Southern Company Goes Live with Priya in Georgia Power Distribution Center
Operating companies join forces to improve inventory control and customer service

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. (March 7, 2002)-Southern Company’s Georgia Power distribution center became the first of two installations to go live with Priya, Motek’s warehouse management system (WMS) on February 20, 2002. A leading producer of electricity in the U.S., Southern Company anticipates Priya will improve inventory control and customer service.

Johnny Armstrong, the manager of the newly automated facility said, “Priya’s true WMS system will allow Southern Company to manage all phases of its distribution business with technology, allowing inventory accuracy, space efficiencies, and inventory reductions that weren’t possible with the old system.”

“The competitive pressures of deregulation are forcing public utilities to reduce costs and improve customer service,” said Ann Price, Motek’s CEO. “By using technology to cut costs, Southern Company is taking a proactive step to secure its position as a market leader.”

The 250,000 square foot facility provides Georgia Power’s local warehouses with equipment to service and maintain Georgia’s powerlines. In the event of a natural disaster, Priya’s management features will help Georgia Power respond with speed and efficiency.

Before going live with Priya, the company relied on an in-house paper-based system. Greg Smith, the Southern Company project manager who oversaw the installation said, “We went from a paper system to a totally automated system overnight, but the employees accepted the challenge. They like that they can get real-time information in their RF units.”

Georgia Power worked closely with fellow Southern Company operating company, Alabama Power to bring warehouse automation to Southern Company.

“To implement Priya, Georgia Power and Alabama Power, two completely different companies under the Southern Company umbrella, had to come together to come up with best practices and streamline processes,” said Smith.

“Implementation was very smooth to the point that we felt comfortable shutting down our old system and server within two days of going live with Priya,” said Armstrong. “When our [Southern Company’s] other subsidiaries see this system in operation, we expect multiple installations.”

“The Motek & Southern project teams worked in harmony and assured the success of the project by following Motek’s implementation methodology, Tycan” said Coreen McCorkendale, Motek’s Project Manager. “The discipline this methodology enforced has been embraced by the Southern team who is using to install additional sites. I continue to see customer independence due to a reliance on process rather than people which I believe is liberating for all involved.”

Priya is scheduled to go live in the Alabama Power distribution center in April.

About Southern Company
With nearly 4 million customers and more than 34,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier super-regional energy company in the Southeast and a leading U.S. producer of electricity. Southern Company owns five electric utilities, a fast-growing competitive generation company and an energy services business, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Information on Southern Company is available at www.southerncompany.com.

About Motek
Motek is the developer of Priya, a Windows NT 2000, rules-based, real-time warehouse management system. Priya helps companies in the retail, wholesale, and third-party distribution markets streamline their warehouse operations using “Intelligent RFâ.” Since 1989, Motek has the market’s technology leader. Privately owned, Motek has garnered industry awards for innovation and technical excellence, and consistently ranks as one of Southern California's fastest growing companies. Information on Motek is available at www.motek.com.