an office in Michigan, Apexon can better serve and support this important
customer base, and meet growing demand for practical and cost effective
business relationship management solutions."
    Allardyce brings nearly 25 years experience in sales and management to his
new position. His exclusive focus has been automotive accounts. Most recently,
Allardyce was global account manager at Cisco's Michigan location, where he
had worldwide account responsibility for the Ford Motor Company, its
subsidiaries and affiliates. In this position, he established Cisco as the
single end-to-end network provider for Ford worldwide. Prior to Cisco,
Allardyce was an account executive with Sequent Computer Systems, Inc., and
responsible for the growth and development of the company's equipment base
within Ford and Visteon. He has also worked in various sales and management
positions at IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation and Honeywell Information
Systems Incorporated. Allardyce holds a B.A. in marketing from Western
Michigan University.
    "Doug's many years of experience securing and servicing automotive
companies makes him the perfect candidate to head up our Michigan-based
operation," adds ChandraSekaran. "His contacts in the automotive industry and
history of sales success will prove invaluable to Apexon as we move the
company forward."
    Formed in March 2000, Apexon is developing a comprehensive software suite
for managing outsourced business functions such as design, manufacturing and
supply operations. Rooted in the real-world premise that variances from
so-called "optimized" plans are inevitable, Apexon will help businesses
identify and resolve glitches in the supply cycle before they impact customer
commitments. Apexon's vision is to add value for all participants across the
extended enterprise, boosting productivity and profitability for
manufacturers, as well as their suppliers and business partners.
    Apexon's Michigan office is located at 100 West Big Beaver Rd.,
Suite 200. The phone number is 248-680-6653.

    About Apexon and its Solution
    Apexon's mission is to enable manufacturing enterprises to strategically
manage a complete spectrum of business relationships, from product development
and manufacturing, to quality assurance operations. By bringing better
communication and collaboration to how extended enterprise relationships are
managed, Apexon will help companies and their business partners realize
increased revenues, reduced costs and optimal efficiency. Apexon is privately
held with investments from Menlo Ventures, David A. Stamm (co-founder of
Clarify), Rolling Thunder Network and Stanford University. The company is
based in San Jose, Calif.

    NOTE:  Apexon and the Apexon logo are registered trademarks of Apexon.
Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their
respective owners.