BURLINGTON, MA, July 17, 2001—Tibbett & Britten Group PLC, the UK's leading distribution and logistics company, has deployed a business intelligence solution from Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN: TSE:CSN), the leading provider in business intelligence solutions, to deliver supplier information reports over the Internet as well as planning and analysis to further improve supply chain performance. Since deploying the Cognos solution the company has seen an improvement of 24 per cent on schedule supplier dispatch.

T&B provides a complete inbound supply chain management and logistics service to retail chain Marks & Spencer. They deployed Cognos to monitor the performance of that supply chain, but quickly realized they needed a Web-based solution that would allow them to easily distribute reports to internal users as well as Marks & Spencer suppliers.

"We essentially became a victim of our own success," said Dave Vokins, European Business Intelligence Manager, T&B. "As great data became available, we became overwhelmed with requests for information and needed a solution that would allow us share information easily. Cognos provides us with a solution that allows us to continue to distribute that data and allow users to 'slice and dice' to meet their own requirements, while ensuring the master files always contain a single, up-to-date version of account information."

T&B is using Cognos Impromptu Web Reports^® and Cognos PowerPlay Web^® to build reports in a central data repository and deliver them via the Web internally to T&B and externally to other Marks & Spencer suppliers and logistics contractors, effectively creating a virtual extended enterprise.

"With this kind of insight into the supply chain operations, we are able to monitor the performance of the entire distribution network as a time-driven business, as well as carry out predictive planning and trend analysis to bring further improvements to the supply chain," added Vokins.

"Cognos' best-of-breed reporting and powerful analysis capabilities have equipped Tibbett & Britten with a Web-based solution that identifies cost-saving opportunities to maximize the entire supply chain process. With enormous data volumes, complex supplier relationships and compressed timelines, having a means to access consistent, accurate analysis has assumed a mission-critical status in today's successful organizations," said Alan Rottenberg, senior vice president, E-Business Applications Unit, Cognos.

About Tibbett and Britten:
Tibbett & Britten Group plc is a UK quoted multinational logistics service provider focused on supplying warehousing, distribution and supply chain management services under long-term contract to manufacturers, retailers and distributors of food & drink, clothing and other branded consumer merchandise. Services are primarily intra-regional and include both conventional logistics and e-commerce support.

The Group has grown by translating its skills and experience into new markets across geographical and product sector boundaries. In little more than a decade it has become a leading international logistics business and is authoritatively ranked seventh largest in the world. Annual revenues in 2000 were £1,507 million (US$2.1 billion).

Tibbett & Britten operates in two home markets - Europe and North America - whilst developing in selected emerging territories, including parts of Africa, Asia and Latin/South America. It has substantial logistics operations in 33 countries and employs 33,000 people.