ADP Collision Repair Services and Akzo Nobel Release Stellix Pro 3.0 With Breakthrough Features and Unsurpassed Ease-of-Use.

Business Editors & Automotive Writers

SAN RAMON, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 22, 2000

ADP Collision Repair Services and Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. today announced the commercial release of Stellix(TM) Pro 3.0, featuring significant first-to-market improvements - including real vehicle graphics with VIN decoding - designed to make Stellix the easiest management system to use in the collision repair industry.

These industry-first features, along with other new time-saving enhancements, eliminate the redundant entry of information into the management system and improve integration with collision repair estimating systems used by body shops.

"The release of Stellix Pro represents a major step toward true integration of collision repair management and estimating systems," said Anthony Spina, the Stellix product manager for ADP Collision Repair Services.

A unique feature in Stellix Pro is its use of actual vehicle graphics ("Smart Graphics"), now displayed on the vehicle page to allow for specific part descriptions. With this industry-first feature, users obtain the real part number and description, as opposed to generic parts, so they no longer have to go back to their estimating system in order to find information on specific parts. Moreover, Stellix Pro is now the only management system that displays the status of parts and labor while users are working on the "Damages" page of the system. This eliminates the need to go to another section in the system in order to find the status of individual parts and labor.

Specifically designed to reduce manual processing, Stellix Pro automatically decodes the VIN for an estimate or repair order. The new VIN Decoder provides all vehicle information, including standard vehicle options, in order to improve accuracy and shorten the time it takes to write-up a repair.

"Stellix Pro 3.0 includes several enhancements that will enable body shops to further streamline and automate their business operations," said Spina. "This release includes a number of important new features and benefits that were created as a result of conversations with Stellix users in the past six months. We've listened to our customers and improved the system in ways that we believe will meet their unique needs."

According to Spina, another important breakthrough found in Stellix Pro 3.0 is the introduction of the only certified and approved Dealer Interface, which enables a seamless transfer of data between a collision repair management system and the ADP dealership accounting system. In the past, once a vehicle repair was complete, the repair order accounting invoice information was manually entered to the dealership system. With the new interface, the Stellix system automatically creates these accounting transactions. This feature creates a seamless transition of data from Stellix to the ADP Dealer Services system, saving 10-15 minutes of administrative time on each repair.

Stellix Pro 3.0 also contains new functions that will improve operational efficiency at shops. One such feature is the ability to send and receive CIECA Files, providing Stellix users with the ability to both send and receive files in this standard format. The CIECA format will reduce the mismatch of information between the estimate and the repair order and allow for more data to transfer than before.

"Stellix Pro 3.0 provides added productivity and profitability enhancements, while improving on our established reputation for ease-of-use," said Spina. "This version of Stellix minimizes the need to toggle back and forth between two different systems and greatly reduces the manual processes of re-entering information. With this release, we are taking a major stride toward our vision of providing a completely integrated business management system for the collision repair industry."

A Windows-based, multi-user collision repair management system, Stellix goes beyond traditional "job costing" systems and focuses on total operational productivity. 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. Stellix' 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.

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). Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., ADP CSG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE:AUD). ADP, with more than $6 billion in revenues and 500,000 clients, is one of the largest independent computing services firms in the world. ADP CSG provides the property & 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, headquartered 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, headquartered in the Netherlands, is one of the world's leading companies in selected areas of chemicals, coatings, and healthcare products, with over $14.5 billion in revenue.