Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE: AIT), one of North America's largest distributors of bearings and related products, has been named to the prestigious InformationWeek 500 list of leading information technology companies in the United States. For 2007, Applied ranked number 21 out of 500 firms, up from number 26 last year. Applied has been named to the InformationWeek 500 list each year since 2000 and within the Top 100 four times.

"Our business is industrial distribution, providing badly-needed repair parts to North American industries; however, information technology is vitally important to our productivity and quality of service," says Jim Hopper, Vice President - Chief Information Officer for Applied. "Our IT management team is dedicated to evaluating, designing and implementing smarter, more efficient systems to better serve our associates and our customers. Our goal is to continuously improve our systems, setting world class standards for our industry."

For the past 19 years, InformationWeek has tracked advanced technology practices and identified the nation's most innovative users of information technology with its annual listing. The list is unique among corporate rankings because it focuses on the power of innovation in IT, rather than simply identifying the biggest spenders.

To be included on the list, candidate companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue were invited to participate. Companies were asked to complete a qualifying application that examined their business technology strategies, investments and administrative practices, with emphasis on how that has impacted their business successes.

With 445 facilities and 4,600 employee-associates across North America, Applied Industrial Technologies is an industrial distributor that offers more than 3 million parts critical to the operations of MRO and OEM customers in virtually every industry. In addition, Applied provides engineering, design and systems integration for industrial and fluid power applications, as well as customized mechanical, fabricated rubber and fluid power shop services. For its fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, Applied posted sales of $2.0 billion.