Hitachi Consulting Deploys Best Practices SAP ERP at Specialty Chemical Manufacturer FutureFuel Corp.

Hitachi Consulting, the business and IT consulting company of Hitachi, Ltd., and a champion of SAP Best Practices for chemical companies, recently completed a Best Practices SAP ERP implementation at FutureFuel Chemical Company, positioning the company for greater business functionality. After being sold by its former parent company, a chemical industry giant, FutureFuel executives began looking for a way to migrate from a heavily customized and expensive ERP system, as well as to quickly meet new company goals, visions and objectives. FutureFuel chose SAP and Hitachi Consulting as solution providers. Dedicated teams from both companies worked together to implement SAP ECC 6.0 using Hitachi Consulting’s Best Practices for the Chemical Industry solution. Despite the magnitude of the full implementation, which involved rail car management; financials, materials, warehouse and plant management; production planning components; and more, the dedication of teams from both FutureFuel and Hitachi Consulting allowed the project to be completed rapidly, four weeks early – within five months. "Hitachi Consulting exhibited the know-how and confidence to handle a fast-track implementation of SAP solutions for the Chemicals industry that gave us the assurance we needed," said Michael Thompson, systems manager, FutureFuel. "We could not have implemented an ERP project with a scope of this magnitude without the SAP Best Practice approach and Hitachi Consulting's experience. Hitachi Consulting proved to be a true collaborator throughout the process by helping us to maximize the functionality of the software that we purchased, while minimizing the consulting hours needed to implement. I believe they had our company's best interests in mind throughout the process. Now we’re taking advantage of our new solution to increase efficiencies throughout the company.” The solution put FutureFuel on the fast track to several business benefits, including below-average costs for ongoing IT expenses, scalability of the ERP platform and the potential to increase revenues. "Drawing on our SAP Best Practices chemical industry experience we were able to help our client envision its future through different scenarios, and our ready-to-run program made it possible for them to take decisive and quick action,” said Kimberley Reid, director, Consulting Services for Hitachi Consulting and project team leader. Hitachi Consulting SAP National Practice Leader John Clark said the Best Practices certification and chemicals industry experience Hitachi Consulting offers is an immediate advantage to clients. "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 our clients are seeing the benefits,” he said. 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.” Hitachi Consulting delivers a qualified SAP® All-in-One Partner Solution for Chemical Companies focused on an accelerated evaluation and implementation process. This solution is based on the SAP All-in-One Solution from the North America SME Solution Center. Numerous Hitachi Consulting clients in chemical process industries have already benefited from the ease of evaluating and implementing this solution. Hitachi Consulting also provides its Hi-PACE Chemicals Solutionsm to the mid-market for a fixed price and time frame, to companies that meet program requirements. 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 others. 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 Corporation As Hitachi, Ltd.'s (NYSE: HIT) global consulting company, with operations in the United States, Europe and Asia, Hitachi Consulting is a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to Global 2000 companies across many industries. With a balanced view of strategy, people, process and technology, we work with companies to understand their unique business needs, and to develop and implement practical business strategies and technology solutions. From business strategy development through application deployment, our consultants are committed to helping clients quickly realize measurable business value and achieve sustainable ROI. Hitachi Consulting's client base includes 25 percent of the Global 100 as well as many leading mid-market companies. We offer a client-focused, collaborative approach and transfer knowledge throughout each engagement. For more information, call 1.877.664.0010 or visit www.hitachiconsulting.com. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT)(TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 384,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2006 (ended March 31, 2007) consolidated revenues totaled 10,247 billion Yen ($86.8 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.