SupplySolution CEO to Provide Insight on Technology's Role In the Automotive Industry Today, August 10

    Chris Moritz, president and CEO of SupplySolution addresses automotive
        executives at the 2001 Automotive Management Briefing Seminars
                           in Traverse City, Mich.

    TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 10 Expecting to address a crowd
of close to 500 automotive executives, Chris Moritz, president and CEO of
SupplySolution, today will provide a view of e-supply chain management for the
automotive industry from a technology company's perspective.  He plans to
review the current state of the industry, its critical issues, and the need
for consolidated industry focus for greater technology adoption at a seminar
entitled "Auto 2001 - Driving to the New Business Model: Collaboration, Speed
and Value" at the 2001 Automotive Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse
City, Mich.  SupplySolution is the leading provider of supply chain execution
applications for manufacturing, distribution, exchange and supplier
organizations.
    Moritz will note that while e-business is transforming the automotive
industry, with 68% of supplier revenues in North America predicted to pass
through the automotive Web by 2004 (Forrester Research), a recent study by The
Automotive Consulting Group shows that only 33% of first tier-suppliers have
adequate IT resources in place to implement an e-business program.
    "There are four key issues for the automotive industry to resolve in order
for the industry to truly enjoy the benefits of e-business," Moritz stated.
"The OEMs continue to drive demands down the supply chain and there is a lack
of real-time information coupled with an ongoing implementation of disparate,
isolationist technology applications.  Equally significant, companies are
deploying internal solutions, which can hinder activities between trading
partners."
    Noting a need for the automotive industry to implement technologies for
the most critical business areas -- movement, consumption, replenishment of
direct materials -- Moritz will indicate that a focus on these three areas is
critical to plant managers, at all levels.  "Additionally," Moritz said,
"these business areas drive increased value, and are important at all levels
of the supply chain because of the focus on a key cost center -- inventory."
    Moritz will conclude his remarks with a call for industry cooperation and
industry responsibility.  "The automotive industry is one of the world's
largest and most complex industries, relative to other industries.  As such,
we will likely serve as the example to other industries in terms of our
success in maximizing the promises of e-business.  We have an opportunity to
collectively leverage technology to our advantage and build a true world-class
supply chain," he added.

    About SupplySolution
    SupplySolution is a leading supply-chain execution company, delivering
value to manufacturers, distributors, exchanges and suppliers through the
implementation of collaborative supply chain applications, including the i-
Supply Service, i-GetIt and the SupplySolution Global Infrastructure.  Today,
i-Supply is one of the most widely used real-time, direct-material fulfillment
applications in the automotive industry, in operation at over 1,100
organizations.  In March 2001, SupplySolution signed an exclusive provider
agreement with Covisint, providing automotive users availability to i-
Supply(TM), co-branded as Covisint Fulfillment(TM), and all related
infrastructure technologies, through the Covisint exchange.
    The company's technology headquarters are located in Santa Barbara,
California, and its sales and service headquarters are located in Southfield,
Michigan.

    i-Supply(TM) Service is a trademark of SupplySolution, Inc.

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