REDWOOD CITY, CA (November 29, 2006) – Instill® Corporation, the leading provider of on-demand supply chain solutions and services for the foodservice industry, today announced the results of a recent industry survey of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance efforts and the availability of a brief on best practices for leveraging internal controls to improve competitive advantage. The survey results identified areas where operators can continue to improve internal controls to maximize financial performance.

“While efforts to improve internal controls over purchasing processes are a must for public companies struggling with SOX compliance issues,  the results of this survey indicate these efforts are a concern for private companies as well who see them as an opportunity to generate substantial cost savings,” said Jeffrey Smith, Vice President of Marketing at Instill. “These findings are consistent with what we’ve seen in the industry, where leading public and private operators are using investments in compliance and internal controls as a catalyst to drive significant improvements in financial performance.”

Both SOX compliance efforts and opportunities to improve financial performance in the supply chain begin with purchasing and spend management. Ensuring units pay the contracted price for products and eliminating off-contract purchasing are examples of key internal controls that support SOX compliance purposes and can generate significant savings. Controls for auditing compliance seem to be suffering as half of the respondents indicated they are not sufficiently auditing unit purchasing to ensure compliance with company policies and negotiated contracts. Fifty percent of those surveyed noted that they are not sufficiently auditing invoices to ensure they are paying the contracted price.  

 
“Whether you are a public or private company, these survey results point to a significant opportunity for foodservice companies to reduce food costs and improve shareholder value,” said Anthony Wilson, President and CEO of Instill.  “Instill’s clients are leveraging our Food Spend Management solution to both implement effective internal controls and generate hundreds of millions of dollars of savings.”

About Instill Corporation
Information to Understand Your Business
For more than a decade, Instill has been helping customers build enterprise value by applying innovative technology and industry expertise to address the unique challenges facing foodservice companies. Instill is the only technology company focused exclusively on the foodservice industry, providing a proven, comprehensive set of solutions for leading companies such as IPC, Hardee's, International Dairy Queen, Nathan's Famous, YUM! Brands' UFPC and UPGC, Centerplate, General Mills and Procter & Gamble. Instill is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and can be reached at 1-888-Instill or at www.instill.com.

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