Reducing Total Operating Costs in the Process Industries

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - November 13, 2008) - Executives in the process industries face significantly different pressures and challenges than counterparts in other industries. These enterprises are generally managing enterprises that are large, global, asset intensive, and face both low margins and high degrees of demand variability. "Operational Excellence in the Process Industries," a recently released report by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), revealed that even in such a challenging environment, Best-in-Class process companies are able to realize the following results:

--  99% Manufacturing Schedule Compliance
--  99% Perfect Orders
--  97% Overall Yield
--  94% Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
    

Putting these findings in context Mehul Shah, Research Analyst with Aberdeen's Global Manufacturing Practice, states that, "The most successful companies in the Process Industries leverage automation and manufacturing software throughout the plant to optimize manufacturing operations, but they also integrate these systems to the business systems. This gives them the visibility needed to avoid adverse events within operations and improve overall efficiency."

To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=5293

In addition to detailed findings in the report, Aberdeen provides the following recommendations for companies hoping to achieve Best-in-Class performance:

--  Establish cross functional teams to improve corporate performance and
    to standardize the appropriate KPIs to link plant performance with
    corporate performance
    
--  Provide role-based visibility and well defined responsibility in the
    case of an adverse event, and use non-conformance alerts in real-time to
    enable optimal decision making
    
--  Provide real-time interoperability between critical systems to gain
    visibility between different functional areas: design systems with business
    systems, supply systems with manufacturing systems, and manufacturing
    systems with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
    

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: AspenTech, ExperTune, Infor, Matrikon and SAP. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=5293

For additional access to complimentary Manufacturing Research, please visit http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/Manufacturing/. 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
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Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Mehul Shah Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5212 mehul.shah@aberdeen.com