BP Selects Symbol Technologies Wireless Mobile Computing Solutions for Vital Production Applications At Refineries Worldwide.

Business Editors

HOLTSVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2002

Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:SBL) today announced that BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), a world leading producer and marketer of energy, petroleum and petrochemicals products, is implementing Symbol wireless mobile computing solutions at BP locations worldwide, including the United States, Singapore, U.K., Venezuela and more.

BP refineries are responsible for the daily production of millions of barrels of various petroleum products. Each location measures several hundred acres in size. One BP location in Texas, ranked among the three largest refinery sites in the United States, requires one of the largest wireless handheld technology installations ever to cover its nearly two square miles.

The Symbol solution provides streamlined, facility-wide data communications at each location. Symbol's PDT 8146 rugged terminals and Spectrum24(R) wireless network provide the data collection infrastructure to transmit and receive information critical to daily operations, in real-time.

Bar codes affixed to thousands of pieces of refinery equipment are used to quickly and accurately gain access to detailed information on the history and condition of the equipment. Workers scan the bar codes on multiple daily shifts to collect and input process and condition monitoring data, including pump pressure, vibrations, temperatures, safety and environmental data, as well as other information that monitors and assesses the health of the equipment.

"Symbol, working with specialized business partners, has the resources to roll out large-scale wireless implementations for customers' global initiatives," said Scott Cobb, vice president, vertical markets, Symbol Technologies. "The BP implementation highlights our recent success in meeting highly specialized needs in multiple manufacturing industries, including petrochemical, automotive, pharmaceutical and more."

Symbol business partner Systems Application Engineering, Inc. (SAE) developed the commercially available software platform for the BP workforce, which provides equipment management and reporting capabilities. Armed with real-time access to equipment data, users can quickly determine if and when equipment maintenance should be performed, and respond accordingly.

Operators can report immediately on any item in question. The solution allows operations and mechanical teams, and supervisors and managers to perform detailed process and reliability data analysis and evaluate equipment integrity against historical information so appropriate action can be taken to remedy the situation.

Maintaining a proactive approach by monitoring the health of the equipment serves as a preventative measure against lost revenue by reducing the likelihood of equipment failure and shutdowns. In addition, BP can produce a higher percentage of finished products as assets are more closely tracked against specifications.

"There are many cost-savings and facility efficiencies to be realized with use of real-time information in the petrochemical industry," said Paul Pruitt, Sr. Reliability Specialist, BP. "Symbol and SAE not only address these issues, but have the bandwidth to rapidly deploy this technology across immense facilities operating under the harshest of conditions."

Stanley P. Jaworski, Jr., vice president & general manager, worldwide Channels & Alliances, Symbol Technologies, said, "Working with its business partners, Symbol can best address unique industry needs to develop solutions that enable safe, productive and efficient environments for all manufacturing markets. BP presents a great opportunity for Symbol and SAE to demonstrate partnership and technology expertise in a wireless technology roll-out of this magnitude."

About SAE

Since 1971, SAE has specialized in developing innovative solutions for a broad spectrum of businesses worldwide including the warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, oil and gas and chemical and refining industries. SAE pioneered the use of hand held computers in the petroleum production, pipeline and processing operations by developing a number of applications used worldwide. SAE also has applications for hands free picking, loading and delivery for the distribution and logistics industry, with numerous installations in the US and UK. SAE is a Business Partner with Symbol Technologies, Inc. and was recently selected by Symbol as the Outstanding Value Add Integrator of the Year. SAE is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Information about SAE is available at www.saesystems.com and [phone].

About Symbol Technologies

Symbol Technologies, Inc., winner of the 1999 National Medal of Technology, is a global leader in mobile data transaction systems, providing innovative customer solutions based on wireless local area networking for data and voice, application-specific mobile computing and bar code data capture. Symbol's wireless information appliances connect the physical world of people on the move, packages, paper and shipping pallets, to information systems and the Internet. Today, some 10 million Symbol bar code scanners, mobile computers and wireless LANs are utilized worldwide in markets ranging from retailing to transportation and distribution logistics, manufacturing, parcel and postal delivery, government, healthcare and education. Symbol's systems and products are used to increase productivity from the factory floor to the retail store, to the enterprise and out to the home. Information about Symbol is available at www.symbol.com and 1-800-722-6234.