Honeywell Consumer Products Group Chooses Apexon; Maker of Autolite, Fram, Prestone and other Leading Automotive Products Turns to Apexon to Improve Supplier Operations

    SAN JOSE, Calif.--Oct. 7, 2002--Apexon, Inc., the emerging leader in Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) solutions, today announced that Honeywell International's Consumer Products Group (CPG) has selected Apexon to manage its supplier relationships. Apexon3, the company's web-based SRM software, will provide a single interface for managing Honeywell CPG's day-to-day business processes with suppliers of all types and sizes. By implementing Apexon3, Honeywell CPG anticipates it will generate significant savings by reducing material costs and inventory, improving quality and productivity, and tracking and managing supplier charge-backs.
    "Our ability to be responsive to our customers depends on how well we work together with our suppliers. With Apexon3, we are creating consistent, efficient supplier processes across our many plants and product lines, which will enable us to provide our customers with lower costs and shorter lead times," said Dave Lundstedt, president of Honeywell Consumer Products Group. "We looked at more than 30 potential vendors for supplier relationship management. We chose Apexon because they truly understood our business needs and showed a demonstrated track record of delivering results."
    A $1.0 billion division of Honeywell International, Honeywell Consumer Products Group (CPG) manufactures and markets consumer-branded automotive products for the aftermarket consumer through retail channels, as well as for automotive equipment manufacturers and installers. Honeywell CPG's product line includes household brand names such as Prestone (antifreeze), Fram (filters), Autolite (spark plugs) and Holts. The diversity of the company's product line and customer base mandates complex supplier operations, with more than 400 Honeywell CPG suppliers serving multiple plants conducting discrete and process manufacturing. Prior to Apexon, these complex supplier operations were managed through manual, siloed processes, creating long cycle times and high administrative costs for managing the supply base.
    Apexon3's integrated applications will manage quality, inventory replenishment and other critical business processes with suppliers. Apexon3 will integrate with multiple instances of different ERP systems -- including JD Edwards and Avalon -- in use today across multiple plants. Given the diverse nature of CPG's supplier operations, Apexon3's flexible, customizable workflow will enable a single implementation to handle different manufacturing modes and product lines. With its unique Apexon Asynchronous Response engine and focused implementation methodology, Apexon3 is expected to go live at CPG within 90 days. And because Apexon3 is a pure-web solution, Honeywell CPG expects to achieve 100% supplier adoption.
    "Apexon3 allows global manufacturers such as Honeywell CPG to incorporate suppliers into their daily operational processes through a single web-based interface," said Apexon President and CEO Matt Holleran. "By synchronizing the efforts of its supply base, Honeywell CPG will be able to drive down total supplier costs, reduce inventory overhead and improve the flexibility of its supply chain in responding rapidly to change."

    About Honeywell Consumer Products Group

    Honeywell manufactures and markets consumer-branded automotive products for the aftermarket consumer, as well as for automotive equipment manufacturers and installers. A leader in automotive product research, development, engineering, and manufacturing technology, Honeywell is also a world leader in branded filters, spark plugs and car care products.

    About Apexon

    Apexon, Inc. is a leading provider of operational Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) solutions that manage the day-to-day business processes between manufacturing plants and their suppliers. Its Apexon3 SRM suite enables manufacturers to synchronize the efforts of their global supply base to drive down total supplier costs, reduce inventories and improve supplier response times. Apexon is privately held with investments from Accel Partners, Foundation Capital, Menlo Ventures, Rolling Thunder Network and David A. Stamm, co-founder and former CEO of Clarify, Inc. The company is based in San Jose, Calif. and can be reached via the Internet at www.apexon.com or by calling 408/573-2500.

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