Verticalnet Webcasts Reveal Practical Approaches to Achieving Real World Supply Management Results; Verticalnet Customers and Industry Experts Present Case Studies on Spend Analysis and Global Direct Materials Sourcing.

MALVERN, Pa. -- Verticalnet, Inc. (Nasdaq:VERT), the leader in on demand supply management solutions, today announced the results of two recent webcasts on Spend Analysis and Global Direct Materials Sourcing. The Webcasts attracted over 400 registrants from mid-market and Global 2000 companies from around the world. Participants heard powerful case studies from Verticalnet customers as well as insight from supply management industry experts The Aberdeen Group.

"We are pleased to continue to host educational webcasts for the supply management community," said Jim Wetekamp, Verticalnet's Vice President of Solution Strategy. "Our solutions are designed to help supply management professionals and executives achieve bottom line results, and our webcast series presents real world case studies that demonstrate how our customers are achieving success using Verticalnet solutions."

Making Spend Analysis Actionable 

Participants of the "Achieving Actionable Results with Spend Analysis" webcast learned how Verticalnet customers are moving beyond the use of spend analysis to drive negotiations, and are now leveraging the solution to enable essential procurement organization strategies. These strategies include such critical components as center-led commodity prioritization, procurement organizational design, and low cost country sourcing. A demonstration of the Verticalnet XE Spend Manager application took attendees through the actual process of conducting actionable spend analysis. Additional information about Verticalnet's XE Spend Manager can be found at www.verticalnet.com

Philip Usherwood, Vice President of Purchasing for Sara Lee Branded Apparel talked about his company's experience with spend analysis. "When you see a savings opportunity, don't just stand around and talk about it - go and pick it up," said Usherwood during the webcast. "Spend analysis is one of the most fundamental tools we use to achieve savings."

Usherwood provided details on how his company completed a rollout of the Verticalnet XE Spend Manager solution across 11 back end systems in less than 6 weeks. They now have visibility into 99.6% of their external spend and have come to view spend analysis not as an application, but as a critical part of their procurement process. Insight from spend analysis was of particular interest to senior management, who focused on the implications of the visibility into external spending which represented over $0.50 of every revenue dollar. As a result, management realigned priorities and allocated additional resources to procurement to help manage external spending.

Spend analysis was also the area that drew the most attention from participants of the webcast. 58% of respondents who participated in exit the survey indicated that they were currently reviewing a spend analysis solution to solve their most pressing challenges. These issues included spend data cleansing and classification (71%) and gaining access to data from disparate systems (21%).

Practical Approaches to Global Sourcing

Verticalnet co-hosted the "Practical Approaches to Global Sourcing" webcast which featured the latest research from The Aberdeen Group and a case study from Verticalnet's customer, Noveon, an industry leading specialty chemicals manufacturer.

Ricardo Vidalon, Global Sourcing Project Manager for Noveon, presented a case study on a direct materials category. The case study covered Noveon's fatty acids category, which represented US$13 million in spending across 14 plants and 24 suppliers from four continents. The project included low cost country sourcing (LCCS) from South America and deployed a standardized cross-functional sourcing process that included representatives from purchasing, manufacturing, research & development, logistics, and packaging. The project completed with Verticalnet saved Noveon between 5% and 6% on the total landed cost of the direct materials category.

Sudy Bharadwaj, Vice President of Supply Management for the Aberdeen Group followed the case study with insight from Aberdeen's recent Direct Materials Sourcing Benchmark Report. According to Bharadwaj, the primary drivers causing companies to take a closer look at sourcing direct materials categories include the trend toward increased outsourcing, increasing commodity prices and lead times, and the need to speed and improve product development processes. Aberdeen's research revealed that companies are deploying strategic actions such as LCCS, deployment of standardized sourcing processes, and the integration between sourcing and product design to improve their supply management performance.

To download a complimentary copy of Aberdeen's Direct Sourcing Benchmark Report. or to access the archive webcasts of either the "Achieving Actionable Results with Spend Analysis" webcast or the "Practical Approaches to Global Sourcing" webcast, please visit: http://www.verticalnet.com/elibrary/downloads.asp

About Verticalnet

Verticalnet is a leading provider of supply management solutions that enable companies to identify and realize sustained value across the supply management lifecycle. Going beyond traditional spend management and sourcing approaches, Verticalnet's solutions provide the visibility, insight and process control required to maximize the sustained value realization from supply management. Large enough to help customers attain supply management success worldwide, yet nimble enough to provide individual attention and remain focused on customer priorities, Verticalnet is helping leading Global 2000 companies and mid-market enterprises move their supply management efforts to the next level through an optimal blend of software, comprehensive services, and deep category knowledge and domain expertise.

To learn more, please visit us at www.verticalnet.com

Verticalnet is a registered trademark or a trademark in the United States and other countries of Vert Tech LLC