BOSTON and Paris, France (June 20, 2006) - Schneider Electric, the world’s power and control specialist, recently selected Optiant, the leading provider of inventory planning and optimization solutions, to achieve best-in-class service levels while reducing the amount of inventory held throughout six distribution centers (DC). Through Optiant’s award-winning PowerChain® Suite, Schneider Electric is able to design a more responsive and resilient supply chain to help meet impressive goals for creating a global inventory policy for finished goods.

“Schneider Electric is an international leader in automation and electricity management,” said Gokhan Usanmaz, Optiant’s European director of sales and operations. “We are pleased to know that our solutions will propel them to the next level of supply chain design and inventory optimization that will result in increased customer service levels and valuable supply chain cost reductions.

Through its three main brands, Merlin Gerin, Square D and Telemecanique, Schneider Electric manufactures and sells products, solutions and services for Electronic Distribution and Automation & Control in over 130 countries. Working with the company’s supply chain solutions team, Optiant is assisting Schneider Electric as the company redesigns its European logistics infrastructure around six regional distribution centers in Europe. Additionally, Optiant’s PowerChain Suite will enable Schneider Electric to establish a framework for determining what and how much inventory to stock and where.

“Schneider Electric chose Optiant to provide valuable supply chain optimization solutions based on industry-specific knowledge and proven success in the market,” said Jonathan Colehower, CEO for Optiant. “Our PowerChain Suite supports detailed modeling capabilities and establishes an appropriate strategy for each of Schneider Electric’s product groups.”

Optiant’s robust PowerChain Suite is strategically designed to help global companies with multi-echelon distribution networks achieve higher service levels while simultaneously reducing inventory. Schneider Electric has seen valuable results and expects a dramatic return-on-investment since implementing Optiant’s inventory planning and optimization solution suite.

Optiant’s robust PowerChain Suite is strategically designed to help global companies with multi-echelon distribution networks achieve higher service levels while simultaneously reducing inventory. Schneider Electric has seen valuable results and expects a dramatic return-on-investment since implementing Optiant’s inventory planning and optimization solution suite.

“Considering our very complex supply chain, we needed to establish a more-complete methodology to rationalize our decisions on our logistics network,” said Philippe Parmentel, manager supply chain engineering for Schneider Electric. “Optiant is helping us optimize the multi-echelon flows of finished products in the European market. By internalizing PowerChain technology, we are able to establish appropriate strategies for each product group and achieve significant cost reductions.”

Optiant's solutions optimally balance resources, total costs, and customer service across the supply chain to deliver greater profitability, increased customer satisfaction, more efficient use of capital, and a resilient supply chain that fully handles uncertainty in supply and demand. Optiant has transformed supply chains for the world's leading manufacturers including Black & Decker, Gillette (a Procter & Gamble division), Henkel, HP, Imation, Intel, and Sonoco.

Delivering millions of dollars in returns, Optiant’s industry-focused solution certified for integration by SAP generates quantifiable business results within 90 days of implementation. The solutions are based on award-winning research from MIT and decades of experience dedicated to the identification and realization of supply chain efficiencies. For more information, please visit www.optiant.com.