New Company Offers Online Benchmarking of Supply-Chain Management

WESTON, MASS. (March 1) BUSINESS WIRE -March 1, 1999--

Over 150 major manufacturers have signed on in the first few months of the launch of PRTM's The Peformance Measurement Group

The Performance Measurement Group, LLC (PMG) (www.prtm.com/pmg), an online benchmarking subscription service launched early this year by high-tech management consultants PRTM, has attracted 150 subscriber organizations to its first series, The Supply Chain Management Benchmarking Series. "This intense activity is testimony to the fact that PMG is addressing a deep and urgent need among companies, especially in the technology sectors, for ongoing process performance data, available online and on demand," says PMG Chief Executive Officer Keith Belton.

PMG offers subscribers the first online benchmarking service in the critical areas of product development and supply-chain management. PMG's self-diagnostic tool is designed to be easy to use and allow companies to select an appropriate sample for comparison. Subscribers will compare their supply-chain performance to median and best-in-class performers using over 30 key metrics. These metrics are based on the industry standard SCOR (Supply-Chain Operations Reference-model). The industries PMG is targeting for its 1999 - 2000 series are: aerospace and defense, automotive and industrial, chemical, consumer packaged goods, electronics, medical technology, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor, and telecommunications.

PMG is establishing a special e-mail response system to offer expert assistance in interpreting the data companies can access online. The database consists not only of data from current subscribers but of data from companies that participated in seven supply-chain management studies conducted by PRTM since 1991 and two product development studies conducted in 1995 and 1997. This gives The Performance Measurement Group the largest database of any benchmarking service in the operational areas of supply-chain management and product development performance. Industry leaders such as GM, Dow, IBM, Lucent, Colgate-Palmolive, Solectron, Exxon, Nortel, and BASF are participating in the 1999 - 2000 supply-chain series. PMG will launch its product development benchmarking series in the third quarter of 1999.

The PRTM subsidiary will also offer subscribers quarterly reports on critical subtopics of the overall study areas. In the Supply-Chain Management Benchmarking Series now under way those areas are: overall performance, planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivering products.

As Stephen Geary, Senior Product Manager of PMG's Supply-Chain Management Benchmarking Series, explains, "This benchmarking series will provide companies with a data-rich context for managing, understanding, and evaluating their supply-chain performance." Prior to joining The Performance Measurement Group, Geary was a manufacturing executive for Teradyne, Inc., Emerson Electric Co., and IBM. He has over a decade of experience as a line manager responsible for functions in every element of the supply chain. His experience also includes leading many MRP and ERP implementations, as well as subcontracting, outsourcing, and offshore manufacturing initiatives.

"Performance improvement is a never-ending cycle, especially in the high-tech industries," notes PMG Chief Executive Officer Keith Belton. "It is critical for executives to know how much improvement is needed to become best-in-class. Only strategies based on quantitative data can provide executives with the most accurate roadmap."

Companies interested in subscribing to the 1999 - 2000 Supply-Chain Management Benchmarking Series (now under way) and the 1999 - 2000 Product Development Benchmarking Series (to be launched in June) should contact Karen Teebagy at 781/647-2800 or email kteebagy@prtm.com. About PRTM

Founded in 1976, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM) is a global management consultancy to technology-based business. The firm specializes in helping companies redesign, implement, and integrate their core business processes in product development, supply-chain management, marketing and sales, and customer service/support. PRTM is internationally recognized for its leading methodologies and frameworks for continuous improvement, e.g., PACE(R) (Product And Cycle-time Excellence(R)), used by hundreds of high-tech companies over the past decade to accelerate time-to-market; and SCOR (Supply-Chain Operations Reference-model), now adopted by the 450-member-strong Supply-Chain Council as an industry standard for supply-chain design.

PRTM operates 12 offices around the world. U.S. offices are in Costa Mesa, Calif; Mountain View, Calif; Irving, Tex.; Rosemont, Ill.; Stamford, Conn., Weston, Mass.; and Washington, D.C. European offices are in Oxford, Glasgow, Paris, and Frankfurt. PRTM's Asian office is in Hong Kong.

Visit PRTM's web sites at www.prtm.com and www.hightechgateway.com and The Performance Measurement Group at www.prtm.com/pmg.

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CONTACT: The Performance Measurement Group, LLC

          Keith Belton, 781-647-2800 

kbelton@prtm.com

           OR 

PRTM

          Jennifer Edmond, 781-647-2800 

jedmond@prtm.com

          Also media contact for The Performance Measurement Group 

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