ADP Collision Repair Services and Akzo Nobel Announce Release of Stellix 2.1.

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1999--

ADP Collision Repair Services, a leading provider of information services for the collision repair industry, and Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. today announced the commercial release of Stellix(TM) 2.1, a newly enhanced version of its Windows-based, 32-bit, multi-user collision repair management system.

"There are a number of important new features and benefits in the new release," said Anthony Spina, the Stellix product manager for ADP Collision Repair Services. "Each of these enhancements were driven by conversations with our customers, starting with our efforts to make sure Stellix is able to function on some of the leading-edge operating systems."

"Stellix goes beyond traditional `job costing' systems and focuses on total operational productivity," said Spina. "As part of that mission, this new release delivers additional tools to help body shops better manage and track the workflow in their facilities."

According to Spina, one such enhancement in Stellix 2.1 is a new set of 15 additional reports that provide detailed operational data for shop owners to evaluate. The system's performance is also greatly enhanced by an innovative archiving feature, which automatically changes the state of a closed repair to an archived repair order after a user-defined number of days.

Stellix 2.1 also features new user interfaces to provide Stellix customers with the ability to interface with the widely used QuickBooks(R) and BusinessWorks(R) accounting systems.

"With the release of Stellix 2.1, Stellix now offers seamless accounting interfaces with all three major accounting systems used by body shops of all sizes: Peachtree Complete Accounting, QuickBooks Pro and BusinessWorks," said Spina.

Stellix provides collision repair facilities with extraordinary tracking capabilities to improve productivity and efficiency. The system monitors technician production and job costing on screens that closely resemble the ones already used in body shop offices.

The system's ShopView(TM) feature also provides instant at-a-glance views of all repair orders, including the status and alerts in parts, labor, production and sublet work.

The new version of Stellix has also been enhanced so that the system is now supported on two leading-edge platforms. For workstations, Stellix 2.1 will operate on Windows NT 4.0(R), Windows 95(R) and Windows 98(R). For the server environment, the new version functions on Novell 3.12(R), 4.1x(R) and 5.0(R), as well as Windows NT 4.0(R).

All of these systems are Y2K-compliant and ready to operate efficiently in the new millennium.

Stellix was developed jointly by ADP Collision Repair Services and Akzo Nobel. ADP Collision Repair Services is a strategic business unit of ADP Claims Solutions Group (CSG). With headquarters in San Ramon, ADP CSG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE:AUD).

ADP, with more than $5 billion in revenues and more than 450,000 clients, is one of the largest independent computing services firms in the world. ADP CSG provides the property and casualty industry and their business partners with integrated and independent information services for automotive, medical and property claims management in 18 countries.

ADP Claims Solutions Group is located at 2010 Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon, Calif. 94583; 925/866-1100. The company's Web site can be found at http://www.csg.adp.com.

Akzo Nobel's North American Car Refinishes operation, with headquarters in Atlanta, manufactures and markets Sikkens(R)-brand paint refinish systems to high-quality collision repair shops. These products include Autocryl(R) acrylic urethane, Autobase(R) basecoat, Autoclear(R) clearcoat, a low VOC product offering that includes single stage Autocoat(R) Ultra LV, and Colorbuild(R), the industry's first true color undercoat.

Akzo Nobel, with headquarters in the Netherlands, is one of the world's leading companies in selected areas of chemicals, coatings, health-care products and fibers, with more than $8.5 billion in revenue.