Company Saves on Direct Materials and Services; Strengthens Position As
Industry Leader in Use of E-Commerce for Strategic Purchasing
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Quaker Oats Company (NYSE: OAT), an
international marketer of foods and beverages, today announced that it has
identified more than $8.5 million in savings on direct materials and services
through the FreeMarkets online auction marketplace. Quaker, an innovator in
the use of electronic commerce in the food and beverage industry, has been
conducting strategic purchasing through FreeMarkets, Inc. (Nasdaq: FMKT), the
global leader in business-to-business online auctions, since 1997.
"The FreeMarkets online auction marketplace has been hugely successful for
us," said Carl Curry, vice president of Integrated Purchasing and Logistics
for Quaker Oats. "We are really pleased with the overall results and savings
that we have achieved and look forward to new sets of opportunities with
FreeMarkets in the future."
To date, Quaker has bid out more than $59 million worth of goods and
services in both traditional and non-traditional spend categories through
FreeMarkets and identified $8.5 million in savings on items such as food
ingredients, packaging materials and services.
"Quaker Oats was the first food and beverage company to use the
FreeMarkets online auction marketplace," said Glen Meakem, Chairman and CEO of
FreeMarkets. "Clearly, they are on the leading edge of electronic commerce in
their industry, and we are committed to keeping them there by providing them
with access to our proprietary online auction technology, technical
operations, industrial market making services and global database of
suppliers."
About The Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an international marketer of foods and
beverages. Its major brands include: Gatorade thirst quencher; Quaker cereals
and grain-based snacks, including: Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker Crispy
Mini's rice snacks, Quaker Fruit & Oatmeal cereal bars and Quaker rice cakes;
Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni and Near East side dishes; and Aunt Jemima mixes and
syrup. Quaker can be found on the Web at http://www.quakeroats.com.
About FreeMarkets
FreeMarkets is the global leader in creating business-to-business online
auctions for industrial parts, raw materials, commodities and services. The
Company created online auctions for over $2.7 billion worth of purchase orders
in 1999 and nearly $1.0 billion worth of purchase orders in 1998. Since 1995,
FreeMarkets has created online auctions for products in more than 70 supply
verticals, including injection molded plastic parts, commercial machinings,
metal fabrications, chemicals, printed circuit boards, corrugated packaging
and coal. More than 3,000 suppliers from over 45 countries have participated
in FreeMarkets auctions. FreeMarkets provides access to its online auction
marketplace to industrial buyers and suppliers. The FreeMarkets marketplace
includes proprietary online auction technology, technical operations,
industrial market making services, access to a global database of suppliers
and supplier research, call center support to buyers and suppliers in over 30
languages, and marketplace rules. The Company's current clients include
United Technologies Corporation, The Quaker Oats Company, Eaton Corporation,
Emerson Electric Company, FirstEnergy Corp., SmithKline Beecham plc, Navistar
International and Delphi Automotive Systems Corporation. FreeMarkets can be
found on the Web at http://www.freemarkets.com.
FreeMarkets is a registered trademark of FreeMarkets, Inc.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those
contained in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
FreeMarkets' ability to continue to execute agreements with new clients and to
increase revenue from existing clients. These and other risk factors are
described in detail in FreeMarkets' prospectus dated December 9, 1999, which
is included as part of its Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE FreeMarkets, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.freemarkets.com
CONTACT:
Karen Kovatch, Senior Manager, Corporate
Communications of FreeMarkets, 412-297-8767, or
kkovatch@freemarkets.com
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