And the Survey Says: Same Day Parts Programs ``Extremely Important'' to Today's Leading Companies; Quality Of Service Number One Attribute To Vendor Selection.

NEW YORK -- Choice Logistics, the global leader in mission-critical service logistics and supply chain solutions, today announced that, according to a recent study by D.F. Blumberg Associates, Inc., a leading Research and Consulting firm to the High Tech Service Industry, a full two-thirds of today's blue-chip firms indicated the use of same day parts availability programs were extremely important in maintaining high levels of service quality and operating efficiency within their organizations.

"Today's leading companies are viewing same-day parts management services as a business imperative and they are outsourcing in order to succeed at it with the number one criteria being superior service," said Michael Blumberg, president, D.F. Blumberg and Associates, Inc. "Our research shows that best-in-class companies are seeking to utilize dynamic and proven solutions from companies such as Choice Logistics to exceed the stringent service level agreements they have with their client bases and master the parts planning and execution processes."

"As a leading provider of Mission-critical Data Center Support services, Akibia is committed to providing the highest level of customer service to our client base," said Mike Parisi, director of global logistics for Akibia. "By partnering with Choice Logistics, and leveraging their capabilities in same-day parts management, this enables us to deliver industry-leading service to consistently meet our customers' expectations."

"Choice is very proud to have its processes and services validated by such an extensive and accurate study as the recent findings by Blumberg and Associates," said Michael Katz, CEO for Choice Logistics. "Companies today are very astute and settle for nothing less than superior service."

Key findings of the research include:

Vendor Selection Metrics 

--The most important factor for the respondents in selecting a third party provider of strategic stocking locations was the overall quality of the service providers.

--The second most important feature in selecting a third party provider of strategic stocking locations was the overall price of the service.

--The third most important feature was the ability to interface with corporate processes and systems.

Global Capability Metrics

--When the respondents were asked how important it is to use the same provider, or set of providers, to handle all of the same day parts deliveries around the world, 29% thought it was extremely important and 42% thought it was somewhat important.

--Over 40% of the respondents reported they would be extremely likely to use the same provider for global same day deliveries assuming this capability existed, and an additional 32% indicated they would be somewhat likely.

Performance Related Metrics

--More than 40% of the respondents said they would change vendors if their performance on inventory accuracy declined by 5% to 10%. An additional 30% of the respondents said they would change vendors if their performance on inventory accuracy declined by 1% to 5%.

--More than 55% of the respondents said they would change vendors if on time performance declined 1% to 5%. An additional 25% of the respondents said they would change vendors if their on time performance declined by 5% to 10%.

--More than 40% of the respondents said they would change vendors if inventory shrinkage increased by 1% to 5%. An additional 28% of the respondents said they would change vendors if inventory shrinkage increased 5% to 10%.

--Over 40% of the respondents indicated that in the event their vendor's performance deteriorated they would be extremely likely to change vendors.

Katz continued, "Choice looks forward to continuing to provide its industry leading service and solutions to its growing list of clients well into the future."

A total of 47 firms participated in the survey and 60% of them were manufacturers. In the group of manufacturing firms, approximately 75% have an international scope of operations. Over 45% of the manufacturing firms have annual revenues in the range of $101 million to $999 million and an additional 39% have annual revenues in excess of $1 billion. Only 6% of the sample characterized themselves as Dealer / Distributors while 13% of the respondents indicated they did not fit into any of the above categories. The industry breakdown shows 30% of the respondents in the information technology and network communications sector.

About Choice Logistics

With over 280 strategic stocking locations (SSLs) around the world and 24x7x365 logistics services for direct management of mission-critical inventory assets, Choice Logistics is a preferred global provider of outsourced logistics and integrated inventory management solutions. Leading companies including Avaya, Cisco, EMC, Equant, Hitachi Data Systems, and others have selected Choice for their third party logistics needs. To learn more about Choice Logistics, visit www.choicelogistics.com; call [phone], or e-mail [e-mail].