Diamond Technology Partners enters exclusive alliance with world's foremost authorities on mass customization

Business Wire, July 22, 1996

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1996--Diamond Technology Partners Inc. today announced an exclusive strategic alliance with B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore of Strategic Horizons LLP to create a Mass Customization consulting offering for its clients.

The alliance combines Pine and Gilmore's innovative thinking around Mass Customization since the early 1990s with Diamond's unique ability to develop and implement solutions that synthesize strategy and technology. The two firms will extend the practice of Mass Customization through joint educational venues, and Diamond will provide services to design and realize these principles for its clients.

Diamond's objective is to become the leading consultancy in delivering Mass Customization; Pine and Gilmore will further their research and expect to see their ideas leveraged in growing numbers of companies across the globe.

Mass Customization teaches that new ways of managing, together with new technologies, enable businesses to provide each customer with ``tailor-made'' benefits of the pre-industrial craft system as the costs of modern mass production. Pine and Gilmore are recognized as the world's leading authorities on Mass Customization and the creation of customer-unique value.

``Diamond is committed to helping its clients understand and exploit Mass Customization,'' said Mel Bergstein, chairman of Diamond. ``The idea is so fundamental that mass customizing will, we believe, become the central issue for establishing competitive advantage in a world transformed by information technology.''

``This is not about bombarding customers with more variety,'' added Pine, author of ``Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993). ``Rather it is delivering only and exactly what each customer wants.'' Pine founded Strategic Horizons LLP with Gilmore, his collaborative partner and fellow proponent of Mass Customization over the past several years.

``The movement to Mass Customization represents a fundamental change in the economic equation,'' continued Pine. ``It will be as important to 21st century management as mass production was to 20th century management. It is driven by customers who are inherently unique and who are demanding to be served individually. Diamond's unique capabilities in strategy and technology are well suited to help guide clients to this new frontier.''

Mass Customization concepts have been applied successfully at some of the world's leading companies including Levi's, Motorola, Paris Miki, Westpac and Whirlpool; and among a groundswell of entrepreneurial ventures such as ChemStation; The Custom Foot; Individual Inc.; and Peapod.

ABOUT DIAMOND TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS

Diamond is a business consulting firm specializing in the synthesis of business strategy and technology for leading corporations in the United States. Diamond provides innovative solutions to today's most challenging business issues by combining strategy and structure, process and operations, and technology. Diamond currently has more than 150 employees in offices in Chicago (headquarters), and Cleveland.

ABOUT STRATEGIC HORIZONS LLP

Strategic Horizons LLP is a knowledge-building enterprise providing guidance to organizations seeking to achieve the full potency and potentiality of their economic offerings. Through writing and research, as well as speaking performances and learning encounters, Strategic Horizons LLP helps clients efficiently serve customers uniquely. The firm is headquartered in Cleveland. -0-

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Julia Wallace of Diamond Technology Partners, 312/255-5055, or Douglas Parker of Strategic Horizons LLP, 216/449-9180.

CONTACT: Media: Diamond Technology Partners

Julia Wallace, 312/255-5055

wallacej(at sign)diamtech.com