Hey Cha2, sorry for the absence...my wife is due tomorrow, and we just finished a residence move over the past five days!!!
I guess the market has me feeling confident. :)
Check out this news on ITWO:
i2 Announces New TradeMatrix.com Services Specifically for High-Tech Companies; Compaq and HP Become First Leading Customers of HightechMatrix.com
DALLAS, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- i2 Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITWO - news), the leading provider of intelligent eBusiness solutions, today announced the first of a number of planned, industry-specific marketplaces within TradeMatrix.com, i2's intelligent eBusiness portal that spans multiple digital marketplaces. HightechMatrix.com is a vertical, online marketplace designed for buyers, sellers, designers and service providers in the high-technology industry. Compaq and Hewlett-Packard Company are among the leading customers participating in HightechMatrix.
i2's TradeMatrix.com is a portal that provides a one-stop destination for online collaboration and dynamic trading, electronic procurement, spot buying, selling and order fulfillment, logistics services and design services. It is differentiated through i2's industry-leading advanced optimization and execution capabilities for improved decision-making. HightechMatrix.com is powered by TradeMatrix.com and will provide customized solutions for the high-tech industry.
The initial focus of HightechMatrix.com will be on procurement services for the high tech electronics industry. ''There is a rush among the many players in this market space to provide online procurement capabilities of indirect materials,'' said Sanjiv Sidhu, CEO of i2 Technologies. ''i2 provides a highly-differentiated solution through intelligent direct and indirect material procurement capabilities that are tightly linked into suppliers' fulfillment and planning processes. We believe that i2 is the only company to provide total procurement solutions.''
Direct material procurement includes the materials that a company uses to produce its products and services and can often account for more than 50 percent of a high-tech company's total annual revenue. Indirect material procurement covers materials that are needed outside of the production process and typically account for 10-20 percent of a high-tech manufacturer's total annual revenue.
For example, a computer manufacturer's direct material procurement needs may include materials to produce the motherboard, computer chips and a case to house the computer-processing unit. Their indirect material procurement needs could cover a belt for an assembly line, light bulbs for the plant or a desk for an employee.
HightechMatrix.com builds on earlier efforts by i2 and HP to create a trading community for electronics distributors and electronics suppliers. As part of today's announcement, HP and i2 are moving the electronics distributors and suppliers trading community into HightechMatrix.com and setting up HP as the community's first customer. HP's first implementation will involve running its material procurement transactions and customer order fulfillment transactions through HightechMatrix.com.
''The successful experience gained by developing the HP and i2 trading community can now be leveraged into the broader electronics supply chain,'' said Bill Russell, vice president and general manager, HP's Software and Solutions Organization. ''We invite all of our trading partners, and in turn, all of their trading partners, including HP's competitors, to join this marketplace and benefit from increased market agility and reduced overall supply chain costs.''
Compaq, an aggressive adopter of i2's intelligent eBusiness solutions is incorporating HightechMatrix.com into its fast-track eProcurement roadmap. This will enable Compaq and its trading partners to gain access to the broad suite of marketplace services, including material procurement, design collaboration and logistics. Compaq was the first high-tech industry adopter of i2's Product Lifecycle Management solutions to optimize their product development and product transition functions.
''Compaq's vision is to deliver ever increasing value to our customers and suppliers by leveraging the Internet in every possible manner,'' said Ed Straw, senior vice president of Supply Chain Management, Compaq Computer. ''Electronic marketplaces are the next revolution in reducing supply chain costs and improving customer responsiveness. We believe that HightechMatrix.com will rapidly emerge as the industry's leading marketplace for sharing information and optimized decisions across companies' borders. We encourage our trading partners to come online.''
i2 has long held the leading position in providing supply chain management software solutions for the high-tech industry, with a current 72 percent market share in electronics, according to a September 1999 report by Benchmarking Partners. In fact, nine of the 10 largest computer makers in the world have adopted i2's solutions to optimize their supply chains.
i2 is offering qualified high-tech companies free trial services of HightechMatrix.com for up to 60 days. These qualified companies and their suppliers will be able to have their direct material procurement processes online shortly after registration. Future service offerings in HightechMatrix.com are intended to include indirect material procurement (including configuration of items, such as PCs), customer and channel collaboration, Internet order-fulfillment services and third-party logistics services.
HightechMatrix.com subscribers may be individual users at companies or may be entire internal or private exchange networks. Individual companies who participate in other exchanges may also opt to participate in HightechMatrix.com without the risk of conflicting with their existing exchange.
''HightechMatrix.com provides the security and data control of a proprietary trading community and the fast access to data of a critical mass of trading partners in a public marketplace,'' said Mark Jensen, i2's vice president, High Tech Industry business unit. ''Latency issues and timing problems for data exchange across trading partners are eliminated, without the company giving up control of who sees its data.''
Benefits of HightechMatrix.com:
For corporate buyers, HightechMatrix will use advanced optimization and execution capabilities to consolidate the buyer's requirements and reduce total purchase costs, while helping to ensure that ordered items are available and delivered on time.
For corporate sellers, HightechMatrix.com will expand their market presence with reduced effort by exposing sellers in one high-technology marketplace to all potential buyers.
For product developers, HightechMatrix.com will provide a planning hub for internal development projects, market feedback and customer collaboration. Product managers and designers have the ability to gain new insights and streamline collaboration with trading partners. These services are designed to significantly reduce time-to-market, while efficiently aligning product and service offerings with profitability goals.
For service providers, such as brokers, logistics providers, contract manufacturers, fulfillment houses and distributors, HightechMatrix.com will help increase total revenue and profit by directly linking the value-added service into the buying, selling and planning processes.
Other companies that have committed to HightechMatrix.com include Amkor Technology Inc. and NCR Corporation's Systemedia Group.
The arrangements described in this release are subject to the parties concluding definitive agreement.
About TradeMatrix.com and HightechMatrix.com:
Additional information on TradeMatrix and HightechMatrix, including features and benefits, an interactive tour and partner and customer information, is available on our Web sites at www.TradeMatrix.com and www.HightechMatrix.com.
About i2:
i2 is the leading global provider of intelligent eBusiness solutions that help enterprises optimize business processes both internally and among trading partners. Founded in 1988, i2's vision is to add $50 billion of value for its customers by the year 2005. i2 is headquartered in Dallas, TX, has approximately 2,700 employees and maintains offices worldwide. For additional information, visit i2 on the Web at www.i2.com.
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