i2 Chosen by Leading Automakers for e-Business Initiatives; DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Volkswagen each select i2 solutions to power private marketplaces
23 August 2000
i2 Chosen by Leading Automakers for e-Business Initiatives; DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Volkswagen each select i2 solutions to power private marketplaces
DALLAS--Aug. 23, 2000--i2 Technologies, Inc. , the leading provider of intelligent eBusiness and marketplace solutions, announced today that is has signed independent contracts with three of the world's largest automobile manufacturers: DaimlerChrysler, Toyota and Volkswagen. The contracts are part of major efforts at each company to improve business results using private online marketplaces for collaboration internally and with their trading partners."While i2 plays a role in developing many public marketplaces, we are uniquely capable of helping companies build and maintain competitive advantage through private marketplaces," said Steven Minisini, i2's group vice president of Worldwide Automotive. "These commitments by Toyota, Volkswagen and DaimlerChrysler demonstrate the need for i2 solutions among automakers as they work toward maximizing the efficiency of their manufacturing processes through collaboration."
DaimlerChrysler awards i2 'FastCar' contract
DaimlerChrysler North America has awarded i2 phase one of a multi-year contract as part of its new 'FastCar' program. Announced by DaimlerChrysler on August 9, FastCar is an e-commerce initiative intended to save billions of dollars in development and new vehicle launch costs and reduce time-to-market by interconnecting the company's design, engineering, manufacturing, procurement and other activities.
"The FastCar project is as ambitious as any we have ever undertaken," said James P. Holden, DaimlerChrysler Corporation president and chief executive officer. "It will dramatically increase the speed and precision of development, reduce waste and increase the quality of our products."
i2's collaboration solutions are designed to allow DaimlerChrysler to link multidisciplinary platform teams together to rapidly execute changes to both new and existing products. Product development and changes can take several months to execute, holding up time-to-market and driving up tooling expense and, therefore, vehicle cost. i2's collaboration software is intended to allow the internal organization and the extended supplier network to work together smoothly and quickly, dramatically cutting time and costs. The first phase of the i2 solution is scheduled for deployment before the end of 2000, and DaimlerChrysler expects to see immediate benefits.
Toyota system to support 1,500 dealers
Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract to purchase i2's e-business software for its accessories and replacement parts business. i2's TradeMatrix(TM) solutions will manage inventory and promise accurate delivery dates for all Toyota Genuine Parts, providing total inventory support for 1,500 North American Toyota and Lexus dealers.
The system is designed to provide accurate due-date quoting, so orders can be filled against inventory at the lowest possible carrying and transportation cost. Toyota intends to use the system to optimize inventory through improved forecasting and enhanced planning, deployment, and replenishment of inventory.
The first solution is scheduled to go online this year, with all phases completed during the next several years. The system is expected to generate more than $30 million in savings per year when completed.
"Online marketplaces will place increased importance on having the right parts available, at the right time, at a highly competitive cost," said Gerald Braga, TMS corporate manager, Procurement and Supply Chain Management. "This system will help Toyota succeed in this new environment."
Volkswagen AG signs contract for supplier marketplace
Building on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announced in April, i2 recently signed a contract with Volkswagen AG for the first phase of building Volkswagen's supplier marketplace. Volkswagen and the IBM-i2-Ariba alliance already have begun the first-phase project, which will include collaborative planning with suppliers, indirect e-procurement, and auctions.
On April 12, 2000, Volkswagen announced a strategic partnership with IBM, i2 and Ariba to build a global digital marketplace to connect Volkswagen and its suppliers. Since then, the alliance partners have executed various simultaneous projects ranging from the implementation of the first "business release" of the software, to design of a new business-to-business (B2B) Web IT infrastructure, to the creation of Volkswagen's B2B marketplace strategy and rollout plan.
These projects involved more than 100 individuals from six different companies, including Ariba, i2, IBM, gedas, AT Kearney and Volkswagen. Projects included defining the Web IT infrastructure based on IBM's WebSphere(TM) standards and integrating i2 and Ariba applications with Volkswagen's legacy systems.
With the help of the alliance partners, Volkswagen is building its own B2B marketplace to allow Volkswagen Group and its suppliers to improve their inter-enterprise trading relationships through improved collaboration and visibility. The goal of the marketplace is to optimize business processes to achieve savings of up to 50 percent in process costs.
"With this cooperation, Volkswagen will increase the efficiency in its global supply chain and improve its process flow," says Volkswagen board member, Dr. Jens Neumann.
About DaimlerChrysler
DaimlerChrysler is one of the world's leading automotive, transportation and services companies, selling products in over 200 countries with manufacturing facilities in 34 countries. Its passenger car brands include Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Jeep(R), Dodge and smart. Commercial vehicles are produced under the Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Sterling, Thomas Built Buses and Serta brands. The group also offers financial and other services through DaimlerChrysler Services (debis). With approximately 470,000 employees, in 1999 DaimlerChrysler achieved total revenues of EUR 150.0 billion.
About Toyota Motor Sales
Toyota Motor Sales, (TMS) USA is the marketing, sales, distribution and customer service arm of Toyota in America. Toyota is America's fourth largest carmaker and manufactures more than one million cars per year in North America. TMS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota ADRs are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: TM).
Established in 1957, TMS oversees operations of more than 1,400 Toyota, Lexus and Toyota Industrial Equipment dealerships in 49 states. With approximately 8,500 employees, Toyota Motor Sales and its subsidiaries also are involved in financial and insurance services, distribution logistics, motorsports R & D and the general aviation and recreational boating industries. The company's main Web site is http://www.toyota.com.
About Volkswagen
The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is the largest vehicle manufacturer in Europe. In 1999 the company again achieved record sales of 75 Billion Euro. Profits after taxes amounted to 844 million Euro. In 1999, the number of deliveries increased by 6.3 percent to 4.869 million vehicles (1998: 4.582 million).
Nine individual brands from six European countries belong to the Volkswagen Group: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. Therefore offering a range from the optimum economy of the 3L Lupo to a luxury class car.
The company operates 43 production facilities in eleven European countries and in another seven countries of the Americas, Asia and Africa. More than 320,000 employees produce over 20,000 vehicles around the globe each working day. The Volkswagen Group distributes its vehicles to more than 150 countries around the world.
About i2
i2 is creating real value for its global e-business customers through its TradeMatrix solutions, content and marketplace platform. TradeMatrix allows businesses to create both private and public marketplaces, while improving the efficiencies of all participants. i2 provides a wide variety of collaborative e-business services for both the early stages and the next generation of e-business adoption, with each service supported by decision optimization, transaction management and content management solutions. Founded in 1988, i2's mission is to deliver $50 billion in value to its customers by 2005. i2 is headquartered in Dallas, has more than 5,000 employees, and maintains offices worldwide. Visit i2 at www.i2.com.
i2 Cautionary Language
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including the customer's ability to implement i2 solutions successfully or to achieve benefits attributable to i2 products. For a discussion of factors which could impact i2's financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, please refer to i2's recent filings with the SEC, particularly the Form 10-K filed March 22, 2000 and form 10-Q filed May 15, 2000.
i2 and the i2 logo design are registered trademarks of i2 Technologies, Inc. TradeMatrix is a trademark of i2 Technologies, Inc. WebSphere is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both.