Trading Network Collaboration Speeds Online Catalog Delivery
To E-Commerce Customers
CHICAGO, and WALNUT CREEK, Calif., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Grainger
(NYSE: GWW), the leading provider of maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO)
supplies in North America and Commerce One, Inc., a global leader in
enterprise procurement solutions, have announced they will align forces to
provide customers with access to Grainger's industry-leading catalog of MRO
supplies. Extending its strong commitment to Internet commerce, Grainger also
participated in Commerce One's recent round of private funding.
Grainger will occupy a premier position within Commerce One's procurement
solutions BuySite 5.0 Desktop Commerce Applications, and MarketSite.net B to B
Marketplace Portal, an open business-to-business marketplace for electronic
procurement, empowering desktop end-users with access to the Grainger.com
electronic catalog of MRO content. Through this seamless connection between
MarketSite.net and Grainger.com, procurement customers can realize cost
savings, greater efficiency, and convenience in their purchasing of indirect
goods and services. In addition to the interaction between MarketSite.net and
Grainger.com Internet commerce portals, Grainger Consulting Services will
offer its indirect materials management services to the Commerce One community
of buyers to assist in their implementation of Internet commerce solutions.
"Grainger is delighted to have the power of Commerce One's
business-to-business Internet commerce solution to connect our mutual
customers to our unmatched selection of MRO products and product information,"
said Don Bielinski, group president of Grainger.
"This strategic alliance with Commerce One reinforces Grainger's
commitment to Internet commerce and to open trading networks," added Richard
Keyser, chairman and CEO of Grainger.
This commitment to the Internet also includes OrderZone.com, Grainger's
new multi-supplier site, announced in February and currently in pilot. On
schedule to launch May 15, OrderZone.com streamlines customers' purchasing
processes across multiple suppliers.
Commerce One's MarketSite.net is designed to provide significant economies
of scale for trading partners by centralizing content and transaction
management functions, and eliminating the need for customized point-to-point
integration and content management. MarketSite.net is built using
MarketSite's open marketplace platform that provides a comprehensive solution
for deploying open, marketplaces that can inter-operate with other
marketplaces.
"We are excited to form this strategic relationship with Grainger," says
Mark Hoffman, president and CEO of Commerce One. "They share in our vision to
provide customers with premium service through Internet commerce solutions."
Customers of both Grainger and Commerce One will benefit from the alliance
through superior content, and the ease of a one-stop electronic procurement
process. Grainger Consulting Services provides additional value to customers
in the digital marketplace through its indirect materials management
consulting and implementation services.
About Commerce One
Commerce One is a leading provider of electronic commerce solutions that
dynamically link buying and supplying organizations into real-time trading
communities. The Commerce Chain Solution by Commerce One, comprised of
Commerce One BuySite and Commerce One MarketSite, enables companies to
significantly reduce operations costs and increase efficiency by automating
the entire indirect goods and services supply chain. As a result, enterprise
organizations are able to realize a strategic competitive advantage as well as
a rapid return on investment. For more information, visit
http://www.commerceone.com.
About Grainger
W.W. Grainger, Inc., with 1998 sales of $4.3 billion, is the leading North
American provider of maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) supplies,
services, and related information to businesses and institutions. GWW shares
are traded on the New York and Chicago stock exchanges. For more information,
visit Grainger at http://www.grainger.com.
Commerce One, Commerce Chain, BuySite, and MarketSite.net and Marketplace
Portal are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Commerce One.
SOURCE W.W. Grainger, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.grainger.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/953850.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 953850
CONTACT:
Eric Kuhn, of Porter Novelli for W.W.
Grainger, 312-865-8805, or email, ekuhn@porternovelli.com; or
Christine Conway, of Commerce One, 925-941-4326, or email,
christine.conway@commerceone.com
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