Optiant Customer Receives Award for Achieving Multi-Million Dollar Inventory Reduction, Maintains High Service Levels with Inventory Optimization Solutions

BOSTON (January 11, 2005) - Leading supply chain design and inventory optimization solutions provider, Optiant, announced that Black & Decker, the global marketer and manufacturer of quality products used in and around the home and for commercial applications, has received The Aberdeen Group's Best Practices in International Logistics Award for improving their supply chain through the implementation of Optiant's PowerChain solution.

The Aberdeen Group's Best Practices in International Logistics Award was presented to companies that have implemented technology solutions to improve their business. A panel of Aberdeen's analysts screened 400 nominees and selected the most compelling business cases. The Aberdeen Group recognized the 10 best deployments and will feature Black & Decker along with the other winners in this month's Best Practice report.

Black & Decker was recognized for implementing Optiant's multi-echelon inventory optimization and modeling solutions to set inventory targets and analyze sourcing strategies that account for demand and supply variability across all levels of their complex global supply chain. Using Optiant's Powerchain solution, Black & Decker also modeled the associated costs and interdependencies between these processes. After implementation, Black & Decker noticed immediate results including:

• Multi-million dollar reduction in finished goods safety stock inventory
• Improved service level to a sustained 99% while reducing inventory by 12% on DeWalt Screwgun product line
• Sourcing analysis prevented a potentially cost-increasing move from US to China
• Better manufacturing schedule attainment in the plants because of increased material availability

"Supply chain design is critical to our business," said Dan Harmeyer, global value chain leader for Black & Decker. "Optiant's solutions have enabled us to continually monitor our supply chain and take supply and demand variability into account to uncover the optimal cost-savings strategy for reducing inventory and keeping service levels high."

"At Optiant, our goal is to develop and deliver leading-edge solutions with compelling ROI, and we are honored to have the Aberdeen Group select Black & Decker as a winner of this prestigious award," said Matthew Menner, Optiant's senior vice president. "As our PowerChain solution suite continues gaining momentum in the market, we are positioned well for growth in the multi-echelon inventory optimization space."