CSC selected to direct major foodservice industry initiative.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 1995--Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) has been chosen by a consortium of foodservice industry associations to conduct a study on improving the efficiency of the foodservice supply chain.

Dubbed Efficient Foodservice Response (EFR), the analytical and strategic study is designed to identify ways foodservice manufacturers, distributors, and operators can increase the value of their offerings by altering current trade practices and employing available but not yet frequently used information technology.

In conjunction with CSC's EFR team, Stanford University's Supply Chain Forum -- led by Dr. Hau Lee -- will develop an economic model to quantify the potential benefits available to the foodservice supply chain.

The EFR effort is sponsored by the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA), the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), the Uniform Code Council (UCC), the International Foodservice Brokers Association (IFBA), the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), and the Produce Marketers of America (PMA). The Hale Group of Danvers, Mass., has been retained to provide administrative and coordinating support for the effort.

EFR is similar in scope and purpose to the grocery industry's Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) initiative, a project in which CSC played a leading role as the consulting firm responsible for the initiative's Best Practices Subcommittee. CSC will leverage its experience in the four-year ECR initiative, as well as its knowledge base gained from 20 years as a leading supply chain consultancy, as it works with the EFR committee of industry leaders.

"The foodservice segment of the food supply chain is ripe for this kind of initiative," said Charles R. Troyer, a partner in CSC's national consumer goods practice and leader of the company's EFR efforts. "The industry's present state has evolved over the course of decades and is characterized by mistrust among trading partners, broken flows of information, and a poor adoption of modern enabling technologies such as EDI and bar coding.

"As we learned from our experience with ECR, all supply chain partners benefit when they work together to reduce the cost and time it takes to move goods through the channel. Of course, this generally requires new paradigms for operating philosophies, business processes, and enabling technologies. But there's no doubt that the end result -- increased profit and more satisfied customers -- makes it worthwhile."

The EFR task force officially launched the study on Sept. 6, and expects to publish its initial findings in early 1996. The second phase of the initiative, which will involve industry pilot demonstrations, will begin in the first and second quarters of 1996. Computer Sciences Corporation had $3.8 billion in annual revenues for the 12 months ended September 29, 1995.

The company has headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., and has 33,000 employees in 575 offices worldwide. CSC provides clients with a wide range of professional services including management consulting; business reengineering; information systems consulting and integration; and outsourcing.

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