According to a new study released this week by Aberdeen Group, and co-sponsored by Supply Chain Consultants (www.supplychain.com), three-quarters of all process industry companies surveyed are focusing on supply chain transformation in order to address and contain manufacturing and logistics costs.

The report, entitled “Supply Chain Cost-Cutting Strategies: How Top Process Industry Performers Take Radically Different Actions,” also found that Best in Class companies are strikingly ahead of their peers in achieving their transformation goals, and are much more aggressive in adopting supply chain technology as part of their improvement initiatives.

“Best in Class companies are four times more likely than their lower- performing peers to have established a centralized supply chain management organization and to have achieved data and process visibility across their supply chain, enabled by their higher adoption rate of technology,” said Beth Enslow, SVP of Enterprise Research at Aberdeen and author of the report. “The study also found that Best in Class companies have a 2.5X to 9X advantage in key performance improvements since 2005, including improving perfect order percentages and lowering supply chain costs.”

The Aberdeen study surveyed 74 companies in the process industries, which include chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, oil and gas, and pulp and paper sectors. Companies in these industries now widely realize that they must restructure their supply chains to reduce costs and maintain their customer service edge.

A majority of study respondents plan to upgrade their technology as part of a supply chain restructuring, with 82 percent of the companies surveyed having spending plans for new supply chain technology projects in 2007. The study also finds that the marriage of technology with process has allowed the Best in Class companies to achieve a plethora of results, including lower manufacturing costs, improved order metrics and inventory reduction.

Dominick Corigliano, Supply Chain Consultants’ vice president of sales and marketing, said, “The Aberdeen report reinforces the advantage that Best in Class companies have over their peers in transforming their supply chain strategies. We have seen this advantage with many of our own customers who are considered Best in Class for their innovative use of technology in their supply chain improvements.”

To download a complimentary copy of “Supply Chain Cost-Cutting Strategies: How Top Process Industry Performers Take Radically Different Actions,” for a limited time please visit: this link.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen(TM) for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen’s analytical and independent view of the “customer optimization” process of Harte-Hanks (Information – Opportunity – Insight – Engagement – Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com/ or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte- Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com/.

About Supply Chain Consultants
SCC is a 13-year-old supply chain management software and services company with headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and European operations located in Antwerp, Belgium. SCC’s Zemeter software and related services help manufacturers better plan demand, manage inventories, plan production and replenishment, and schedule operations. Zemeter enhances productivity and reduces operating costs at a wide variety of companies including Hexion Chemicals, Terra Industries, INEOS, Sunsweet Growers and ANADIGICS. For more information, see www.supplychain.com.