Alcoa Recognized as World-Class Performer in IT and Finance by the Hackett Group

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) has been recognized as a world-class performer in finance and IT by The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) a global strategic advisory firm. Alcoa received its World-Class Awards at Hackett’s 18th Annual Best Practices Conference, "20/20 Vision: Are You on the Right Path to World-Class?” held recently in Atlanta. The awards recognize Alcoa’s status as a company demonstrating top quartile efficiency and effectiveness in these two key Selling, General, & Administrative (SG&A) functions, based on metrics captured during Hackett benchmarks. Alcoa’s finance group was honored for maintaining and improving its world-class performance. The group first achieved world class status in 2004. Alcoa’s information technology organization was awarded world class status for the first time. Alcoa began participating in Hackett benchmarking studies in 1995 and has continued to do so in three-year intervals as part of its ongoing commitment to attaining higher value-added services. "An initial step in planning for the future is having a detailed understanding of our current state. The Hackett benchmarking process is a value-based analysis, which focuses on the value of a function as well as the cost,” said Alcoa Hackett Project Leader Keith Skromme. According to Hackett President Wayne Mincey, "Alcoa’s results are quite impressive. They’ve made a commitment to continuous improvement, and with the help of our benchmarking, advisory, and transformation services have reached levels of performance in areas such as cost, productivity, quality, and business value that few companies achieve. We’re happy to have played a significant role in their journey to world-class performance.” According to The Hackett Group’s Book of NumbersTM research, world-class finance organizations spend less than half what typical companies do on operations, and operate with less than half the staff. At the same time, they spend 40% less time collecting and compiling data and commensurately more time doing analysis, see over 65% fewer errors on customer invoices, and have a Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) rate that is nearly 50% shorter. In IT, Hackett’s Book of Numbers research shows that world-class companies see IT costs per end user that are almost precisely the same as those at typical companies. But they spend 15% less on labor, and allocate spending in other areas very differently. For example, world-class IT organizations spend over 40% less on application maintenance than typical companies, and over 25% more on application development and implementation. Complexity reduction is a key focus for world-class IT organizations, which operate with over 60% fewer data centers and over 40% fewer applications per 1,000 end-users. Among Alcoa’s benchmark accomplishments in IT and Finance are: common financial chart of accounts, eight hour close of financial books, common IT platform, global consolidation of data centers, process standardization across all functions, global data warehouse to enhance information value, and global standardization of internal metrics. "The transformation to world class requires alignment, coordination, commitment, and the ability to deliver results,” said Chief Information Officer of Alcoa Global Business Services Kevin Horner, "The employees throughout Alcoa’s Information Services organization showed phenomenal perseverance in helping the company reach the highest level of competitive performance. We now have a new baseline against which we not only measure our progress but, more importantly, establish new goals.” According to, Alcoa Executive Vice President and CFO Chuck McLane, who sponsored the Hackett benchmarks, "It is important to understand where we stack up in relation to our peers as well as those companies classified as world-class, so we can better recognize where gaps exist and seek new, fact-based approaches for progressing. Alcoa’s finance and IT organizations worldwide have distinguished themselves with their ability to chart a course that supports Alcoa’s businesses strategies, and by staying flexible and able to respond to shifts in demand and changes in the marketplace. I’m extremely proud of this achievement.” About The Hackett Group The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a global strategic advisory firm, is a leader in best practice advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services, including shared services, offshoring and outsourcing advice. Utilizing best practices and implementation insights from more than 4,000 benchmarking engagements, executives use Hackett's empirically based approach to quickly define and prioritize initiatives to enable world-class performance. Through its REL brand, Hackett offers working capital solutions focused on delivering significant cash flow improvements. Through its Hackett Technology Solutions group, Hackett offers business application consulting services that helps maximize returns on IT investments. Hackett has worked with 2,700 major corporations and government agencies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 73% of the Fortune 100, 73% of the Dax 30 and 45% of the FTSE 100. Founded in 1991, The Hackett Group was acquired by Answerthink, which was renamed The Hackett Group in 2008. The Hackett Group has global offices in the United States, Europe and India. More information on The Hackett Group is available: by phone at (770) 225-7300; by e-mail at info@thehackettgroup.com; or on the Web at www.thehackettgroup.com. About Alcoa Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina combined, through its active and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components including flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, Alcoa also markets Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems. The Company has 97,000 employees in 34 countries and has been named one of the top most sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com. Book of Numbers is a trademark of The Hackett Group.