SAP Adds New Industry-Specific Features with Enhanced mySAP Supply Chain Management Planning Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CeBIT 2002

National Manufacturing Week 2002

HANNOVER, Germany & CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2002

Leading Adaptive SCM Planning Solution Adds Functionality for

High Tech, Automotive, CPG, Chemical, Pharmaceutical,

Mill Products, and Oil & Gas Industries

SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) today announced that it has enhanced its industry-leading mySAP(TM) Supply Chain Management solution (mySAP SCM) by adding new industry-specific functionality that provides best-in-class planning capabilities, which can enhance a company's abilities to respond to ever-changing market conditions, maximize revenue opportunities, minimize costs, and improve customer service. The announcement was made at CeBIT 2002, the world's leading trade fair for information technology, telecommunication, software, and services held from March 13 to 20 at the Hannover Exposition Center, as well as at the National Manufacturing Week trade show, sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers, being held this week at McCormick Place in Chicago.

SAP announced new enhancements to its solution to provide strong industry-specific functionality to meet the supply chain planning needs of customers in the high tech, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods, oil and gas, and mill products industries. Over the past year, mySAP SCM has surpassed competitive offerings to become the industry's leading supply chain solution. The latest updates to the SAP(R) advanced planning and optimization solution (SAP APO) of mySAP SCM -- part of the mySAP.com(R) e-business platform -- will begin shipments later this month. SAP's renowned planning solution is proving its strong position in the market with continuing momentum, with approximately 100 companies going live since mid-2001, and nearly 40 more companies expecting to become productive in the next few weeks. Around the globe, the customer momentum in supply chain planning provides the foundation of SAP's supply chain revenue contribution, which amounted to approximately 23 percent of total software license sales as reported in the fourth quarter.

"Supply chain applications continue to evolve from generic, one-size-fits-all solutions to today's vertically tailored solutions that can help companies more rapidly meet the unique challenges of today's ever changing, global marketplace," said Karen Peterson, vice president and research director at Gartner, Inc. "Today's solutions allow enterprises to achieve quicker time to benefit and reduced implementation risk by incorporating industry-specific functionality to meet the unique needs of complex vertical markets -- recognizing that managing the supply chain in, for example, the automotive industry is very different than it is for a mill products manufacturer."

Planning Excellence with Industry-Specific Functionality

The new capabilities of mySAP SCM combine existing generic planning tools with expanded industry-specific functionality for all supply chain planning levels, ranging from strategic to tactical to operational. The new features demonstrate how SAP combines its cross-industry applications solutions expertise and leadership across many key vertical industries.

At CeBIT and the National Manufacturing Week show, SAP announced industry-specific enhancements to its planning solution, including:

-- High Tech: Capable to match (CTM) with descriptive characteristics enables
multi-tier supply network models with demand prioritization. Multi-level
available to promise (ATP) determines material availability at a component and
finished goods level across global operations taking substitution choices into
account. Multi-level allocation enables revenue optimization in complex
scenarios, which is key to new product introductions. In the area of Supplier
network collaboration, inbound scheduling agreements enhance visibility in both
directions and collaboration to improve exception-based planning.

-- Automotive: Multi-line model mix planning enables planning for high-volume
configurable products on the same line or line network. Rapid planning matrix
with activities increases responsiveness to changes in demand while optimizing
labor resources. Real time backflush and supply to line enhance inventory
visibility and utilization and enable lean manufacturing processes. In the area
of supplier network collaboration, inbound scheduling agreements enhance
visibility in both directions and collaboration to improve exception-based
planning.

-- Mill Products: Multi-mode order planning optimizes utilization stock on hand
by optimizing initial cuts and allocating remnant and offcut material to
demand. Characteristic-based ATP provides dynamic inventory matching for
finished and semi-finished goods. Block scheduling incorporates industry best
practices to increase planning velocity and efficiency.

-- Chemicals: Sales order-oriented planning avoids unnecessary stock build up
by optimizing short-term planning. Extended campaign planning expands planning
horizons to improve production and asset utilization.

-- Pharmaceuticals: Enhanced safety stock planning reduces safety stock levels
while managing forecasting and supplier problems (like delivery shortfalls).
Extended campaign planning expands the planning horizon to improve production
and asset utilization.

-- Oil & Gas: Critical stock levels enhances visibility to tank levels and
improves inventory management, asset utilization, and fill rates. Extended
vehicle master data improves accuracy of bulk movements. Enhanced SAP APO / SAP
TSW integration improves visibility of stock levels, matching, and demand /
forecasting.

-- CPG: Promotion planning integration links demand chain information to supply
chain planning. Multi-level ATP checks determines material availability at
component and finished goods levels across locations, with substitution
choices. Characteristics-based ATP allows matching of finished goods level to
requested demand to better utilize stock on hand. Supplier network
collaboration enhances visibility in both directions and collaboration to
improve exception-based planning.

"SAP is continuing delivering to customers on its vision of the networked supply chain by matching best in class planning capabilities with SAP's unrivaled vertical industry experience," said Wolfgang Runge, senior vice president of SAP's Global SCM Initiative. "The enhanced mySAP SCM solution can enable companies to better manage their supply chains, by minimizing time delays, reducing inventory times, increasing velocity, driving asset utilization, and, ultimately, improving customer service and satisfaction."

Collaboration Brings It All Together

The dynamic exchange of information in supply planning provides updates and synchronized plans to all business partners within a supply chain. SAP not only enables collaborative planning, the solution tailors collaboration to the specific industry through the vertical industry functionality in mySAP SCM --

allowing for more rapid installation, and, ultimately, a faster return on investment. The functionality reaches into multiple levels of the supply chain with bi-directional visibility and dynamic capabilities. Further, real collaborative processes like those enabled by mySAP SCM must be built upon an open technology framework that takes advantage of industry standards such as HTML, XML, and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) to ensure flexibility and interoperability. SAP solutions also feature a unified architecture that can be tailored to the unique requirements of specific industries and companies.

About mySAP SCM -- A Complete Supply Chain Solution

mySAP(TM) Supply Chain Management, part of the suite of cross-industry solutions within the mySAP.com(R) e-business platform, transforms the sequential, linear supply chain into an adaptive supply chain network that enables suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, channel partners, and customers to collaborate, share information, plan, and coordinate activities across the network. Adaptive supply chain networks are designed to improve business visibility and enable dynamic collaboration throughout all supply chain processes, from supply chain design to material sourcing, from forecasting demand to scheduling production, managing warehouses, and fulfilling transportation requirements. The "adaptive" capabilities provide improved flexibility and responsiveness while maintaining control of business processes. The "network" element means that information is shared and leveraged based on the knowledge and strengths of trading partners across a multi-tiered supply chain network. For more information on the mySAP SCM solution, see http://wwwint01.wdf.sap-ag.de/company/publications/fs_scm_11-01.asp.

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of e-business software solutions. Through the mySAP.com(R) e-business platform, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains. Today, more than 17,000 companies in over 120 countries run more than 44,500 installations of SAP(R) software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com.)

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "intend," "may," "will," "expect," and "project" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the SAP Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2000 filed with the SEC on March 28, 2001. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Note to Editors: SAP, the SAP logo, mySAP.com, mySAP, and all other SAP products and services mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and several other countries. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.