Accenture to Offer New Supply Chain Collaboration Solution to Consumer Products Companies

Purchases Supply Chain Technology Solution to Enable Company-To-Company Connectivity

NEW YORK – Jan. 26,2005 – Accenture today announced that the company will offer a robust supply chain collaboration solution around the world to consumer products goods (CPG) and other manufacturing companies based on the services, people and assets of CPGmarket.com SA, Meyrin, Switzerland, which it has acquired from a group of 26 companies including Nestlé, Danone, L´Oréal, Henkel and SAP. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The offering, which also leverages Accenture’s existing supply chain management consulting and outsourcing services, is powered by SAP and webMethods software and enables enhanced collaboration and connectivity between CPG manufacturers and their suppliers. As a result, partnering companies derive mutual benefit by optimizing their shared supply chain processes. This is achieved through the communication of information such as forecasts, materials plans, orders, schedules, inventory data and shipment notifications between companies.

“As products manufacturing companies seek enhanced benefits from their existing ERP systems, collaboration in the planning and delivery of goods and materials across companies has become a rapidly expanding reality,” said Jaume Ferrer, head of Accenture’s Supply Chain Management practice in Europe. “Accenture’s new offering can enable manufacturers and suppliers to improve collaboration. As a result, they can reduce inventories and administrative costs while improving service levels and time-to-market.”

As part of the acquisition, Nestlé, Danone and L´Oréal are engaged to use the collaboration solution. Currently, the service allows them to connect their plant operations to approximately 140 suppliers. Under the new contracts, the companies plan to add additional plants in several key markets while growing the supplier network significantly over the next three years.

“We are confident that the reach and expertise provided by Accenture will enable the continued development of the CPGmarket technologies, contributing to the ongoing improvement of L’Oréal’s supply chain efficiency,” said Marcel Lafforgue, Executive Vice President of Production and Technology for L’Oréal. “L’Oréal has been a significant contributor and supporter of the supply chain tools developed with CPGmarket during the last three years. Today most of our strategic suppliers are connected to 10 L’Oréal factories through the CPGmarket platform, and we are very pleased with Accenture’s acquisition.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 100,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

The Accenture Supply Chain Management practice works with clients across a broad range of industries to plan and implement innovative operating models that support overall business strategies and enhance revenue, reduce cost, and improve asset productivity and customer service. We combine deep skills and leading-edge approaches in procurement, supply chain planning, manufacturing and design, and fulfillment to help clients improve their operational performance. The practice also collaborates with its clients to implement new solutions—including supply chain and procurement outsourcing, radio frequency identification technologies, service parts management, and supply chain education—to drive higher performance through supply chain mastery. Its home page is www.accenture.com/supplychain.

###