Abitibi-Consolidated Deploys PeopleSoft Supply Chain Management.

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- PeopleSoft Enables Leading Paper Company to Decrease Inventory, Increase Accuracy of Deliveries, and Automate the Invoicing Process

PeopleSoft Inc. (Nasdaq:PSFT) today announced that Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. (ACI), a leading producer of newsprint and wood products, has deployed PeopleSoft's industry-leading Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications at 21 paper mills in the United States and Canada. The company is implementing PeopleSoft(R) EnterpriseOne Customer Order Management and PeopleSoft(R) Supply Chain Planning. PeopleSoft Customer Order Management provides ACI sales representatives real-time visibility into inventory, enabling the company to make more informed decisions on the availability of supplies and shipment delivery dates. By the end of 2004, ACI will deploy PeopleSoft Supply Chain Planning, which will enable the company to better forecast inventory demand.

"With the PeopleSoft SCM solution, we were able to reduce our application support costs by half and we expect to reduce them even more by the end of the year," said Barry Warren, vice president of Sales Services, ACI. "The PeopleSoft software puts data in the user's hands to be proactive to the needs of our customers. Customer service representatives have their world in front of them, with all their information needs in one location."

Paper manufacturing companies like ACI struggle to accurately forecast demand to keep inventory at a minimum, efficiently store the paper supply, while controlling the high cost of shipping paper. Because shipping can cost as much as 15 percent of total expenses for the company, it is critical to keep costs low while maintaining the quality of the product. With PeopleSoft SCM, ACI can streamline operations and reduce costs by making informed decisions on the capacity at the mills, the status of existing inventory, and the proximity of the mills to the customer order.

"Customer service, combined with real-time visibility into the supply chain, is the competitive differentiator for companies in the paper industry," said Peter Hill, vice president and global industry executive, Asset Intensive Industries, PeopleSoft. "In the low-margin business of paper manufacturing, the ability to forecast inventory demands and adjust supply accordingly is crucial to maintaining a loyal, satisfied customer base. PeopleSoft SCM has helped leading paper organizations around the world address these critical business needs."

Abitibi-Consolidated is a global leader in newsprint and uncoated groundwood papers as well as a major producer of wood products, generating sales of CAN $5.4 billion in 2003. With 15,000 employees, excluding PanAsia, the company does business in more than 70 countries. Abitibi-Consolidated owns or is a partner in 27 paper mills, 21 sawmills, four remanufacturing facilities and one engineered wood facility in Canada, the U.S., the UK, South Korea, China and Thailand.

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