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— October 11, 2006

Execution Technology

VF Corp. Looks to Implement Quality Monitoring Tool at Factories Around the World
VF Corp. is one of the world's largest producers of branded apparel. Recently the company moved to implement a system for monitoring quality at its outsourced manufacturing facilities worldwide. It sought an application that would allow for the monitoring, detection and enhancement of quality on the production line. To achieve that goal, VF turned to New Generation Computing (NGC). The wholly owned subsidiary of American Software Inc. is a vendor of software for product lifecycle management, global sourcing and enterprise resource planning. Its products are aimed expressly at the apparel and sewn-products industries. VF acquired NCG's tool known as e-Quality, a Web-based module within the vendor's e-SPS suite. The choice followed VF's implementation of e-SPS, linking it to hundreds of apparel manufacturing sites around the world. The goal was to “be proactive in capturing quality information, consolidating that data, and detecting and solving quality problems very early in the production cycle,” said Denis Staab, VF's director of common systems implementation. Through e-Quality, factories can conduct quality audits according to user-defined sampling rules, inspection points and defect codes. Inspectors can work via the Web, or offline on a laptop or tablet PC, then download the information via an internet connection. e-Quality automatically generates alerts in the event of a failure. The software stores information in a database, so that users can analyze quality performance at individual factories, determine trends, and allocate inspectors in the most efficient way possible.
http://www.ngcsoftware.com/

Mozzarella Fresca Relies on New Scheduling Software to Keep Product Fresh
Mozzarella Fresca, Inc. has adopted a new software application to control the production and distribution of its fresh gourmet cheeses. The company's products, including fresh mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone, have an extremely short shelf life. They are supplied to supermarkets and restaurants throughout the U.S. Shipped and sold fresh, the items last between 35 and 120 days, including transit time to market. Some products are shipped within hours of being processed. Mozzarella Fresca chose Zemeter Scheduler software from Supply Chain Consultants (SCC), designer and vendor of the Zemeter Suite of supply-chain management applications. Zemeter's functionality includes demand planning, inventory planning, finite scheduling, production optimization, margin optimization and business intelligence. It operates in a Microsoft environment. Mozzarella Fresca selected SCC because “they know how to solve complex manufacturing challenges,” said chief financial officer Lawrence M. Leser. “We have vastly reduced the time required to create our manufacturing schedule, and we have also improved our throughput,” he said.
http://www.supplychain.com/

Fuji Xerox Australia Relieves Growing Pains in Its Warehouse Operations
Fuji Xerox Australia was experiencing the usual growing pains that accompany business success. Following a sharp rise in sales and volumes, it began suffering from limited visibility of product, the result of manual reporting processes and inventory inaccuracies. Fuji Xerox is the largest provider of printers, multifunction devices, document-management and related consumable supplies in Australia. To get a handle on supply-chain processes, it selected the HighJump Supply Chain Advantage suite from HighJump Software. The intention was to simplify labor-intensive processes, improve order fulfillment and achieve visibility throughout the supply chain. HighJump Warehouse Advantage will help the company to track parts and finished devices through the use of serial numbers from the issuance of a production order through production, storage and delivery. The serialization will play “a key role” in Fuji Xerox's quality-assurance efforts, HighJump said. Visibility will be extended all the way to drivers and technicians in the field. The software will be implemented at seven sites across Australia. In a related development, HighJump has released version 9.0 of its HighJump Supply Chain Advantage suite of software applications. The new version features improvements in internationalization, support for system readiness, and an updated user interface. HighJump Warehouse Advantage offers support for distribution centers with complex, high-volume parcel-shipping requirements, along with enhancements for cross-docking, inventory moves, purchase-order handling and container picking by voice. Manufacturing Advantage offers a new, Web-based touch-screen user interface, while extending material-flow management to support lean manufacturing methods. Labor Advantage contains updates based on feedback from early adopters of the product. The system displays goal times as well as overall daily performance upon task completion. Transportation Advantage is the product formerly called FreightLogic, acquired by HighJump when it purchased transportation software provider Pinnacle Distribution Concepts Inc. New features help transportation planners to identify orders requiring planning and using user-defined rules. HighJump Software is a 3M company.
Fuji Xerox: http://www.highjumpsoftware.com/
HighJump Advantage 9.0: http://www.highjumpsoftware.com/

Big Food-Service Distributor Boosts Productivity at 10 D.C.s, Serving 35 States
Maines Paper and Foodservice operates 10 distribution centers, covering 35 states and serving more than 4,000 food-service customers. The company, the nation's second-largest independent systems food-service distributor, was looking for a way to improve inventory management and productivity at the D.C.s. It chose Retalix Power Warehouse software. The tool is designed specifically for route-based, multi-stop food distribution operations, according to vendor Retalix. It promises better operating efficiencies, product tracking and customer service. With the help of Power Warehouse, Maines was able to go from using four separate warehouse management systems to a single version of the software across all 10 D.C.s. Through the use of radio-frequency and barcode-scanning technology, the company improved inventory control, cycle counting, putaway, let-down and order selection in all of the centers, Retalix claimed. “In just 22 months, we successfully automated our 10 distribution centers with different, complex formats,” said Joe Jurich, Maines' chief information officer. The technology also allows Maines to remain compliant with expanding food laws and regulations.
http://www.retalix.com/

