Manufacturers at a Turning Point in Return on Asset Performance

Best-in-Class Performers Are Adopting Advanced Asset Performance Management (APM) to See Significant Year-Over-Year Reductions in Maintenance Costs

 | Source: Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - October 12, 2007) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), through the analysis of over 250 manufacturers, reveals that Best-in-Class organizations are 6.7 times more likely than Laggard companies to establish cross-functional teams to create a corporate culture of reliability to optimize asset performance in their newest benchmark report "Ground Up Strategies for Asset Performance Management."

Bharat Nair, SVP and Research Director with Aberdeen's Global Manufacturing Practice, states, "Best-in-Class are three times more likely than Laggards to enjoy maintenance cost reduction in the > 15% range measured year over year. This is in addition to the 31% gains in overall equipment effectiveness the Best-in-Class enjoy compared with Laggards as a direct result of their investment in APM capabilities. Best-in-Class companies are also putting in place process and organizational capabilities to augment their investment in technology and interoperability to realize these gains."

The report offers the following recommendations: 

--  Invest in advanced APM capabilities such as condition based
    monitoring, reliability centered maintenance, asset performance monitoring,
    analytics, and optimization.
--  Establish cross-functional continuous improvement teams to focus on
    and foster a culture of reliability across the enterprise.
--  Standardize APM initiatives and best practices across the enterprise
    with local execution.

More than 250 manufacturers participated in the study, including BP Solar, Boeing, Chevron, Chrysler, Colgate Palmolive, Nestle, Siemens, Micron Technology, Pacific Biosciences, Hindustan UniLever, DHL, Alcoa, Tyson Foods, P&G, Hamilton Sundstrand, Philips, HASBRO, and Infineon among others.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Lawson, Infor, SAP, Meridium, ABB, and Mass Group. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4159.

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. 

© 2007 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

Contact Information: Media Contact: Bharat Nair Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617)-854-5322 Bharat.Nair@aberdeen.com

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