Descartes Systems Group, GM, IBM, Kraft and SAP Headline Supply Chain Excellence 2003: Procurement and Inventory Strategies Symposium.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 2003

LogicTools brings together Fortune 500 companies to discuss supply

chain planning approaches

LogicTools, the leading solution provider in supply chain planning, announced today the speakers for its October 17 symposium entitled, "Supply Chain Excellence 2003: Procurement and Inventory Strategies."

The symposium, which is being held at the Summit Executive Center in Chicago, will address a number of wide-ranging issues in the supply chain, including global competitiveness, profitability, master planning, and inventory positioning.

"The transition toward global sourcing and outsourcing is making procurement an area where companies can achieve immediate savings by considering the impact of changes on the entire supply chain costs," said David Simchi-Levi, Chairman of LogicTools. "To gain advantage, companies must address the challenge of creating supply chain strategies that result in an agile supply chain that balances a combination of low cost and high customer service."

Sponsored by Descartes Systems Group, General Motors, IBM, SAP, Supply Chain Management Review, and Supply Chain Market.com, the symposium is highlighted by the following speakers and their topics of discussion:

-- Art Mesher, Descartes Systems Group - Supply Chain Performance

-- Jeffrey Tew, GM - Panel on Inventory and Procurement

Challenges

-- Paige Greve, IBM Business Consulting Services - Improving

Supply Chain Performance

-- Al Gaus, Kraft - Panel on Inventory and Procurement Challenges

-- David Simchi-Levi, MIT - Managing Risk in the Supply Chain

-- Robert Ferrari, SAP - Adaptive Supply Chains

-- Bill Godwin, True Value - Next Generation Procurement

Strategies

The full-day symposium is aimed at supply chain, manufacturing, procurement, and operations executives and practitioners who are interested in applying new concepts in supply chain technology while maximizing the ROI on their existing software. The cost is $265 per person, although early registration and group discounts are available. Those interested in attending should contact Aimee Ortiz at 888-265-4706 or visit www.supplychainexpert.com.

About LogicTools

LogicTools (www.logic-tools.com), founded in 1995 by David Simchi-Levi, Professor of engineering systems at MIT, integrates the latest research in optimization and supply chain management with state-of-the-art information technology to provide companies with high quality, easy to use, and affordable software, as well as the methodology and support that helps clients design and maintain efficient supply chains. LogicTools' solutions have revolutionized the market by replacing extremely complex, expensive and customized software implementations on the one hand and limited spreadsheet analysis on the other. Optimizing the supply chain results in not only significant savings (typically 5 percent to 15 percent) but also provides clarity of vision and better understanding of the various trade-offs.

LogicTools has customers across many industries including, CPG, Food, Retail, 3PL, High-Tech, Process & Discrete Manufacturing, Automotive and Public Sector. Some of LogicTools' customers include: ConAgra, Del Monte, General Motors, IBM, Kraft Foods, Mercer, Ryder Systems, SC Johnson, True Value, UPS, United States Postal Service, Welch's and many others.