ABB launches eBusiness initiative at Hanover Fair.

Business Editors

ZURICH, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2000

ABB, the global technology company, announced today the launch of a major eBusiness initiative to provide customers with a broad range of products and services on line.

ABB customers at the Hanover 2000 trade fair in Hanover, Germany, previewed a web site planned for launch as the company's eBusiness hub. The site features on-line evaluation, ordering, documentation, and lifecycle support for a wide variety of ABB products and services. The site allows customers to personalize their eBusiness environment, select products and pricing to match their individual purchasing needs or supply agreements, and participate in a variety of community centers and news groups.

The Hanover demonstration is part of the company's plan to create a customer-focused eBusiness platform encompassing not only ABB's key businesses but also third-party web portals and on-line market places.

ABB CEO Goran Lindahl, who said at the company's annual general meeting last week that the company would aggressively develop eBusiness over the next couple of years, said today that the Hanover project "is an important step in our strategy to realize the dramatic benefits of eBusiness. It's a way to help our customers save time, reduce costs, increase productivity, and interact more effectively with ABB, while we build up broader market channels." The company has said it is aiming to put some 30 percent of its standard products online this year.

The annual Hanover Fair is one of the largest trade fairs in the world, with more than 7,000 exhibitors from 65 countries.

ABB (http://www.abb.com) is a global technology company serving customers in power transmission and distribution; automation; oil, gas, and petrochemicals; building technologies; and in financial services. Power generation customers are served by ABB ALSTOM POWER. The ABB Group employs about 165,000 people in more than 100 countries.