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i2 Technologies, Inc. (OTC:ITWO - News), a leading provider of end-to-end supply chain management solutions, today announced a new radio frequency identification (RFID) partnership program designed to enable companies to use RFID technology to enable real time closed loop supply chain management. i2 is initiating the partner program to include target solutions, industries and partners such as GlobeRanger, IBM, Informatica, Sun Microsystems, and webMethods.

"We believe that this partnership program will help to minimize risk of RFID adoption for our customers by encouraging knowledge sharing among the world's top technology providers," said Pallab Chatterjee, president of solutions operations, i2. "Members of the i2 RFID partnership will include visionaries who realize that competitive and bottom line advantages come to forward thinking companies who use supply chains to their advantage by incorporating real-time event management capabilities with advanced planning solutions. We expect the partnership program to result in developments to help companies achieve significant competitive advantage by leveraging the data that RFID sensors provide to manage their supply chains."

Partners who qualify for this program will work with i2 to define comprehensive hardware and software solutions to integrate RFID technology with i2's closed loop supply chain management solutions. Partners will also have the opportunity to enable their RFID sensing middleware to integrate with i2's supply chain operating services (SCOS) and be available as a service to all i2 applications. Through a successful implementation of this program by i2 and its partners, the new RFID middleware that a customer purchases could operate with their supply chain management applications to turn volumes of RFID data into meaningful supply chain information.

"Together with Sun's enterprise class RFID infrastructure and i2 software, we will be providing the industry with an open architecture coupled with business and technology expertise to assist in delivering quality RFID solutions while helping to create an enhanced customer experience," said Julie Sarbacker, Director of the Auto-ID Business Unit, Sun Microsystems.

i2's RFID partnership program is designed to develop hardware and solutions that provide not only improved real-time visibility of inventory, orders and shipments, but also the intelligence to proactively respond in real time to unplanned circumstances. i2 also plans to embed future developments in RFID technology in its product line.

"The data generated by RFID is important, but it is only the first step in the enablement of real time decision making and the customer closing the loop in a supply chain," said Chatterjee. "i2's Master Data Management and Performance Management modules are set up to process data into meaningful information allowing companies to make proactive decisions and turn their supply chains into a competitive weapon."

Components of i2's solutions include:
i2's Supply Chain Operating Services provide an integrated planning and execution framework. SCOS is web services enabled, which allows companies to maintain their existing logic and applications while providing flexible workflow modeling and execution. i2's Supply Chain Event Manager (SCEM) is part of the SCOS framework, and enables companies to proactively monitor and manage for exceptions in their supply chain operations. RFID, through RFID sensing middleware, would feed i2 SCEM accurate and up-to-date information enabling better decisions and improve supply chain efficiency.

i2's Master Data Management (MDM) product can support RFID by helping to control the introduction of new items, manage data synchronization, and integrate product information into existing systems and processes by supporting systems that manage the product packaging hierarchy master data. i2's MDM can manage this foundation data and continues to be enhanced to meet GDSN standards allowing the supplier to publish the structure and the retailer to receive it for internal use. The supplier can also use this product hierarchy master data in other planning and execution systems such as an inventory system that is able to track products using the RFID tags.

i2's Transportation and Distribution Management services (TDM) can help companies efficiently procure, plan, execute and monitor freight movements across modes, borders and enterprises. These solutions are designed to create sustainable value by synchronizing all critical transportation and distribution data and providing inventory and order visibility resulting in strong cost and service performance.

i2's Distributed Order Execution (DOE) product can allow companies to read off databases, capture and collect data and respond to changes to better manage and replenish inventory. This provides companies with the ability to take in 29 digit codes, translate into appropriate quantities and link in appropriate transactions.

RFID Demonstration at i2 Planet
i2 plans to demonstrate its initial RFID solutions at i2 Planet 2004 scheduled in San Diego from April 27-29.

About i2
A leading provider of end-to-end supply chain management solutions, i2 designs and delivers software that helps customers optimize and synchronize activities involved in successfully managing supply and demand. i2 has more than 1,000 customers worldwide--many of which are market leaders--including seven of the Fortune global top 10. Founded in 1988 with a commitment to customer success, i2 remains focused on delivering value by implementing solutions designed to provide a rapid return on investment. Learn more at www.i2.com.