Improved Forecasting Cited as Key Priority for Chief Supply Chain Officer

CHICAGO, Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- John Galt Solutions, the leading provider of affordable planning solutions for the consumer-driven supply chain, today announced the publication of a new study from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), providing the Chief Supply Chain Officer a prioritized list of best practices within supply chain planning. The report, Strategic Supply Chain Planning: Three Key Priorities of the Chief Supply Chain Officer, found that 86% of respondents indicate that their management team has asked them to review the supply chain process in order to find opportunities to improve their company's supply chain planning processes, and 71% of respondents have indicated the same for supply chain technology improvement.

Supply chain planning is the aspect of end-to-end Supply Chain Management (SCM) with the potential to provide market differentiation for companies. The specific processes that were studied as part of this research are: supply chain network design, demand forecasting, inventory optimization, supply planning, and Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP). John Galt Solutions offers leading technology to streamline demand and inventory planning processes as well as S&OP within its Atlas Planning Suite.

"Today, senior management is looking for the supply chain organization to deliver more than just efficiency – it is being asked to deliver innovative cost reduction strategies to help grow their company and present a market strategy differentiator," explained Nari Viswanathan, Vice President and Principal Analyst of Supply Chain Management at Aberdeen. "That's why organizations are increasingly using supply chain planning solutions, like those from John Galt, to plan more efficiently and collect input from more stakeholders across the organization."

"Without leveraging a supply chain planning solution, it's almost impossible to get clear visibility to the tradeoffs between customer service level and inventory," added Anne Omrod, president of John Galt Solutions. "Manufacturers using our Atlas Planning Suite have increased forecast accuracy by as much as 50% while significantly reducing excess inventory," concluded Omrod.

The Atlas Planning Suite is a comprehensive, easy to implement demand planning and inventory management solution designed for growing mid-market companies. Manufacturers using Atlas Planning gain increased forecast accuracy, optimized inventory levels and improved supply chain performance. The Demand Management engine is a proven forecasting and S&OP solution that takes into account product lifecycles, events, sales trends and seasonality.

To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit www.JohnGalt.com.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is 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 or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

About John Galt Solutions

John Galt Solutions helps increase forecast accuracy and optimize inventory levels in consumer-driven supply chains. With the ForecastX Wizard, the Atlas Planning and Consumer Centric Planning suites, we provide a wide variety of affordable, easy to implement, supply chain planning solutions designed for growing mid market companies. Our customers typically experience a 10 to 50% improvement in forecast accuracy, and reduce excess inventory by 5 to 40%. Over 5,000 customers have benefited from our deep industry expertise and innovative technologies. To learn more visit www.johngalt.com.

SOURCE John Galt Solutions