Hitachi Consulting Deploys Hi-Pace Rapid SAP Upgrade at Vertellus.

Vertellus Specialties, Inc. Poised for Growth

DALLAS -- Hitachi Consulting, the business and IT consulting company of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), a champion of SAP Best Practices for chemical companies, recently completed an accelerated enterprise-wide ERP upgrade at Vertellus Specialties, Inc., positioning the company for rapid expansion and greater business functionality.

Within a time frame of only 16 weeks, which industry project leaders say is remarkable for its speed, Hitachi Consulting and a dedicated team at Vertellus completed the upgrade to the latest version of SAP ERP. "We raised the bar and set a high standard for SAP upgrade projects," said Hitachi Consulting Midwest Vice President Nick Lagen.

According to Mr. Lagen, "Two additional key factors played into the engagement's success: the client's keen business acumen and steadfast dedication to the project. Staying focused on the end goal and not getting distracted by opportunities to experiment with excessive customization also helped the project stay on track."

"Our business is benefiting from a solid ERP foundation that supports our business, the ability to leverage the technical advances of SAP, and to optimize global work processes and empowers our knowledge workers. In addition, we now have a highly secure, solid, and supportable ERP system that serves as an integrated base from which to grow our business and increase our competitive advantage. We are now well positioned to leverage the technical advances of SAP to optimize and improve our business," said Vertellus Chief Information Officer Mike Boster.

"This was a strategic move for our company as the entire chemical industry continues on a path of growth through acquisition. Yet this was a tactical move, as well. The upgrade facilitated a successful post-merger integration between our former companies, Reilly Industries and Rutherford Chemicals. It's difficult to imagine the blending of these two companies without an integrated ERP system and we're appreciative of the role Hitachi Consulting played in the process," said Mr. Boster.

David Hawes, Hitachi Consulting project team leader, reflected on the initial phase of the project, which began with high level strategy sessions at Vertellus. "Drawing on our chemical industry experience we were able to help this client envision its future through different scenarios, and our ready to run program made it possible for them to take decisive action."

"These packages provide full documentation, along with big-company functionality, combined with an approach that is really more of a 'why wouldn't this work' instead of the typical start-from-scratch mentality. It's the same tried and true product, and as we have said before, our clients are seeing the benefits," said Hitachi Consulting SAP National Practice Leader John Clark.

"To actually be able to demonstrate a working model in a client's conference room, after only two weeks of preparation, is truly phenomenal. We take our clients to a 'proof of concept' in two weeks and until now that's been unheard of in this business. Hitachi Consulting is bringing its clients complete integration capabilities - a standard platform packaged in a way that was not available to them five years ago," said Mr. Clark.

Hitachi Consulting delivers a qualified SAP[R] All-in-One Partner Solution for Chemical companies focused on an accelerated evaluation and implementation process. This solution has been qualified by SAP and is based on the SAP All-in-One Solution from the North America SME Solution Center. Numerous Hitachi Consulting clients in the Chemical Process Industries have already benefited from the ease of evaluating and implementing this solution.

As a qualified SAP All-in-One Partner Solution provider to the mid-market Chemicals Industry, Hitachi Consulting is currently engaged at General Chemical, Nippon Paint and FutureFuel Chemical Company. To bolster its presence in Process Manufacturing Hitachi Consulting is in the final stages of qualifying its SAP All-in-One Partner Solution for Fabricated Metals. Work is also under way, including customized training according to Mr. Clark, to develop similar programs for other industries, including Food & Beverage, Communications, Oilfield Services, and Mining.

About Hitachi Consulting

As Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE:HIT) global consulting company, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT solutions to Global 2000 companies. We leverage decades of business process, vertical industry, and leading-edge technology experience to understand each company's unique needs. From business strategy development through application deployment, we are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI.

With offices in the U.S., Japan, and Europe, Hitachi Consulting's client base includes nearly 35 percent of the Fortune 100, 25 percent of the Global 100, as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach, which integrates strategy, people, process and technology, and we transfer knowledge throughout each engagement. For more information, call 1.877.664.0010 or visit www.hitachiconsulting.com.

Hitachi Consulting -- Inspiring your next success!([R])

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT)(TOKYO:6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.