Celanese B2B Site Uses HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios To Improve Customer Order Process; HAHT Helps Celanese Chemicals To Enhance Customer Satisfaction.

Business Editors

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2001

HAHT Commerce, Inc., a provider of software applications that enable companies to use the Internet to conduct business in an enterprise digital marketplace (EDM), today announced that Celanese Chemicals, a business of Celanese AG (NYSE: CZ) has deployed three applications from the HAHT Commerce e-Scenario suite: HAHT Track, HAHT Shop and HAHT Service. With HAHT, Celanese Chemicals will be able to provide customers around-the-clock service on demand with online order entry and real-time order and account status, helping to improve overall customer satisfaction, increase productivity and reduce the number of routine phone inquiries and orders to Celanese customer service representatives. The HAHT applications went live to internal users six weeks after implementation began and has now been rolled out to external channel partners throughout the chemical company's customer base in the United States.

To effectively compete and win in the New Economy, Celanese Chemicals needed to simplify and convert its order entry and tracking processes to the Web. HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios provided Celanese Chemicals a solution that streamlines order entry while providing order tracking and account status capabilities. HAHT leveraged its expertise in chemical industry e-commerce solutions to help Celanese successfully be able to deliver critical information in real time.

With HAHT, customers of Celanese Chemicals can access critical information from back-end ERP systems (in this case, SAP R/3) while entering the order--all online in real time. For example, a customer may need EPA regulatory information--required for the delivery and transport of chemicals--in order to complete the order. Before the HAHT Commerce e-Scenario applications were live, customer representatives of Celanese Chemicals would sift through thirty or more screens to complete each order. With HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios in place, the majority of orders take only four to five browser-based screens.

Celanese Chemicals selected Clarkston, a systems integration partner of HAHT Commerce, to customize and implement HAHT's products and assist Celanese with its future e-business objectives. "The chemical business is complex, but the flexibility of the HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios and the expertise and teamwork of Clarkston and HAHT together helped us quickly deliver a powerful e-commerce solution," said Bill Schmitt, director of e-Business Enablement at Celanese Chemicals. "HAHT has made it easier for our customer service reps to process customer orders more quickly. Now our customers can easily place and track their own orders at their convenience in real time."

"Chemical companies like Celanese have found the HAHT Commerce e-Scenario Suite to be well suited to their more complex and heavily regulated environment," said Tom Thomas, CEO and president of HAHT Commerce. "The applications are flexible, and they allow chemical companies to better serve their customers and channel partners with real-time access to the complex information stored in their legacy systems."

About Celanese

Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese Chemicals had 1999 sales of about $2.3 billion and consists of the Acetyls and Chemical Intermediates segments of Celanese AG. Celanese AG (www.celanese.com) is a global chemicals company with leading positions in its key products and world-class process technology. The Celanese portfolio consists of five main businesses: Acetyl Products, Intermediates, Acetate Products, Technical Polymers Ticona and Performance Products. Celanese generated sales of around $4.3 billion (excluding discontinued operations) in 1999 and employs about 13,900 people. The company has 32 production plants and six research centers in eight countries mainly in North America, Europe and Asia. Celanese AG shares are listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange (stock exchange symbol CZZ) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol CZ).

About HAHT Commerce

HAHT Commerce, Inc. offers software applications that enable companies to use the Internet to conduct business with their distributors, resellers and other business customers in an environment that we call an enterprise digital marketplace (EDM). An enterprise digital marketplace manages all aspects of a company's Internet-based transactions and communications with business customers and the employees that interact with them. These marketplaces combine the pervasiveness of the Internet with the extensive functionality and critical business data of an ERP system. HAHT's flagship products, the HAHT Commerce e-Scenarios, are a suite of packaged business-to-business software applications that deliver the key functionality of an EDM, enabling businesses to provide sales, marketing, order fulfillment and customer service functions over the Internet. The HAHT Commerce Links product family automates the exchange of information between companies and their business customers either directly or through online e-commerce exchanges. These solutions offer rapid implementation, pre-packaged integration with business software systems, customization and large-scale deployment. More information on HAHT, its customers, partners and products can be found at www.haht.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results might differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and which is available upon request from the Company's Investor Relations Department. These factors include the need to hire and retain qualified employees, the need to manage our growth, our limited operating history and our history of losses.

HAHT, the HAHT Commerce logo, HAHTsite, Commerce e-Scenario, Commerce Links and Sellside Exchange are trademarks or registered trademarks of HAHT Commerce, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other corporate, product, and trade names are the property of their respective companies.