Agilent's Expands Business.

Palo Alto, CA 1/15/01--Agilent Technologies is expanding its custom solutions program for the hydrocarbon processing industry. The program addresses areas such as process efficiency, environmental regulations and declining staffing, addressing all stages of the process, from method development to information management. Channel partners specialized in a defined chemical analysis area will assist in the program. The first such partner is Wasson-ECE, an Agilent Premier Solutions Partner, which will assist with systems for the analysis of beverage-grade CO2, reformulated gasoline and natural gas.

The expansion of this program is an effort by Agilent to increase revenue from the service side. The Chemical Analysis Group's disappointing earnings, in the relation to the rest of the company, may have fueled this development. Although this type of approach is not new for Agilent, this level of involvement is, and signals a new strategic direction.