Nestle will Gain Efficiencies with Solutions from Tom Zosel Associates; Nestle USA partners with TZA to ensure maximum leverage of material handling and storage assets.

CHICAGO -- Nestle USA has selected Tom Zosel Associates (TZA), specialists in providing cost-cutting solutions for distribution environments, to support its logistics operations and the associated storage complexity.

Beginning in January 2006, TZA will take a deep look at Nestle USA's operations and will develop recommendations aimed at sharpening operational efficiency. The implementation of the distribution best practices program will enable Nestle to identify hidden operational costs and further improve service and accuracy.

The program will kick off with a structured plan to compare processes in all warehousing stages of Nestle's distribution operations, including receiving, putaway and replenishment, case picking, pallet picking, loading and shipping.

Starting with process mapping and flowcharting to obtain greater visibility of general workflow, TZA's engineering team will progress until obtaining a detailed review and process identification at the elemental work breakdown level. Leveraging the identified workflow processes with industry practices, TZA will develop and implement a distribution optimization program focused on reducing equipment and labor costs while improving storage capacity and throughput.

A review of the WMS functionality, including analysis of inventory levels and turns, SKU counts, order profile by product line, current layout and slotting methodologies with further minimize operational costs by improving productivity and order accuracy while reducing order fill times, cycle times and product damage.

"We carefully selected providers to find the best fit for our operational requirements. TZA has a strong track record in the food and beverage industry and we are confident that their considerable experience in multiple distribution environments will enable us to optimize our Distribution Centers without major capital expenditures" said Steve Papke, Director of Operations.

"We appreciate the opportunity to help Nestle achieve its goals of improving capacity, productivity and throughput while reducing its distribution costs" said Ron Grove TZA's Vice President of Material Handling. "We look forward to supporting Nestle in their efforts to take advantage of the most efficient practices in distribution and we will be very proud to add Nestle to our list of satisfied customers".

About Nestle USA - Named one of "America's Most Admired Food Companies" in Fortune magazine for the eighth consecutive year, Nestle USA provides high quality food and beverage products. Nestle USA, with 2004 sales of $12.5 billion, includes Nestle Brands Company, Nestle Prepared Foods Company, Buitoni North America and Nestle Purina PetCare Company. Nestle USA is part of Nestle S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland--the world's largest food company with 2004 sales of $69.9 billion. For product news and information, visit Nestleusa.com or NestleNewsroom.com.

About Tom Zosel Associates, LTD. - Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Tom Zosel Associates (TZA) is a best practices logistics consulting company. Core competencies include strategic planning, material handling engineering, productivity improvement programs, transportation system design and logistics software solutions. TZA's critical advantage is its hands-on operational expertise, which allows it to create and implement innovative solutions for even the most complex distribution challenges. For more information about TZA, visit www.tzaconsulting.com.