Rising Costs Drive ERP Implementation Strategies

Market Wire, July, 2008

In the newly released "2008 ERP in Manufacturing" benchmark report, Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), found that top performing companies are using 30% more ERP functionality than their competition. Seventy-three percent (73%) of these Best-in-Class manufacturers have standardized enterprise-wide procedures for order management, procurement, production planning and execution, cash collection, and financial reconciliation.

"Best-in-Class manufacturers make more extensive use of ERP in terms of number of modules implemented and the percentage of available functionality deployed," says Cindy Jutras, VP and Group Director, Aberdeen. "This year, we also saw that Best-in-Class companies are significantly more likely to have extended ERP with a combination of modules and separate applications, making integration capabilities and open architectures even more important."

As a result, Best-in-Class companies are enjoying improved performance metrics, including:

-- 20% reduction in inventory levels, with 97% inventory accuracy
-- 14% to 15% reduction in manufacturing operation and administrative costs
-- 95% scheduling compliance and 97% complete and on-time shipments
-- An average of 3.3 days to close a month

The research offers details on how to improve business performance through an ERP implementation, including the following recommended actions:

-- Assign ownership of ERP success to line of business executives
-- Continue to broaden and deepen use of features, modules, and
   extensions
-- Standardize common processes and ERP implementation

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Epicor, Infor, Plexus Systems, SAP, and Tectura. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4903

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 .

© 2008 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts  02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
 www.aberdeen.com 

Media Contact: Cindy Jutras Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5247 Cindy.Jutras@aberdeen.com