Optiant Sponsors Executive Seminar Series 

Supply Chain Thought Leaders Provide Insight Into  
Strategies for Increasing Profitability  

SOMERVILLE, Mass., (Aug. 28, 2001) - Optiant(tm),  
Inc., a pioneer in supply chain optimization, will  
roll out a series of seminars for manufacturing  
executives to examine the strategic considerations  
behind intelligent and collaborative supply chain  
planning. The premier seminar will feature keynotes  
from AMR Research analyst, Pierre Mitchell and  
Optiant's Chief Scientist, Dr. Sean P. Willems. It  
will be held on Wed. Sept. 19, 2001 at Boston's  
Westin Copley Place Hotel. 

In the half-day session, Mitchell and Willems will  
address strategic sourcing, supply strategy and  
optimal inventory deployment as critical keys linking 
 supply chain performance to manufacturers'  
fundamental goals of greater profitability, faster  
time-to-market and more responsive customer service.  

Mitchell and Willems are at the cutting edge of  
supply chain evolution and innovation, and bring  
significant expertise in helping manufacturers meet  
the growing challenges of bringing products to  
market. As service director for the Enterprise  
Management Services division of AMR Research,  
Mitchell specializes in indirect procurement, e- 
business process management, content management and  
strategic sourcing. Willems has consulted with  
manufacturers such as Bay Networks, Hewlett-Packard  
and Eastman Kodak. His doctoral research findings  
from MIT and the results of his work with leading  
manufacturers are at the core of Optiant's powerful  
algorithm-driven optimization solutions for supply  
chain strategy.  

"In this challenging economic environment,  
manufacturers are recognizing that designing and  
implementing efficient, high-performance supply  
chains are essential strategies for surviving the  
current downturn and being prepared to lead when a  
strong economy returns," said Marcus Ruark, Optiant  
co-founder, president and CEO. "We're very pleased to 
 offer this seminar series to help manufacturers 
learn  how to minimize costs, increase responsiveness 
and  ultimately drive increased profitability through 
 strategically optimized supply chains." 

The executive seminar is free for all qualified  
attendees and is being held at The Westin Copley  
Place, 10 Huntington Avenue, Boston, from 8:00 a.m.  
to 12 p.m. For more information, visit  
www.optiant.com or call (617) 625-1435. Other  
seminars are planned for 2001 in major cities through 
 out the United States. Dates and locations will be  
announced in the coming months.   

Intelligent and Collaborative Supply Chain Design: 
Optiant is the first company to address the initial  
design of the supply chain, where 80 percent of the  
total cost is locked-in. Founded last year, it serves 
 Global 2000 manufacturers who face complex supply  
chains, high inventory costs and short time-to-market 
 windows. The company's Web-based PowerChain(tm)  
software suite lets manufacturers collaboratively  
design and monitor supply chains based on an end-to- 
end view. The solution delivers a fast ROI by taking  
into account real-world variables and identifying the 
 most critical decisions - such as where to hold  
inventory, how to lower landed costs and with which  
suppliers to partner - and recommending the best  
approach. 

### 

Optiant and PowerChain are trademarks of Optiant,  
Inc. All other trademarks are property of their  
respective owners. 

About the company 
Optiant, Inc. helps manufacturers maximize  
profitability through improved decision-making across 
 their extended supply chain.  Its flagship software  
solution, the PowerChain suite, enables manufacturers 
 to collaboratively design and configure optimal  
supply chains, set optimal inventory policies, and  
integrate supply chain strategy and policies into  
their strategic sourcing processes.  PowerChain  
solutions are built on patent-pending optimization  
technology based on more than ten years of leading- 
edge 
operations research and industry partnerships at  the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology.  Optiant  is a privately held company based in Somerville, 
 Mass. and can be reached at www.optiant.com or (617)  625-1435. 

Company Contact:  
Michael Braatz           
(617) 625-1435 Ext. 234 
michael.braatz@optiant.com
  

Media Contacts:  
Corporate Ink  
(617) 969-9192  
Susan Bassett 
sbassett@corporateink.com 
Megan Sayce 
msayce@corporateink.com