Hastings Manufacturing is winner of Polk Inventory

HASTINGS, MI June 2, 2008; Hastings Manufacturing Company, LLC, a nearly 100-year-old US manufacturer of piston rings, has announced they were selected as this year's winner of the Polk Inventory Efficiency Award in the Manufacturing category. Created five years ago by R. L. Polk & Co., the award is designed to recognize and reward outstanding automotive aftermarket companies for process improvements relative to inventory efficiency. The award was presented at the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) in Chicago on May 20th by Mark Seng, Polk's vice president of Strategic Markets.

Hastings piston ring sets are sold worldwide to engine builder professionals, offering over 10,000 engine applications, an enormous coverage relative to other ring manufacturers. To streamline operations, Hastings implemented a new inventory polk award

management system utilizing handheld scanners, bar coding, and supporting integration software. The system is used throughout the processing of orders, including replenishing individual ring stock, pulling stock for pack order, packaging ring sets, replenishing sets, pulling an order for shipment, printing packing slips, and shipment. Another significant benefit of the system is the replacement of an annual physical inventory with a formal daily cycle count program.

At GAAS to receive the award was Fred Cook, president and CEO of Hastings Manufacturing. "Designing an inventory management system to electronically control order fulfillment and replenishment while eliminating a paper culture was deemed a major challenge, but essential to meeting the demands of today's aftermarket customer," said Cook. "Our dedicated team has more than met our goal for efficiency gains, with substantial increases in both manufacturing turnaround and on-time shipments-meeting or exceeding the needs, wants, and expectations of our valued customers worldwide. We are proud of our efforts and equally proud to be this year's recipient of the prestigious Polk Inventory Efficiency Award."

The award presenter Mark Seng said, "The Polk Inventory Efficiency Award was created to help the industry recognize companies that are proactively addressing a serious issue, inventory management. The award, along with the presentation at GAAS, gives companies a venue to tell their success story and celebrate the opportunity to be acknowledged. We're very pleased this year to recognize Hastings Manufacturing for their inventory management achievements."

About R. L. Polk & Co.:

R. L. Polk & Co. is the premier provider of motor vehicle information and marketing solutions. Polk collects and interprets global data, and provides extensive business expertise to help customers understand their market position, identify trends, build brand loyalty, conquest new business and gain a competitive advantage. A privately held global firm, Polk is based in Southfield, Mich. with operations in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

About Hastings Manufacturing Company, LLC:

Hastings Manufacturing Company designs and manufactures piston rings for the worldwide engine manufacturing and rebuilding industries. As a premier automotive and engine component supplier, Hastings Manufacturing holds TS16949 and ISO14001 registrations and is the approved piston ring manufacturer to Chrysler, Ford, GM, Harley-Davidson, and many other Tier I and Tier II customers.

Hastings Manufacturing Company, LLC

325 North Hanover St., Hastings, MI 49058-1598