Carpenter Launches On-line Metals Sales; Expects to serve new customers, increase revenue through carpenterdirect.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WYOMISSING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE:CRS) began on-line sales of metals today with the launch of carpenterdirect.com on the World Wide Web.

Carpenterdirect(TM) will make use of Internet technology to provide user-friendly, one-stop shopping for general tool and machine shop customers and other metals fabricators. The site initially will offer stainless bar, including Carpenter's Project 70(R) stainless machining bar, carbon and alloy steel, aluminum and brass.

"We're confident that carpenterdirect will fill a unique position in the marketplace," says Scott D. Myers, general manager - e-business for Carpenter. "We're not another start-up company. We already have the inventory and distribution in place to deliver materials to our customers, whether they're ordering on-line or through our traditional sales offices."

Carpenterdirect is the first site of its kind from a specialty steel manufacturer, Myers says. "Through our e-business activities, we expect to increase our share of the metals market and serve our customers more effectively," he says. "Our current five-year projections anticipate that carpenterdirect will become a significant part of our business, increasing revenue and providing profitable growth."

The key markets for carpenterdirect are manufacturers who buy machining bar and standard metals, generally in small amounts - not a group Carpenter currently serves to a great degree. "Carpenter is known for the quality of its products and technical service," Myers says.

"The majority of our business comes from customers who buy relatively large amounts of product and rely on our technical service to help them choose materials and use them in their manufacturing processes."

"The customers we're targeting with carpenterdirect are more interested in getting standard materials, in smaller quantities, as fast and as easily as possible," he explains. "We believe we can combine on-line ordering with our current distribution system to meet their needs effectively."

To understand customer needs, Carpenter conducted focus groups and telephone surveys to gather information about service requirements and experience with ordering on-line. "Most participants were very familiar with the Internet, with some already participating in on-line markets," Myers says. "They saw that placing orders through the Internet could save them time."

At first, carpenterdirect customers will be able to obtain product data, quotes and certifications and place orders for:

-- Carpenter's Project 70(R) stainless machining bar in five grades (303, 304,
316, 416 and 630) and two product forms - round and hex.

-- Carpenterdirect(TM) brand stainless bar in five grades (303, 304L, 316, 416
and 17-4) and in round and hex forms.

-- Six grades of carbon and alloy steel (1018, 12L14, 1215, 4130, 4140, 8620)
in rounds and/or hexes, depending on the grade.

-- Eight aluminum alloys (2011-T3, 2024-T4, 2024-T351, 6061-T6, 6061-T651,
6061-T6511, 7075-T6, 7075-T651) in rounds and/or hexes, depending on the grade.


-- One grade of brass - 360 Half Hard - in rounds and hexes.

Carpenter plans to sell titanium and tool steel through carpenterdirect.com by late fall and will continue to add to its on-line product offerings.

Carpenter also developing four other e-business initiatives

Carpenter, a $1.1 billion manufacturer and distributor of specialty alloys, including stainless steel and titanium, and various engineered products, also is launching several other e-business initiatives:

-- CarpenterCare(TM), which will allow selected customers to get

information, track orders and access other services through

the Web. CarpenterCare.com is being piloted with a limited

number of customers, with a full launch planned for late this

year.

-- A redesigned corporate Web site, www.cartech.com. Carpenter

expects the new site to be available late this month.

Customers will be able to reach carpenterdirect and

CarpenterCare from the corporate site.

-- An on-line, searchable database of alloy data and technical

papers. Carpenter is known in the industry for the depth of

its technical data on its products. Selected data is available

on carpenterdirect and CarpenterCare now. Additional data will

be available on all Carpenter sites later this year.

-- Alliances with other e-business and metals sites. Carpenter

has identified business-to-business sites that appear to meet

the company's needs and is meeting with representatives of

those sites to explore alliances.

CarpenterCare to give targeted customers immediate information and

service

Carpenter interviewed key customers to understand the on-line customer service features most valued by them, Myers says. Initially, CarpenterCare will allow targeted customers to check order status, receive proactive notification of delivery status, view and print material certifications and access technical data, among other functions.

Carpenter will make CarpenterCare available to its 2,000 largest customers first, Myers says. "These customers buy Carpenter's full range of products and typically are provided high levels of service and technical support," Myers says. "CarpenterCare will offer yet another service option to them. " As time goes on, Carpenter will add new functions and open CarpenterCare to additional customers.

Carpenter will maintain its traditional sales and service functions, including its field sales offices and distribution centers in North America, Europe and Asia. In fact, the company is re- engineering its order entry system, in part to better support its on-line efforts, Myers says.

Except for historical information, all other information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those projected, anticipated or implied.

The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Carpenter's Form 10-K report and exhibits to that report, and include (but are not limited to): 1) the cyclical nature of the specialty materials business and certain end-use markets, including, but not limited to, aerospace, automotive and consumer durables, all of which are subject to changes in general economic and financial market conditions; 2) the ability of Carpenter to recoup increased costs of fuel and raw materials, such as nickel, through increased prices and surcharges; 3) excess inventory and the impact of inventory adjustments in Carpenter's aerospace customer base; and 4) worldwide excess capacity for certain alloys which Carpenter produces, resulting in increased competition and downward pricing pressure on Carpenter products. Carpenter undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.