Alventive and Sporteum Team to Provide Design Collaboration for Sporting Goods Industry.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

Alventive Technology Enables Sporting Goods Manufacturers to Produce

More Innovative Products More Quickly

Alventive, Inc., an innovator of collaborative design software, today announced that Sporteum, Inc., a collaborative communications e-business provider, will use Alventive's Design-to-Order Solutions to develop a private marketplace dedicated to improving the ability of sporting goods manufacturers to collaborate more effectively with suppliers on product design.

As a neutral portal for sports manufacturers, Sporteum has customers with partnerships in Europe and production facilities in Southeast Asia. With such a diverse infrastructure, Sporteum recognized the need for a uniform platform through which manufacturers and suppliers could quickly and easily collaborate on product designs. Sporteum selected Alventive's Initial Parts Sourcing, Quick Collaboration and Supply Chain Notification solutions to provide customers the ability to gather and share input from geographically dispersed supply chains and product teams, source customer or non-standard parts from one or multiple suppliers, and track and manage the entire product collaboration in a systematic way.

Sporteum regards Alventive's Design-to-Order Solutions as the key to improving product innovation in the sporting goods industry. Suppliers, manufacturers and others involved in product development can collaborate when creating sporting goods in order to prevent mistakes and lower costs, such as developing a prototype with a more cost effective material. Alventive's technology will also facilitate effective communication with international counterparts regarding machine capabilities and specifications, forming a cohesive team focused on improved time to market.

"Sporting goods manufacturers look to us for help in developing more innovative products, improving time-to-market capabilities and lowering overall production costs. Alventive understands that leveraging the supply chain earlier in the product definition phase of the product's lifecycle achieves this goal," said Rick Duchin, president and CEO, Sporteum, Inc. "We chose Alventive because there's no other product available with such advanced capabilities to easily collaborate with suppliers, manufacturers and internal product departments across the globe."

Alventive's Design-to-Order Solutions encourage greater supplier participation in the new product innovation process. The company's approach enables the formation of dynamic online collaborative product communities that bring manufacturers, their internal departments and their suppliers together in an environment that focuses on new products and encourages innovation by all members of the extended team.

"Alventive and Sporteum share similar philosophies about unleashing the supply chain's intellectual capital early in the product design process," said David Tiley, president and CEO, Alventive, Inc. "We look forward to working with Sporteum to deliver the most effective collaborative design solutions to their customers."

About Sporteum

Sporteum provides supply chain enhancements over the internet to manage complex and global challenges faced by the $150 billion dollar sporting goods industry. Sporteum's solution is available to a worldwide network of qualified sporting goods related businesses from manufacturers to subcontractors and raw material suppliers. Through it all, Sporteum is reducing inventory levels, lowering sourcing and procurement costs, increasing communication and collaboration, and enabling faster time-to-market. For more information, please visit www.sporteum.com.

About Alventive

Alventive enables the creation of online collaborative product communities that bring manufacturers and members of extended supply chains together to participate early in the innovation of new products. Using web-based Alventive Design-to-Order Solutions, companies can unleash the supply chain's intellectual capital to deliver market-relevant products faster, and at lower cost. Alventive is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with offices throughout the United States and Canada. For additional information, please contact Alventive at 888/273-3393 or www.alventive.com.