PHILADELPHIA, PA, April 25, 2004 -- (www.cat-one.com)– Category One, Inc. today announced the expansion of its operations to include delivery of its world-class sourcing platform, tools and services on-line. The Company’s aim is to make its products and services available to customers in as easy, accessible and customized a format as possible.

“It’s all about giving the customer only what they want or need, and delivering it to them faster. We want to remove any barriers that may exist between us and our customers saving time and money,” explains Category One president and CEO Joe Buchanan. “We want buyers and purchasing agents to think of Category One as just another useful button to click on their desktop – a button we think they’ll soon wear out when they see how much savings is involved.”

Category One, a San Francisco-based technology company, is one of the first e-sourcing companies to offer an ASP (application service provider) version of its software available by credit card. Category One differentiates itself further with an impressive offering of weekly on-line training seminars and instant messaging support, plus an exceptionally easy-to-use, intuitive platform and toolset. Buchanan adds, “Offering a self-powered solution means Category One can get almost any company’s purchasing department up and running negotiations in as little as a week.”

It was customer feedback that inspired Category One to make the changes. “Customers always tell us how easy it is to use our tools versus other companies. The Internet provides the optimal way for us to demonstrate that ease-of-use and deliver our product and services,” explains Buchanan.

The other clear advantage Category One offers its customers is low cost. “What our competitors and their consultants are charging for on-site implementation is outrageous,” says Buchanan. “We knew the Web was the far more cost-effective way to scale implementation and training. Plus, our customer’s team gets trained at their desks. If they want to attend more than one session, or have to miss a part, it won’t cost anything more to pick it up again later in the next training cycle, when it fits their schedule.”

The primary tools available from Category One today are RFX (request for quotes, proposals, and information), Auctions (reverse and forward), and Supplier Manager, a supplier profiling tool.

Buchanan says to look for Category One’s newest product, Contract Manager, in Summer 2004. Contract Manager will allow buyers and purchasing agents to store contracts, terms and revisions in an easy-to-use format. Customers will be able to screen suppliers with an eRFI, launch an eRFQ to collect preliminary quotes, finalize leading edge pricing using the reverse Auction tool, and store the contract terms for future use. These tools are launched from the buyer’s desktop, as the system requires only the supplier’s email address and basic contact information.

Here are a couple of the enthusiastic testimonials Category One has received from customers:

"Having not spent much time on the Internet, or on computers for that matter, I was surprised to find the eRFP questions simple to answer and the site easy to navigate"
-- Gary Thomas, Specialty Foods

“…in the first 3 months of using the platform we saved over $600,000, …. for an investment under $20,000…”
-- Bill Ruggles, Purchasing Director, Sheetz, Inc.


Category One, Inc. is dedicated to providing better, far more affordable, easier-to-access sourcing and purchasing technology. Based in San Francisco, California, the Company’s driving principle is to make on-line e-sourcing available to any company that wants to become leaner, meaner and more competitive by cutting its supplier costs today. This customer-focused thinking has made Category Onew the leading provider of e-sourcing on-line.