Dontrey Britt, Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS, 312/602-6270
[email protected]
Dawn Thrasher, ADS, Inc., 708/799-4990
[email protected]
Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS Enables Alternative Distribution Systems to Create e-Business Enterprise Application for Inventory Management
Extranet Strengthens Existing Relationships, Lays Foundation for Future Growth on the Web
CHICAGO - March 9, 2000 - The combined entity of Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS (Nasdaq: WHIT), a leading global Internet professional services firm, today announced that it has enabled Alternative Distribution Systems, Inc. (ADS) to move its customized inventory management system online. ADS is a national provider of integrated transportation, warehousing and logistics services to the metals industry.
Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS created a business-to-business extranet that allows customers and trading partners of Roll & Hold Warehousing & Distribution Corp., an ADS subsidiary, to securely and reliably track inventory levels and schedule product releases. The extranet gives members of Roll & Hold's value chain real-time access to inventory data and enables informed decision-making.
By developing a front-end Web portal and integrating it with Roll & Hold's back-end business systems, Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS created the foundation for future Internet initiatives. As part of its ongoing effort to attract more customers, increase market share and create new services and sales channels, ADS plans to Web-enable more of its distribution services - with the help of Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS.
�e-Business is the new enterprise imperative,� said Ron Cohan, ADS Vice President of Information and Communications Technologies. �To stay competitive in today's new economy, companies must be able to create value for their partners by quickly delivering applications and services digitally. Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS can provide all of the skills and solutions we need to execute our vision for transforming our business online."
�As a leading service provider to the metals industry, ADS has always taken the position that technological efficiencies, including Internet technologies, should be used as support and shared with customers, as well as a tool to attract new customers," said Bob Fuller, Portfolio Director in the Chicago Region for Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS. "The winners in the new digital economy will be companies that have the courage to take risks and re-invent their business to leverage the Web. With our unrivaled breadth and depth of disciplines, Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS is uniquely able to help companies like ADS rapidly and successfully create new opportunities on the Internet."
About Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS
Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS is a global Internet professional services firm that helps clients win in the digital economy by strengthening the integration of their business models, brands, systems and processes. Headquartered in Chicago, Whittman-Hart & USWeb/CKS fuses imagination, know-how and passion to create fundamental business innovation for clients. The Company has more than 8,500 employees in 13 countries worldwide.
About ADS, Inc.
ADS is a national provider to the metals industry of fully integrated distribution services, including transportation, warehousing and logistics services. Over the course of more than 20 years in the metals distribution business, ADS has developed specialized systems, equipment and expertise enabling it to handle, warehouse and transport metals requiring time-sensitive delivery in coordination with end-users� increasingly sophisticated inventory management requirements. ADS�s capabilities allow it to offer integrated, turn-key solutions to the distribution demands of steel and other metals producers and consumers. ADS subsidiary companies include: Area Transportation Company, Roll & Hold Warehousing & Distribution Corp., and Western Intermodal Services, Ltd. ADS is a subsidiary of May Logistics Services, Inc., a majority-owned portfolio company of Code Hennessey & Simmons LLC. The ADS, Inc. Web site is www.adsinet.com.