Pasadena, Calif. - March 19, 2002 - eConnections Inc., the leading provider of extended supply chain intelligence solutions, announced today that Richardson Electronics, Ltd. of LaFox, IL, and CAPSCO of Sunnyvale, CA, have joined the eConnections strategic sourcing network community of more than 1,500 electronics industry companies.

The addition of these innovative distributors reflects the continued growth of the eConnections network - the only such community that offers an independent, authorized platform for strategic sourcing, as part of a suite of supply chain management applications. The eConnections application suite features real-time, transparent connectivity for managing the entire supply chain, either inside an organization or across the extended supply chain outside a company's four walls.

First introduced in January 2001, eConnections Quote Manager (eCQM) is a comprehensive strategic sourcing solution designed specifically for the electronics industry that provides as much as a 50 percent reduction in quote cycle time and associated costs. eCQM features "come as you are" connectivity, allowing companies to plug in without the requirement to conform to specific standards or to purchase and install costly network software.

Using eCQM, supply chain partners can leverage the Web to collaborate more effectively throughout the quote process. The system automatically distributes requests for quotes (RFQs) based on a customer's rules for preferred vendors. So far, the eConnections system has processed more than $7 billion in quotes, providing access to some 15 million part numbers and more than $12 billion in available inventory.

eCQM is part of the eConnections suite of hosted, extended supply chain intelligence services, including eConnections Demand Manager (eCDM), Supply Manager (eCSM) and Inventory Manager (eCIM), all specifically designed for collaborative management of the electronics industry's global marketplace.

In addition to Richardson and CAPSCO, other members of the eConnections strategic sourcing network include: Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A), All American Semiconductor (NASDAQ:SEMI), Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW), Artesyn Technologies (NASDAQ:ATSN), Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ:ATML), Avnet (NYSE:AVT), AVX Corporation (NYSE:AVX), Bell Microproducts (NASDAQ:BELM), Bourns Inc., Digi-Key Corporation, FCI/Berg, Fujitsu Takamisawa America, Garrett Electronics, Hitachi Semiconductor America, Infineon Technologies Corporation (NYSE: IFX), Jaco Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:JACO), KEMET Corporation (NYSE:KEM), The Memec Group (which includes Impact Technologies, Insight Electronics and Unique Technologies), Molex Inc. (NASDAQ:MOLX and MOLXA), Murata Electronics North America, NEC Electronics, Nu Horizons (NASDAQ:NUHC), ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ONNN), Pioneer-Standard Electronics (NYSE:PIOS), Projections Unlimited, Inc., PSC Electronics, QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QUIK), Reptron Electronics (NYSE:REPT), Rochester Electronics, Toshiba America Electronic Components and TTI, Inc.

About eConnections
eConnections is the leading provider of extended supply chain intelligence solutions specifically designed for collaboration to manage the electronics industry's global marketplace. eConnections offers hosted strategic sourcing services that combine embedded domain expertise with authorized connections to a community of more than 1,500 of the world's leading suppliers, distributors and manufacturers' representatives. eConnections provides electronics companies with trusted, net-native solutions that streamline the complexity of the supply chains in which they operate and enable them to get the right product to the right place, at the right time, in the most efficient way possible. eConnections, a privately held company, is headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. For more information, please visit www.eConnections.com.

About Richardson Electronics
Richardson Electronics, Ltd. is a global provider of "engineered solutions," serving the RF and wireless communications, industrial power conversion, medical imaging, security and display systems markets. The Company delivers engineered solutions for its customers' needs through product manufacturing, systems integration, prototype design and assembly, testing and logistics. For more information about Richardson Electronics please visit www.rell.com

About CAPSCO
CAPSCO is a Regional Distributor with world-class systems and capabilities. Our service model is strongly aligned with our customers' goals and objectives. Being in business for over 40 years as a franchised supplier of quality manufacturers, our goal is to supply 80% of the part count on our customers' bills of materials. CAPSCO's sales efforts, inventory logistics programs and service systems are focused in the western United States and Mexico. As such, CAPSCO is a tremendous resource for the rapidly changing roles of NPI, OEM and EMS environments. We've recognized that the quotation process is a key component in our ability to showcase our capabilities from part number validation, component sourcing, market pricing, quick turn around, marketing support and flexibility in the Supply Chain Management function. CAPSCO brings active solutions to passive component management. For more information please visit http://www.capsco.com