Bethlehem Steel Corporation
For Immediate Release

BETHLEHEM, Pa., May 24, 2000 -- A case study of the successful integration of the information technology systems of Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Lukens Inc. has become part of the Permanent Research Collection on Information Technology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in association with the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Award Program.

The Computerworld Smithsonian Award was established in 1988 to honor organizations and individuals whose use of information technology produces positive social, economic and educational change.

This year, the Computerworld Smithsonian Program is adding more than 440 of the most innovative applications of technology in the world. Bethlehem is the only steel company and one of only 17 case studies in the manufacturing category being added to the collection.

Bethlehem's project is entitled Rapid System Integration: A Key Element of a Successful Acquisition and discusses steps taken to merge the different information technology systems of two companies. The result of the merger of the systems and companies has been increased productivity, improved service and sharper customer focus, all of which have created large synergies.

"The primary source material submitted by Bethlehem Steel Corporation will enrich the National Museum of American History's growing collection on the history of information technology and contribute significantly to the museum's on-going efforts to chronicle the Information Age," said Spencer R. Crew, director of the National Museum of American History.

The integration project, necessitated by Bethlehem's acquisition of Lukens in May 1998, was formally accepted into the Permanent Research Collection last month during a ceremony at the Smithsonian with representatives of Computerworld magazine. Bethlehem Steel Corporation was represented at the ceremony Thomas J. Conarty, senior vice president, and James F. Reynolds, director, information technology, both at the corporate offices, and Michael K. McCarty, manager, information technology, Bethlehem Lukens Plate.

Case studies from the 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Collection will be available at http://www.cwsmithsonian.org. the official internet site of the Computerworld Smithsonian Program, where the entire collection is available to scholars, researchers and the general public worldwide.