IBM Helps Lease Plan USA Establish Leadership in E-business Applications

Business Wire, Jan 24, 2000

Business and Automotive Editors/High Tech Writers

SOMERS, N.Y. and ATLANTA--(AutomotiveWire)--Jan. 24, 2000

Global fleets of vehicles now can be managed from desktop PC

Lease Plan USA, with assistance from IBM Global Services, today launched a first-of-its-kind e-business initiative for the fleet leasing industry, making it possible for companies owning or leasing fleets of vehicles to manage them from a desktop computer.

Lease Plan USA says the solution -- trademarked &uot;e-Plan&uot; -- will help fleet managers cut processing time from days to minutes, substantially reducing costs and expenses.

Lease Plan, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO Lease Holding, is rolling out the solution to its clients in the United States, with plans to introduce the service in Europe later this year.

With this new end-to-end e-business solution, fleet managers can exercise more control over tracking the purchase of new vehicles and the retirement of older vehicles, obtain information about drivers, view pertinent lease documents from Lease Plan's imaging system and more efficiently respond to a variety of essential time-sensitive tasks that rely on obtaining accurate information as quickly as possible.

IBM -- continuing its success in delivering key components to auto industry customers -- provided e-business strategy and transformation consulting, along with project management support and architecture consulting. IBM Global Services designed Lease Plan's IT infrastructure to enable on-line Internet access and its solution included application development using Java and IBM's WebSphere Application Server on an IBM AS/400 server.

&uot;e-Plan will have a dramatic impact on our business, especially since this is an industry first, giving us a competitive edge,&uot; said Lease Plan USA Senior Vice President &CIO Dave Bush. &uot;By teaming with the industry leading e-business provider to launch e-Plan, we are once more demonstrating our commitment to implementing technology that enhances our clients' fleet management effectiveness in the marketplace.&uot;

Users of e-Plan will have up-to-date, on-line access to critical information regarding their vehicles at their desktop, including title and registration information, factory invoices, on-line billing details, vehicle lease orders, order confirmation and status, plus the ability to view fleet inventory details or sort a variety of data for short- or long-term planning.

Sherwin-Williams, a global manufacturer of paints and coatings, participated in an e-Plan pilot program. &uot;We have been using e-Plan for several months and have already realized the benefits,&uot; said David Hall, fleet manager, Sherwin-Williams. &uot;e-Plan has significantly enhanced the flow of communication within my department and with Lease Plan's help, makes it simple to update and share current information on a fleet of 1,000 vehicles.&uot;

As it is with all IBM e-business solutions, e-Plan is designed to be secure, scaleable and reliable so clients can depend on it for their daily business needs.

&uot;It's another example of a business-to-business company realizing the benefits of the e-business transformation of core business processes,&uot; noted John Claybrooks, IBM Global Client Manager for Lease Plan Worldwide.

Lease Plan USA can be found at www.us.leaseplan.com and IBM Global Services can be found on the web at www.ibm.com/services