WHIPPANY, N.J.March18, 2002 -- Cirqit, a leading consulting and software company focused on the unique challenges of the printing industry, announced that John Deere of Moline, IL has selected Cirqit's eProcurement and Supply Chain Management applications, Order-It and Price-It and related consulting services to manage commerce within the print category under a 5-year contract representing $35 million in spend on an annual basis. "We are very pleased to be working with a client like John Deere that has the vision to deploy leading edge practices and tools. Clients are typically unaware of the savings potential when optimizing the procurement of custom manufactured products like printing. We offer a powerful combination of technology and best practices consulting that puts sourcing's contractual pricing at the fingertips of the enterprise's buyers, ensuring that each job is directed to the rights supplier at the right price. ," said Mark Hausser, president, CEO and founding partner of Cirqit. "Cirqit extends best practices for supply chain management to a significant spend category and brings a complex commodity into our overall eProcurement and sourcing strategy." said Dave Nelson, vice president of worldwide supply management. "The Cirqit partnership is a key component of our strategic sourcing initiatives," said Deborah Lamphier, manager of supply management for indirect materials and services. "We chose Cirqit because their domain expertise allows us to optimize our supply chain and reduce the cost of the print commodity and related administrative expenses. The applications also integrate well with the Ariba environment." John Deere was recently awarded Purchasing Magazine's Medal of Professional Excellence. Dave Nelson is chairman of the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM) and is the co-author of The Purchasing Machine - How The Top Ten Companies Use Best Practices to Manage Their Supply Chain. "We are excited about the partnership with Cirqit. The ability to assist customers by providing tools that manage complex categories of spend in conjunction with Ariba products has tremendous value," said Ariba, Inc. John Deere is using Cirqit applications to automate and streamline print purchasing and to bring the process online. Cirqit software stores supply chain pricing for various production processes. The software generates contractually binding quotes using the pricing database and the print job specifications. The automated pricing engine returns real-time quotes for every supplier that can manufacture the work, ensuring that awards go to the low cost provider. The process also greatly reduces bid / buy and order management cycle times. Deere uses system generated Strategic Price Management reports to evaluate the economic performance of the supply chain. Sourcing managers use the comprehensive set of reports to identify core competencies within the supply chain. "Rich information and supply chain analytics provide negotiating power and create a competitive network; this drives ongoing price reductions over time," said Al Miller, global supply base manager for printed materials.