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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (42053)	2/12/2001 1:37:24 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Applied Materials Launches New e-Business Solution for Spare Parts Procurement SparesSolutions(TM) Sets a New Semiconductor Equipment Industry Standard for Service; Initial Launch to U.S. Customers with Regions to Follow SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2001-- Applied Materials, Inc. today launched SparesSolutions(TM), an on-line customer support application that provides a simple, fast and cost-effective way for customers to obtain spare parts for their Applied Materials systems. Using advanced Internet technology, SparesSolutions is designed to revolutionize the procurement process and set the standard for efficient and responsive spares transactions by offering customers comprehensive ``24/7'' order access and management with an easy-to-use, fully integrated Web-based parts database. ``Our new SparesSolutions service is a key value-added productivity innovation that expands and enhances our Total Service Solutions(TM) (TSS) support products,'' said David J. Fried, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials' Customer Productivity Support Business Group. ``This application has been tested and refined over the last year with input from multiple customers. Using SparesSolutions, customers report dramatic efficiency improvements in their procurement process, citing much shorter parts ordering time. We expect SparesSolutions to have a significant impact in reducing procurement cycle times while providing real-time information to customers in the fab.'' According to Zona Research, a market research firm for the Internet industry, Web-based solutions can reduce the costs of procurement processes from $50 to $250 per transaction using traditional methods to $5 to $20 per transaction. SparesSolutions is a fully secure, private Web site that provides a comprehensive, customer-specific feature set, including a catalog, pricing, material availability and standard and emergency down ordering. The application is fully integrated with Applied Materials' inventory systems, enabling customers to check their order status at any time, from initial entry to delivery. Other features include ``Custom Lists'' for repetitive parts orders to support on-going equipment maintenance schedules. This time-saving feature allows a parts order to be entered once, saved on file and activated whenever maintenance is due. Applied Materials manages its spares business with a global inventory distribution, planning and logistics system that links 17 distribution centers and depots. SparesSolutions is currently available to customers in North America, with subsequent releases to other regions planned over the next several months. Applied Materials' Customer Productivity Support(TM) (CPS) organization, formerly known as Installed Base Support Services (IBSS), is a global service network comprising more than 3,500 highly trained engineers and technicians who support the company's installed base of more than 16,000 systems at leading chipmakers' fabs around the world. Among the many CPS offerings are the TSS products, which have transformed service and support for semiconductor fabrication equipment by lowering customers' overall operating costs while improving fab and system productivity. Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT - news) is a leader of the Information Age and the world's largest supplier of products and services to the global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com. Subject 50522