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7/07/05: Atrium Companies Save Millions Using Sorcity Reverse-Auction Service

Significant Dollar Savings can be Gained in Both Direct and Indirect Materials

DALLAS, TX - July 27, 2005...  Atrium Companies, Inc., one of the largest and most widely recognized manufacturers and distributors of windows and patio doors in North America, has achieved millions of dollars in savings on both direct and indirect materials purchases by simply using the Sorcity.com Reverse-Auction service.

Recognized for the past seven years as a leading Reverse-Auction service, Sorcity.com helps buying organizations in all industries reduce their time spent to get bids, saving them money, while providing sellers a lower cost channel of business.  In the case of Atrium, savings have been as high as 15% percent.

"These percentages equal millions of dollars of savings for us" said Gus Agostinelli, Senior Vice President at Atrium Companies, Inc., who recently completed a group of Reverse-Auctions for temporary labor across seven of their U.S. regions. "We needed a lower price to contribute to our competitive edge in the marketplace, while actually improving service-levels in these regions, but without disrupting current business operations or quality."

"Sorcity provided more than just Reverse-Auction services, they also assisted us with collecting and normalizing the data, standardizing a common set of requirements, evaluating the economic impact of these changes, deeply penetrating the market to get a high number of competitive bids, and assisting in the post-qualification of suppliers.  Knowing the sensitivities surrounding Reverse-Auctions, we were pleased to find that Sorcity provides these added professional services to ensure our success. Even more pleasing was that it cost our company nothing to conduct these Reverse-Auctions", said Mr. Agostinelli.

Through Reverse-Auctions, Atrium is now receiving bids from 10-20 times the number of suppliers, while actually spending less time.  The number of bids they receive has jumped from 8-12, in negotiations, to an average range of 80-120 bids. The net result is a contract with current or new suppliers, but at a lower price, making the company more profitable.

Atrium has used Reverse-Auctions to source many products and services, including computer equipment, office supplies, labels, nation-wide wireless service, safety supplies, promotional items, and contract temporary labor. These items represent the expense side of purchasing, but Reverse-Auctions have also been used for more strategic direct materials, where the percent savings is typically lower, but on multi-million dollar contracts, the pure dollar savings is very meaningful.

Wes Guillemaud, CEO of Sorcity.com says "Our goal is to deliver 10-20% savings across our clients entire spend, without asking them to invest any time or money. Where else can you get an offer like this? The Supply Managers, who designed this service in 1999, made it so easy to use that anyone can have their first Reverse-Auction up and running within a day. This is the reason our clients have been so successful.  It just makes good business sense."