Ward Manufacturing Selects Datalliance Vendor Managed Inventory

-- Datalliance VMI will accelerate implementation of new VMI
customers and improve service to existing customers

-- VMI positioned as strategic tool to build partnerships with
customers, grow sales and improve profitability
CINCINNATI--(Business Wire)--
Datalliance, the leading independent provider of Vendor Managed
Inventory (VMI) and other e-commerce services, announced today that
Ward Manufacturing, a leading manufacturer of pipe fittings, has
selected the Datalliance VMI service. Ward Manufacturing maintains
offices in Canada and the US and sells its products to a network of
more than 600 wholesalers throughout North America.

Matt Weigle, Manager - Information Technology, Ward Manufacturing,
explains, "Our current in-house VMI system requires a substantial
amount of time to bring new partners onboard. As more customers became
interested in the benefits of joining the VMI program, this limitation
escalated into more of an issue. By selecting Datalliance, we will be
able to eliminate the time consuming elements of the process and rely
on their expertise. Their software-as-a-service architecture and
extensive VMI experience allows Datalliance to assume a majority of
the effort required to effectively maintain our VMI environment, and
also provides greater agility in implementing new customers. Through
this partnership with Datalliance we will realize a reduction in IT
resources needed to manage VMI, thereby lowering our costs and
allowing us to focus on our core business and other value-added
opportunities."

"From a sales and marketing perspective, we are anticipating
traditional VMI benefits, including increased sales, reduced order
errors, improved turns for our customers and expanded product
penetration," states Tibor Egervary, VP Marketing & Sales, Ward
Manufacturing. "Just as importantly, I expect our Sales staff to use
Datalliance VMI as a strategic tool to build partnerships with
customers who value not only our products, but our support services as
well. These are the customers who see VMI as a tool to help grow sales
and improve their profitability. Datalliance's reporting capabilities
are flexible, accurate and user friendly, making it easier for our
customers to take full advantage of VMI."

"We welcome Ward Manufacturing to the growing number of companies
that are realizing the advantages of replacing their first generation,
in-house VMI systems with Datalliance VMI," said Bob Jennings, VP
Sales & Marketing, Datalliance. "In addition to providing
comprehensive VMI functionality and reporting capabilities, our
managed service approach allows our customers to be more efficient and
reduce the overall cost of their VMI programs."

About Ward Manufacturing

Founded in 1924, Ward Manufacturing is a manufacturer of pipe
fittings including flanges, pipe unions, plugs and bushings. Its
WARDFLEX gas piping system is a corrugated stainless steel system that
offers flexible pipe as an alternative to traditional steel pipe in
transporting fuel gases. Ward Manufacturing maintains offices in
Canada and the US and sells its products to a network of more than 600
wholesalers throughout North America. In 2006 Ward Manufacturing
acquired rival Wisconsin Nipple and Fitting Corporation.

About Datalliance

Datalliance is the world's largest independent VMI service
provider, processing over $4.8 billion in orders, 10.2 million SKUs,
and 25,300 locations. Delivered as a managed service via the Internet
using the 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) model, Datalliance VMI makes
it easy for suppliers and their customers to establish effective VMI
relationships that fully align business objectives, improve
collaboration, and streamline supply chain operations. Datalliance
serves leading Fortune 1000 companies in a number of different
industries. For more information about Datalliance and VMI, visit
www.datalliance.com.

Datalliance
Brian Lindner, 513-791-7272

Copyright Business Wire 2008