For Immediate Release

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 22, 1999 - TechniCon Corp., a leading developer of interactive electronic commerce software, announced today that CAP, part of the McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group (MH-CIG), has licensed CustomCommerce, TechniCon's interactive software that allows customers and salespeople to efficiently configure and visualize customizable products over the Internet. The agreement between the two companies calls for TechniCon to provide all the technology for Offices Online, a new office furniture e-commerce solution scheduled to be released by CAP in the summer of 1999.

Offices Online will combine TechniCon's CustomCommerce technology with CAP's extensive office furniture content, resulting in a cost-effective solution for selecting, visualizing and ordering office furniture over the Internet. Offices Online is designed to bring the power of interactive 3D e-commerce, along with faster sales cycles, reduced sales/procurement costs and broader markets, to office furniture manufacturers, dealers and customers, as well as Web-based procurement automation vendors.

"We view electronic commerce as a natural extension to our total product line. For years our design and specification software has been used by the contract furniture industry and Offices Online represents compelling new technology," said Charles Origer, National Sales Manager of CAP. "By incorporating TechniCon's expertise in product visualization, Internet software and sales automation with our 20 years of leadership in contract furniture software, the furniture and Web procurement industries can realize important productivity and sales gains."

CAP and TechniCon are currently working with leading suppliers of business-to-business electronic commerce solutions, such as Ariba, to integrate Offices Online with popular automated procurement software for Global 2000 and mid-sized corporations. As members of the Ariba Supplier Link program, CAP and TechniCon will offer corporate buyers in Global 2000 organizations worldwide streamlined, online access to office furniture product and ordering information through Ariba.com Network.

"Offices Online is the perfect complement to Ariba.com Network," said Dave Rome, Vice President of Marketing from Ariba. "By allowing Global 2000 employees and procurement managers to configure and visualize customizable products like office furniture directly from their desktops, Offices Online should further increase productivity and reduce procurement costs for both Ariba suppliers and buyers."

Offices Online is based on TechniCon's CustomCommerce, a technology that solves a problem that plagues many markets characterized by extensive product customization: how to efficiently and cost-effectively present numerous product options to customers. Complex product configuration, such as that required for office furniture, is not yet available in the Web-based procurement automation solutions that are rapidly being adopted by corporations. These and other industries are now capitalizing on the productivity gains linked to online configuration and visualization of customizable products.

"Today, it's not uncommon for customers to have hundreds, even thousands of choices for a given product, be it furniture, corporate operations equipment, construction products or automobiles," said Anthony Mirante, President of TechniCon. "But too often the sales process for such products becomes a costly bottleneck. Businesses like CAP, McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group and Ariba Technologies are realizing the incredible value of Internet technology such as CustomCommerce -- the fact that it speeds up the sales cycle and reduces costs, while it expands markets."

Using CustomCommerce's data translation and 2D/3D visualization features, Offices Online streamlines the process of selecting, visualizing and ordering office furniture, which literally comes with thousands of different options. Other existing e-commerce furniture offerings use static bitmap product images, an impractical way of presenting complex product information. Alternatively, customers wait while their office furniture dealer completes a lengthy manual back-and-forth 3D design process using an expensive CAD workstation.

Offices Online instantly presents descriptions and detailed 2D/3D images over the Internet for every furniture component from various manufacturers. Users select and immediately visualize different finishes for their furniture via an interactive 3D model. By rotating, tilting and sizing the model, they obtain a realistic idea of how their customized furniture will appear before it is purchased and installed.

Offices Online is a quickly deployable, cost-effective e-commerce solution. To achieve these objectives, TechniCon takes existing furniture industry legacy data, such as AutoCAD and SIF files, and using its proprietary development tools, translates this data into open Internet standards, such as XML and VRML. This use of industry standards -- rather than the proprietary technology such as that employed by other companies -- helps reduce system ownership costs.

Offices Online takes advantage of the real-time capabilities of the Internet, allowing CAP to instantly update product information with the very latest data from manufacturers. Previously, many dealers and customers waited for printed sales materials and catalogs to obtain new product information. Now, changes can be made cost-effectively at the same time product updates are implemented.

Offices Online is presently scheduled to be released by CAP in the summer of 1999. Pricing varies depending on configuration.

CAP is part of the McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group, which includes a strong network of brands -- Sweet's Group, F.W. Dodge and Architectural Record, Engineering News-Record and Design Build magazines -- that help customers make the critical connections and decisions to build their businesses. CAP pioneered automation of the design and specification process for contract furniture dating back to 1978 and created the Standard Interchange Format (SIF) adopted by the industry. Today, CAP's software is used by furniture dealerships, architectural and design firms, facility managers and designers around the world.

Ariba is the leader in network commerce solutions for Operating Resource Management (ORM). The company's eCommerce products deliver a high return on investment by improving the acquisition and management of operating resources, the goods and services required to operate a company. Ariba's comprehensive, standards-based ORM solution leverages the Internet, corporate intranets, and an advanced network application architecture to efficiently connect requestors to approvers, buyers to suppliers, and the Ariba system to enterprise applications. Ariba and its strategic partners offer consulting and implementation services, training, and technical support that enable rapid deployment of scalable, flexible, Internet-based Operating Resource Management solutions. Ariba can be contacted at (408) 543-3800 or at www.ariba.com.

TechniCon, based in Emeryville, Calif., is a leading developer of mass customization software used for electronic commerce and sales automation. Using the latest 2D/3D graphics and Internet technologies, TechniCon makes it easy for buyers, corporate procurement managers and salespeople to preview and order products that meet today's build-to-order requirements. By allowing buyers to fully visualize and configure products directly over the Internet and at the point of sale, TechniCon's software helps companies shorten the sales cycle, reduce costs, decrease product configuration errors, and increase customer satisfaction.

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TechniCon is a service mark of TechniCon Corp. TechniCon performed work on Offices Online under contract to Variational Technologies, Inc. CAP is a registered trademark of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Offices Online is a trademark of McGraw-Hill Construction Information Group. Ariba is a registered trademark of Ariba Technologies Inc. Ariba Operating Resource Management System, Ariba ORMS, Ariba.com Network and Walk-Up User Interface are trademarks of Ariba Technologies Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.