Public Refrigerated Warehouse Embraces New System for Productivity Boost
Interstate Warehousing, one of the top 10 public refrigerated warehouse companies in the U.S., has implemented two software applications from RedPrairie to improve productivity, inventory control and customer service at three distribution centers. Interstate has more than 60m cubic feet of refrigerated and frozen storage space. It installed RedPrairie's DLx Warehouse and DLx Labor suites at D.C.s in Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee. The systems allow the company to offer a range of advanced services and technology to customers, including the eView inventory tracking tool, providing real-time access to inventory, orders and activity around the clock. Through its Partnership Program, Interstate offers manufacturers and retailers cost-saving consolidated replenishment shipments. Under the program, the company consolidates more than 4,000 products for some 140 manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers. Using the RedPrairie software, the vendor said, Interstate has reduced order lead times and improved inventory control, enabling it to operate at near-full capacity and make better use of its assets.
http://www.redprairie.com/

Release of New TMS Package From Oracle Follows Acquisition of G-Log
Version 5.5 of Oracle Transportation Management is now generally available from Oracle Corp. The release is the application's first since Oracle acquired G-Log, the logistics software vendor. The latest version streamlines global transportation planning, execution, freight payment and business-process automation on a single platform across all modes of transportation. One new feature allows users to identify network-compatible freight lanes with sufficient, repeatable volume, to optimize fleet utilization and dedicated assets in line with common carrier rates and availability. Users can create capacity scenarios that meet an appropriate mix of private, dedicated and contract carriage. The latest release also introduces new Web services, with the intention of evolving into a service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform. Customers can manage transportation processes in the context of overall business-process flows, and vice-versa, Oracle said. Other enhancements include three-dimensional load modeling, dock and yard management, and wireless carrier communications.
http://www.oracle.com/

Two Cargo Portal Providers Announce Liberalized Access to Non-Member Carriers
Two companies offering portals for ocean freight booking and document exchange, Inttra and CargoSmart Limited, have announced new policies that promote wider access to carriers, regardless of whether or not they are members of the portals. Inttra, the provider of electronic commerce links for ocean carriers and their customers, has instituted a policy of universal carrier access. The action allows any shipper or forwarder registered with Inttra to transmit shipping instructions to any carrier or non-vessel operating common carrier in the world, at no charge to either party. The launch follows a six-month pilot program, involving more than 50 carriers and their customers. The goal is to deploy the Inttra platform to reach all carriers through a single, standard process, the company said. For example, shippers and forwarders can send a shipping instruction using Inttra's industry-standard PDF format. With 22 of the world's largest ocean carriers connected to its network, Inttra claims to represent more than 61 percent of global ocean-freight capacity. It initiates more than 125,000 container orders each week, and handles more than $10bn worth of freight each year. At the same time, CargoSmart, the vendor of application and integration services for the ocean container transportation industry, is now allowing shippers and transportation intermediaries to connect to all of their ocean carriers through the vendor's portal for $2 per shipment. Customers who use CargoSmart to manage all of their ocean-carrier shipment information pay only for the non-member carriers' portion of their shipments. They will continue to have free access to member-carriers' shipment data. Those customers will also have access to the vendor's full suite of advanced online functions, customized integrations using extensible markup language, electronic data interchange and Web services, as well as a dedicated support team. CargoSmart claims more than 45,000 globally active users. To support their customers on the portal, carriers can use the Carrier Customer Service Center, which allows them to manage registrations, set up reports and monitor customers' shipment data.
Inttra: http://www.inttra.com/
CargoSmart: http://www.cargosmart.com/

New Freight Portal Allows for Quick Comparison of LTL Freight Rates
Shippers can now compare rates, transit times and service-area options for less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, using a new freight portal created by 4 Way Logistics. The company's new Online LTL Marketplace lets clients find an appropriate LTL option in minutes, with just the click of a mouse, 4 Way said. The vendor is a non-asset-based provider of third-party logistics (3PL) services, including truckload, LTL, intermodal, air, ocean, and support for heavy-haul projects. The new online service allows customers to compare rates and transit times, get quotes simultaneously from various LTL carrier options, book shipments, maintain an online address book of shippers and consignees to streamline future orders, maintain control with the ability to add users, store freight quotes for future reference, and access the technology 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
http://www.ltlmarketplace.com/

RMI Updates TMS Package to Support Better Management of Rail Services
RMI, a provider of software and information services to the rail industry, has updated its transportation management system, RailConnect TMS. The new version features additional report capabilities, including a train performance report. Users can manage incidental charges while improving their work lists, yard visibility and train scheduling. A car-order module update allows for the automatic creation of car orders based on data contained within Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) waybills. In addition, users can now define thresholds that will allow orders to expire automatically. RMI said it plans another TMS release later this year to facilitate the latest rail electronic data interchange (EDI) standards, with additional features for automating the capture and reporting of rail events. The vendor's services can be accessed over the internet at www.railconnect.com, a portal to RMI's integrated suite of proprietary information services for managing rail operations. They include transportation, revenue, equipment, shipper freight and fleet management services, and related executive information systems.
http://www.railcarmgt.com/

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