SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- March 3, 2003 -- WhereNet Corp., the worldwide leader of wireless location and communications solutions for managing mobile resources, announced today a strategic OEM partnership with Siemens Automation and Drives Group (A&D), the leading manufacturer in this field worldwide.
By partnering with WhereNet, Siemens expands its suite of MOBY radio frequency identification (RFID) systems to include wireless, real-time applications for locating, tracking, and providing status information on mobile assets. Under the terms of the agreement, the Siemens Identification Systems business unit will immediately begin offering products that integrate WhereNet’s wireless real-time locating system (RTLS) technology.
Siemens will market the WhereNet RTLS-enabled MOBY products to customers looking to reduce costs and improve productivity by better managing mobile assets throughout their supply chain, and will initially target the automotive industry. The Siemens/WhereNet technology partnership has enjoyed immediate success, as Siemens recently closed a deal with a leading European-based luxury automaker for the new RTLS-enabled MOBY products. The extensive Siemens sales network will also address other market segments, such as car park management, bus stations, postal logistics, and general logistics, especially in industrial applications.
“Flexible and efficient manufacturing processes will determine companies’ success in the competitive and complex automotive industry. The use of commercial, location-based technologies increases organizations’ productivity and improves their ability to respond faster to fluctuating market dynamics,” said Thilo Koslowski, lead automotive analyst, GartnerG2. “We see a growing need for solutions to help manage and track mobile assets in the automotive industry. Alliances are needed to implement the technology on a broad scale and provide companies with satisfactory benefits.”
“The WhereNet technology extends our suite of MOBY identification products and services as we deliver real-time productivity solutions, especially within our growing automotive customer base,” said Wolfgang Soellner, general manager for Siemens Identification Systems. “With a large automaker now deploying the solution, we are confident that the value derived from the technology will demonstrate a rapid return on investment with significant cost savings. Our knowledge from more than 20 years in marketing, sales, development, and production of high-quality, state-of-the-art identification products will further strengthen the product portfolio through additional standards or customized products that will be developed and manufactured by Siemens.”
“We are honored to add Siemens to our growing list of OEM partners. This partnership validates the growing acceptance and continued widespread adoption of WhereNet’s wireless location and communication solutions for the automotive, industrial manufacturing, and transportation and logistics markets,” said Matt Armanino, vice president of business development, WhereNet Corp. “With more than 50 automotive factory deployments around the world, our technology is already embraced and delivering a proven ROI. Siemens’ vast sales force and integration expertise will further fuel adoption of RTLS. Siemens will help us expand our footprint in Europe by providing customers with significant productivity benefits, revenue-generating opportunities, and time-to-market advantages.”
