The Yankee Group Advises that Now Is the Time to Develop and Execute your Supply Chain Integration Strategy

Business Wire, Dec 4, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2002

Companies must integrate their extended supply chain

to reduce costs, increase responsiveness, and

accelerate time-to-market.

Recent research by the Yankee Group shows that supply chain integration is extremely important to most enterprises. More than 90 percent of companies participating in a Yankee Group survey cited improved electronic communications with partners (excluding e-mail) as a corporate priority.

Companies attempting to improve electronic communication with business partners or to cut current supply chain costs will get the most out of their technology dollars if they do the following:

Assess supply chain performance inhibitors,

Model integration cost scenarios, and

Evaluate the potential benefits.

"An effective three-step supply chain performance review is essential to matching technology with a business problem, uncovering potential implementation hurdles, identifying hidden labor costs and improving supply chain performance," says Jon Derome, program manager for the Yankee Group's Business Applications & Commerce Planning Service. "You don't have to think big at the start. The initiative can be as simple as moving EDI traffic from the VAN to a direct-connect model or as complicated as implementing a CPFR solution."

Yankee Group clients use this methodology and its Supply Chain Performance Model (SCPM) to navigate supply chain integration projects, make effective technology selections and support efforts to rationalize technology portfolios.

NOTE TO EDITORS

For an interview, contact Jon Derome at jderome@yankeegroup.com or Michael Dominy at mdominy@yankeegroup.com.

THE YANKEE GROUP (www.yankeegroup.com)

The Yankee Group is a global leader in technology research and consulting. Our customers, which include technology vendors and users, benefit from our accurate, reliable, and trusted research, consulting, and personalized one-to-one client interaction covering communications and IT products and services. Now in our fourth decade, the company is headquartered in Boston and maintains offices throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.