Polaris Industries Drives Ambitious Supply Chain Initiatives

Recreational vehicle manufacturer plans operational, technology transformation to reduce freight and labor costs

Recreational vehicle manufacturer plans operational, technology transformation to reduce freight and labor costs

Waukesha, WI — March 3, 2004 — Polaris Industries Inc., a manufacturer of recreational and utility vehicles, said it would shift its parts, garments and accessories business into overdrive by installing an integrated supply chain execution solution from RedPrairie, a leader in global supply chain technology solutions.

Scott Swenson, Pure Polaris general manager, said, "Our decision to implement new supply chain execution technology was spurred by two operational objectives: We wanted to reduce freight costs through improved rate shopping on parcel shipping, which accounts for most of our shipments. And we determined a streamlined pick and pack operation could reduce our labor expenditures. RedPrairie proved it had the technology and people to help us accomplish these goals."

RedPrairie said its warehouse management and slotting applications (DLx Warehouse/DLx Slotting) would improve Polaris' replenishment operations, pickface slotting and warehouse space utilization. When combined with RedPrairie's visibility tool, LENS, the provider said Polaris could improve customer service with up-to-date order status information.

LENS also provides visibility to distribution alerts, allowing customer service representatives to intervene and take corrective action before customer service is adversely impacted. It also will give Polaris network-wide visibility to inbound and outbound orders to plan operations and respond to real-time distribution changes.
RedPrairie's performance measurement technology will measure and track the results Polaris achieves in its distribution centers so management can see performance across the network.

RedPrairie Company Leader John Jazwiec said, "Optimizing labor productivity and parcel shipment operations are two key areas where companies can reduce costs and improve customer service."

Polaris expects to rollout RedPrairie's suite of supply chain execution solutions to its Vermillion, S.D., distribution center in the third quarter of 2004.

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