Real-Time Strategic Sourcing Via Quote Manager Supports Sparton Initiative to Streamline Business Processes Across the Extended Supply Chain

Pasadena, CA - March 25, 2002 - eConnections, Inc., the leading provider of extended supply chain intelligence solutions for the electronics industry, today announced that Sparton Corporation is using Quote Manager (eCQM) 2.0 to achieve real-time strategic sourcing across its extended supply chain.

eCQM is the only strategic sourcing solution that provides real-time connectivity and visibility across the entire network of external supply chain partners. Sparton, one of North America's most established electronics manufacturing service providers, has chosen eCQM over other strategic sourcing solutions for several key reasons:

Real-time dashboards, which provide up-to-the-minute visibility on quote response status by supplier.

Real-time collaboration enabled by eCQM's support for simultaneous, multi-user access to the same quote.

Immediate access to suppliers, through existing connections to a community of 1,500 plus suppliers and the flexibility to add new suppliers on the fly without added costs.

Web-native, hosted architecture, providing fastest time-to-value for strategic sourcing with initial implementation lasting just days. Total cost of ownership is minimized, since eConnections regularly provides functional upgrades and ongoing
system maintenance without disruption or additional costs to Sparton.

Exceptional customer support, including day-to-day interactions with an industry knowledgeable customer care team. This team ensures the inclusion of new, requested features into future generations of the product. In fact, Sparton has already
seen eConnections add functionality to its specifications.

"We went through a complete evaluation cycle of every quote management system available in the market today," said Stephanie Martin, vice president corporate material acquisition and logistics at Sparton. "We chose eConnections because it was the only solution that met our functional requirements AND our need for seamless connectivity to our entire supply base in a secure environment. We live or die with our ability to effectively manage the quote process with our suppliers."

eCQM Supports Sparton Corporate Initiative

Sparton, a 102-year-old NYSE listed company headquartered in Jackson, Mich., provides engineering and contract manufacturing services throughout North America and Europe. Helping to drive the company's success and profitability is a corporate-wide initiative to streamline business processes, create lean manufacturing operations
and improve product quality.

"Sparton has taken a leadership role in leveraging a web-based collaborative strategic sourcing tool to support its business growth and competitive goals," said Rob Rodin, president and CEO of eConnections. "Sparton understands the value of solutions developed by industry experts and the environment we have created at eConnections."

About Sparton

Sparton Corporation (NYSE:SPA), now in its 102nd year, provides design, engineering and electronics contract manufacturing services utilizing six manufacturing locations encompassing over 700,000-sq. ft. along with eleven alliance partner facilities throughout North America and Europe. In addition to strong core surface mount technology (SMT) and plated through-hole (PTH) , printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) and complete assembly manufacturing capabilities, Sparton offers a complete range of pre-manufacturing, post-manufacturing and engineering services. Pre-manufacturing
services include product development, concurrent engineering, design for test (DFT), design for manufacturing (DFM), design for assembly (DFA) printed circuit board design and quick-turn prototyping. Post-manufacturing services range from repair depot, direct ship, and distribution management to field support. For more information, please visit www.sparton.com.

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 supply chain 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' represen-tatives. 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.

Public Relations Contact:
Meredith Mills
Blanc & Otus
(415) 856-5156
mmills@blancandotus.com