Dressing Up Freight Management

Apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen selects hosted software, services for global ocean freight management system

Apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen selects hosted software, services for global ocean freight management system

Alameda, CA — February 5, 2004 — New York City-based Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) Corp., the world's largest shirt company and one of the leading apparel and footwear companies, has selected GT Nexus to provide the hosted software, services and integration infrastructure for the company's global ocean freight management initiative.

Under the contract, GT Nexus said it would deploy a hosted technology platform through which PVH will centralize the management of global ocean freight operations. The system will support annual contract negotiations, analyze ocean freight expenses and optimize cargo allocation across a network of global carriers.

GT Nexus also will provide integration and implementation services to launch the platform and configure the applications to Phillips-Van Heusen's specifications.

"Ocean freight is a key link for PVH's global supply chain," noted John Wells, vice president — Imports, for PVH. "Efficient management of this transportation resource is critical to our operations."

Wells added that PVH would use GT Nexus' technology to support the three of its operating groups: Dress Shirts, Sportswear and Footwear.

"The system is designed to enhance our ability to leverage our global corporate volume and negotiate favorable ocean freight contracts," Wells said. "It is also designed to provide the platform and tools to design and execute customized ocean transportation solutions which meet the unique cost and service requirements of each operating group."

As a hosted service, PVH said it would access the system over the Web, eliminating the need for hardware purchases, software installations or additional in-house IT staff. The system will be deployed in a GT Nexus-managed private logistics network specifically for PVH and its partners.

According to PVH, it will use the platform to manage global transportation logistics activities, including ocean services procurement, strategic allocation planning, digital contract management, shipment planning and optimization, and partner management.

PVH said it sources ready-to-wear apparel and footwear from over 30 locations worldwide, bringing thousands of containerized cargo shipments into North America every year. With a multi-million dollar annual ocean transportation spend, PVH wanted to standardize and automate its procurement processes, gain better visibility through a single data store for contracts and rates, and apply optimization and analytical tools to improve its allocation and management of global freight volumes across carriers.

The goal of the technology initiative, according to Wells, is to support two objectives: Control ocean freight expenses through better purchasing and optimization of ocean cargo services, and enhance service levels through optimization of transit times with carrier, and more effective monitoring and measurement of carrier and partner performance.

Wells noted that GT Nexus was selected based on its core competency in the ocean industry, the global focus of its solution and the experience of other GT Nexus customers facing similar strategic logistics issues.

"We found GT Nexus to be the right fit for our business. The system has a good track record with current customers, and is known to carriers already," he said. "By contracting for the software as a service, we significantly reduce the up-front cost and risk, and we accelerate the implementation process."

Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. markets goods under its own brands Van Heusen, Calvin Klein, Izod and G. H. Bass, and its licensed brands Geoffrey Beene, Arrow, Kenneth Cole New York and Reaction by Kenneth Cole.

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