BOSTON--Dec. 10, 2001--The Aberdeen Group has recognized 18 enterprises for successful deployments of Internet-based procurement and supply chain technologies. Over the course of several months, Aberdeen Group interviewed more than 50 enterprises that had implemented Internet-based procurement automation. Aberdeen's criteria for selecting these best practice implementations included business and implementation strategy, scope of implementation, documented savings, and return on investment (ROI). "At a time when cost control is vital to survival, forward-thinking organizations are viewing e-Procurement as a key strategy for controlling costs and maintaining profitability,'' said Tim Minahan, Vice President of Aberdeen's Supply Chain Research practice. "This report examines the leading e-Procurement deployments, detailing the strategies used and quantifying the hard-dollar savings and process improvements achieved.'' "Best Practices in e-Procurement,'' an Aberdeen research report, identifies the strategies utilized by the most successful deployments of Internet-based procurement technologies in the following areas: non-production ("indirect'') procurement automation, production ("direct'') procurement/supply chain management (SCM) automation, and e-Sourcing. Additionally, the report profiles the industry best practices of the top 18 e-Procurement deployments, details the business and implementation strategies utilized and their associated benefits. The Best Practices in e-Procurement winners profiled in the report include: Ametek; A-Plus Manufacturing, Canandaigua National Bank and Trust; Countrywide Home Loans; Diversified Systems; Federal Express Corporation; Finning International; Georgia Pacific; iGate Capital; Komatsu Mining Systems; SPX; Sun Microsystems; Universal Studios; UNNICO; and Volkswagen. The report also recognizes and profiles Eastman Chemical and John Hancock as Best Practice All-Stars for achieving significant gains in multiple e-Procurement areas. The e-Procurement solution vendors used by these winning enterprises include: Agile Software; Ariba; B2eMarkets; Baan; Commerce One; Diligent Software Systems; Dun & Bradstreet; eBreviate; elcom; FreeMarkets; Frictionless Commerce; ICG Commerce; iPlanet; Nistevo; PeopleSoft; Procuri; PurchasingNet; Tradec; Verian Technologies; Works; and Zeborg.