Green Supply Chain Programs Expected to Deliver Thought Leadership, Competitive Advantage and Cost Savings

Market Wire, April, 2008

After an industry-wide survey of more than 320 companies, Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), published the recent report "Building a Green Supply Chain: Social Responsibility for Fun and Profit" which outlined information revealed from supply chain executives about their green and sustainability plans, priorities and initiatives across all areas of supply chain management from planning to execution and management. Illustrating the traction that green supply chain programs have gained, forty-one percent (41%) of Best-in-Class companies that participated in the study have green supply chain initiatives in place for 1-2 years, and thirty-nine percent (39%) have redesigned key parts of their supply chains to be green.

Against this backdrop, the top 4 pressures driving companies to focus on green/sustainable supply chain programs today are the desire to be a thought leader for green and sustainability initiatives in their industry and markets (51% of companies), the need to control rising fuel and energy costs (49% of companies), the demands to improve competitive advantage and market differentiation (48% of companies), followed by the requirement to meet current and expected government regulatory and compliance demands (31% of companies).

Survey results show that the firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance shared several common characteristics involving various aspects of process, reporting, data, technology, etc. Results show that:

--  The Best-in-Class achieved a 2% decrease in their overall logistics
    and transport costs, versus 1% increase for Industry Average, and a 4%
    increase for Laggards.
--  Best-in-Class companies achieved a 6% decrease in energy costs, versus
    no change for Industry Average and a 7% increase for Laggards.
--  Best-in-Class companies are 1.5 times more likely than all others to
    have implemented cross-functional metrics across their enterprise.
--  Best-in-Class achieved a 2% decrease in the cost of operations and
    facilities, versus no change for Industry Average and a 4% increase for
    Laggards.
    

"Based on interviews with companies across geographies and industries, Green Supply Chain initiatives have clearly moved beyond 'Green-washing' and into delivering significant business value," said Robert Shecterle, Vice President - Supply Chain Research, Aberdeen. "Thought-leading companies are driving top line revenue growth through improved competitive advantage, as well as bottom-line savings in energy, logistics, compliance, and improved supply management processes with their green/sustainability programs."

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Infor and SAP. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4836 .

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™ 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 .

© 2008 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
260 Franklin Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-3112
Telephone: (617) 723-7890
Fax: (617) 723-7897
 www.aberdeen.com 

Media Contact: Robert Shecterle Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (925) 264-1832 Robert.shecterle@aberdeen.com