Datasweep Announces Agreement with SonoSite to Enhance Medical Device Manufacturing Processes.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 10, 2001

Leading Hand-Carried Ultrasound Manufacturer Selects

Datasweep to Improve Product Lifecycle Management and

Reduce Regulatory Compliancy Costs

Datasweep, Inc., the leader in real-time collaborative manufacturing solutions, continues to expand its lead in providing integrated Web-based manufacturing, repair and analysis solutions to the regulated medical device industry. Today, the company announced that SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), a leader in point-of-care, hand-held ultrasound devices, is the most recent medical device manufacturer to select Datasweep's Advantage product suite for real-time visibility and control across its manufacturing and repair operations to improve supply chain performance and reduce compliancy costs. SonoSite expects to improve product lifecycle management by capturing complete product information in manufacturing and throughout their lifetime in the field. By leveraging this information through the application of integrated analysis solutions, the company plans to enhance quality while lowering cost. The centralized electronic archival of detailed device history records through Datasweep will further help SonoSite meet and reduce the administrative costs associated with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) regulations.

SonoSite is a leading medical technology company focused on creating new, affordable and hand-carried ultrasound devices for point-of-care diagnostics. They are the first company to market digital, high-resolution ultrasound devices in an easy-to-use, affordable and portable package weighing less than six pounds. Such devices are highly sought by physicians, so that they can make better and faster clinical decisions. SonoSite's devices enable physicians to provide earlier diagnosis, potentially improving patient outcomes while reducing the costs of diagnosis and treatment.

Market demand for SonoSite's portable ultrasound devices is evident by SonoSite's strong growth. To meet this growing demand while maintaining highly reliable products, SonoSite requires a single, integrated view into all plant operations, and real-time control and tracking of all products and components throughout their total lifecycle. Datasweep's solutions help to eliminate multiple disparate databases and paper-based systems by providing a central repository of all production, maintenance and repair information. With Datasweep's integrated manufacturing and quality system, SonoSite will gain Web-based access to data for analysis and reporting while improving data integrity. This will eliminate information latency.

"Automating our supply chain processes is crucial for meeting our company goals of growth and high quality," said Brad Garrett, chief customer fulfillment officer at SonoSite. "Datasweep is helping us build a flexible, responsive infrastructure that will allow us to increase production while maintaining the high quality required by regulatory agencies and customers alike."

Datasweep will allow SonoSite to track the detailed production and repair history of each device. With integrated manufacturing and quality, Datasweep provides a closed-loop quality management system collecting detailed, unit-level data throughout the manufacturing, maintenance and repair cycles as a complete electronic device history record. Datasweep is also fully compliant with FDA regulation 21 CFR Part 11 for electronic signature and records. Datasweep not only tracks the full electronic device history, but also automates the enforcement of production processes and operator certification, thus reducing the administrative costs associated with FDA and ISO compliance.

"We enable companies like SonoSite to eliminate multiple legacy and paper-based systems to make their supply chains more efficient and ensure closed-loop quality control. This eases the administrative and financial burdens of FDA and ISO compliance," says Vladimir Preysman, president and CEO of Datasweep. "We are pleased to be working with a technology leader such as SonoSite to assist them with reducing the cost of innovative medical devices."

About SonoSite

SonoSite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com), headquartered in Bothell, Wash., is creating and leading the point-of-service, hand-carried ultrasound market. By putting digital, high resolution ultrasound into an easy-to-use, affordable package, SonoSite is creating new markets and removing barriers to the use of ultrasound across medicine. The Company is dedicated to putting the power of its technology into the hands of trained physicians, allowing them to take a high quality quick look inside the body for better, faster, clinical decisions, potentially enabling earlier treatment and improving patient outcomes.

About Datasweep

Datasweep develops and markets real-time collaborative manufacturing solutions for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), electronic manufacturing service providers and critical component suppliers. Datasweep's solutions leverage the Internet to give OEMs and their key manufacturing partners Web visibility into and control of real-time manufacturing and repair information and the ability to leverage this information through an integrated data mart to drive improvements in planning, manufacturing and product lifecycle management. Customers include Flextronics International, Ltd. (FLEX), Lucent (LU), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC), GE Fanuc, and emerging optical networking leaders Avanex (AVNX), Kestrel Solutions, Novalux and Onetta. Additional information can be found on the Internet at www.datasweep.com.

Note to Editors: Datasweep is a registered trademark of Datasweep, Inc. Advantage is a trademark of Datasweep, Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.