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Global Manufacturers to Convene at Aberdeen's Annual Manufacturing Executive Summit

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- Oct 30, 2008 -- Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced that the annual Manufacturing Executive Summit to be held in Boston, MA, November 4-5th will yield a host of industry thought leaders that will convene to discuss the tough issues facing manufacturing organizations today. This year's summit participants will have the unique opportunity to listen to and network with global manufacturers in this two-day forum designed to foster learning and sharing in an executive atmosphere framed in research.

Summit topics and subject matter are derived from the activities of the market/economy as well as key challenges as outlined by our research. Executive presenters at this best practices and networking event will not only share their stories of manufacturing success, but provide actionable recommendations for more effectively managing manufacturing operations. Presenters include:

--  Randy Darcy, Executive VP of WW Operations, General Mills
--  Larry Coburn, SVP Operations, Crown International
--  Kim Hyland, Sr. Director, Mfg Ops Engineering, Global Supply Chain
    Mgt, Cisco Systems, Inc.
--  Richard Gordon, CEO, Chocolate Potpourri
--  David Spong, Retired President of Boeing Aerospace Support
--  Curt Hanson, Executive Director of Engineering, New Product Dev., P&H
    Mining Equipment
--  Scott Hamlin, CEO, Leading Edge Aerospace Dynamics
--  Otto Folprecht, CIO, Tree Island Industries
--  Tom Woodman, Director, Enterprise Applications, KUKA Systems
    Corporation
--  Bruce Hamilton, President of the Greater Boston Manufacturing
    Partnership
--  Bob Bishop, VP Operations, Brookfield Engineering Laboratories
--  Anthony Cayko, Controller and CIO, Summit Brewing Company
--  George Neill, CIO, Organic Valley Family of Farms
--  Ron Zilkowski, CFO, Cuisine Solutions
--  Kevin Parker, former Editor-in-Chief, Manufacturing Systems and MBT
    Magazines. Now Senior Editor, Exploration & Production (E&P), Hart Energy
    Publications (Moderator)
    

"We are looking forward to next week's Manufacturing Executive Summit that will bring together discrete and process manufacturers to discuss strategies for aligning manufacturing and technology to improve overall operational performance. Participants will leave the conference with a host of actionable recommendations to take back to their organizations and immediately incorporate into their manufacturing businesses," states Cindy Jutras, VP of Manufacturing and ERP research at Aberdeen. Topics include asset performance, quality management, reducing manufacturing costs, and maximizing profitability.

Also during the proceedings, Aberdeen will present five companies with Manufacturing Achievement Awards for excellence. The nominees were selected solely based upon Aberdeen research over the past 12 months. The award categories include:

    (1) Best-in-Class Design for Manufacturability - granted to the
        enterprise that has demonstrated top performance in operational
        metrics through Best-in-Class interoperability between PLM and MES.

    (2) Best-in-Class Enterprise Quality Management - granted to the
        enterprises that has demonstrated top performance in operational
        metrics and in reducing the cost of quality through Best-in-Class
        interoperability between an enterprise QMS system and enterprise
        applications.

    (3) Best-in-Class ERP Implementation - granted to the enterprise that
        has demonstrated top performance in operational metrics influenced
        by Best-in-Class ERP implementations: inventory reductions,
        inventory accuracy, complete and on-time shipments, manufacturing
        schedule compliance, and current performance in time to close a
        month.

    (4) Best-in-Class Operational Excellence in the Process Industries -
        granted to the enterprise that has demonstrated top performance in
        operational metrics through Best-in-Class attention to achieve
        Operational Excellence by reducing internal cost structure while
        at the same time exceeding customer expectations.

    (5) Excellence in Asset Management - granted to the enterprise that has
        demonstrated excellence by maximizing return on assets and reducing
        risk due to failure of critical assets through adopting a holistic
        asset management strategy across the enterprise.

End user manufacturing executives can register for the Manufacturing Summit at: http://www.aberdeen.com/events/live/MFG08

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2008 AberdeenGroup, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts  02210-1928
Telephone: (617)854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897

www.aberdeen.com

Media Contact:
Cindy Jutras
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(617) 854-5247

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