Benchmark Comparisons Made Easy

Supply Chain Consortium Creates Groundbreaking Evaluation Tool

RALEIGH, NC, March 19, 2008 - How do your company’s supply chain practices measure up to others in your industry?

The 2008 Core Benchmarks Report and Comparison Worksheet developed by the Supply Chain Consortium helps answer that question and provides a master key to pertinent supply chain benchmarks.

With more than 80 charts illustrating specific metrics, this annual report allows manufacturing and retail companies to easily compare themselves to peers and competitors.

“This new report walks you through benchmarks for financial data, supply chain planning, sourcing, transportation, distribution, manufacturing, and technology,” says Bruce Tompkins, the Consortium’s Executive Director and author of the report. “We are pleased to see the broad survey results and look forward to future editions for further comparisons.”

Key findings:

• The average percentage of revenue top quartile companies spend on transportation costs is 1.7%. (See figure.)
  
  
  

• Distribution costs as a percentage of revenue from top quartile companies range from 1.0% to 5.6% by industry.
• Only 5% feel their supply chain network is fully optimized.
• Inventory accuracy values range from 96% to 99% by industry.
• Ocean carrier on-time arrival performance is the most commonly used ocean metric, with a performance of 91%.
• Manufacturing companies are more likely to use push-make-to-plan processes than pull-make-to-order practices.
• Bar coding is used extensively for inbound and outbound shipments, but RFID application has increased.

The report is available to Consortium members, as well as to “contributing members” who add their data to the Core Benchmark database and receive complimentary reports. For more information, contact Bruce Tompkins.

Media Contact
Email Keri McManus or call 1-919-855-5516.

About the Organization
The Supply Chain Consortium is the premier source for supply chain benchmarking and best practices knowledge. With more than 180 participating retail, manufacturing and wholesale/distribution companies, the Consortium sponsors a comprehensive repository of 17,000-plus benchmarks complemented by search capabilities, online analysis tools, topic forums and peer networking for supply chain executives and practitioners. The Consortium is led by the needs of its membership and an Advisory Board that includes executives from Campbell Soup, Hallmark Cards, Ingram Micro, Mervyn’s, Molson Coors Brewing Co., Target, The Pep Boys, and Coca-Cola Co. To learn more about how your company can become a member of the Supply Chain Consortium, contact John Foley, 919-855-5461 or visit www.supplychainconsortium.com.