Wacker to participate in SmartEquip e-FleetPro Network to deliver added efficiency to rental cusomers

01/05/2004

Wacker Corporation, the leader in providing exceptional customer care to its construction equipment customers, announces that it is participating in SmartEquip's e-FleetPro network, allowing Wacker to deliver another dimension in customer service to the rental companies who use e-FleetPro as their electronics parts and service support solution.

Commenting on the announcement, Chris Barnard, Wacker's President and Chief and Executive Officer, said "Wacker has continued to demonstrate how committed we are to the success and process efficiency of our customers through our award winning Web site offering fully integrated real time on-line technical documentation, product information and parts ordering capability, a new state of the art customer contact center, and the expansion of our North American logistics operations. Now, by joining SmartEquip on the e-FleetPro Network, Wacker will extend its electronic product support capabilities and parts ordering efficiencies further - right into the fleet, rental, purchase and work order systems of our rental clients. As a consequence, not only is Wacker further improving the transaction efficiencies of our customers, but also deliver-ing tools for them to reduce process costs and increase fleet uptime."

e-FleetPro - Powered by SmartEquip - is a single source for manufacturer service documentation and electronic commerce transactions - delivering continually updated and fleet-specific product information to rental branches including intelligent schematics, pricing, diagnostics, service manuals and equipment specifications. The system provides a secure pipeline for streamlined order placement, concurrently creating a purchase order in the fleet/rental management system and transmitting the order data to the Wacker without any rekeying or duplication.

"We are extremely pleased that Wacker is joining the SmartEquip Network, recognizing that there are key opportunities for us to deliver business improvement to these rental operators by addressing some of the most pressing issues in their parts and service departments," said Alex Schuessler, SmartEquip's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Wacker's presence in these rental fleets speaks to the ability of their products to create value for their customers. With e-FleetPro, Wacker will further raise this value by creating new parts, service and process efficiencies for rental fleet operators, with the goal of reducing cost of ownership and increasing fleet utilization."

Rental companies utilizing SmartEquip's e-FleetPro technology can anticipate the availability of Wacker parts and service support information on the SmartEquip Network early in Q2 of 2004.

About Wacker Corporation
Wacker employs around 2,300 people worldwide with manufacturing centers in Germany, USA and the Philippines. Wacker products are sold in 40 countries. The company specializes in Con-crete Technology, Soil and Asphalt Compaction, Demolition Technology, and Pump, Power and Light.
(262) 255-0500 www.wackergroup.com