Timken Rapidly Increases Online Sales to Mexican Distributors THE TIMKEN COMPANY LOGO The Timken Company, Worldwide Leader in Bearings and Steel. (PRNewsFoto)[KC] CANTON, OH USA 10/12/1999
10 October 2000
Timken Rapidly Increases Online Sales to Mexican Distributors THE TIMKEN COMPANY LOGO The Timken Company, Worldwide Leader in Bearings and Steel. (PRNewsFoto)[KC] CANTON, OH USA 10/12/1999
CANTON, Ohio, Oct. 10 The Timken Company has
achieved $10 million in online sales to authorized bearing distributors in
Mexico since February 2000. One third of those sales have come since the
initiation of real-time services less than a month ago on September 14, 2000.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991012/TKRLOGO )
The Timken(R) Direct(SM) site ( http://www.timkendirect.com ) is an
e-business extranet that provides instantaneous access to live -- or "real-
time" -- information for more than 1,000 authorized bearing distributors and
steel customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and some areas of Europe. The
company's Mexican authorized distributors have had the ability to purchase
bearings and service parts since the Spanish-language version of the site came
online in February.
"We have in place an aggressive e-business strategy that positions Timken
and our distributors to compete in a global marketplace where speed of access
to information can make all the difference to bringing value to our customers.
This significant surge in online ordering indicates the success of that
strategy," said Curt J. Andersson, senior vice-president, e-business.
"Tailoring Timken Direct services to our Latin American markets makes it
possible for our distributors in that region to increase their efficiency and
effectiveness in the marketplace, and that positions us for mutual profitable
growth."
The Timken Direct site launched in English in March 1999. It offers
bearing distributors access to product availability, price and order
placement. Alloy steel customers can track order status for bar and tube
products, as well as gain access to the company's Fast-Track(TM) tubing
warehouse to place expedited orders. The system also has customer inventory
management capabilities. Specialty steel distributors can monitor inventory
and order status. The site is available to registered customers through any
Internet Web browser. The company has plans for continued expansion to other
distributors and customers around the world.
"Timken Direct services give distributors a competitive edge," said
Eduardo Gil, sales manager at Casa Sommer, an authorized Timken distributor in
Mexico City. "With multi-lingual tools like this, Timken is showing its
commitment to delivering products, services and information in a way that is
convenient, timely and accurate for its customers globally. And, that
contributes to the success of our business."
The Timken Company ( http://www.timken.com ) is a leading
international manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels with
operations in 24 countries. The company employs 21,000 people worldwide and
reported 1999 sales of U.S. $2.5 billion.
The statements in this news release that are not historical in nature may
be construed as forward-looking. In particular, statements regarding future
growth and plans for expansion may be construed as forward looking. The
company cautions that actual results may differ materially from those
projected or implied in forward-looking statements due to a variety of
important factors, including international economic conditions, customer
demand and various competitive factors. These and additional factors are
described in greater detail in the company's 1999 annual report, page 17, and
the 10-Qs filed in 2000. The company undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement.