Expanding company replaces legacy systems at acquired Chicago facility as it builds regional warehouse network
Charlotte, NC — May 17, 2006 — Logistics management and consulting firm Global Supply & Logistics (GSL) has expanded its menu of services with the acquisition of multi-temperature warehouse facilities in Chicago and the implementation of third party logistics (3PL) management and transportation management systems (TMS) from Headwater Technology Solutions, the company has announced.
A two-year-old minority-owned organization headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., and focused on the food service industry, the company adopted the Headwater SmartEnterprise third-party logistics (3PL) software and Freight Logix transportation management system (TMS) to replace legacy and proprietary solutions that were in place at the time GSL acquired the Chicago facilities.
GSL's Chicago acquisition, a 181,000 square foot facility with 4.7 million cubic feet of freezer and cooler, represents the first phase of a planned network of at least five regionally located warehouses intended to create a national logistics services platform for manufacturers addressing the food service and food retailing industries. The company's 50 or more current customers include prominent food manufacturers and broadline distributors.
"We realized over the course of our first two years that while our consulting and supply chain optimization services for food manufacturers were extremely successful, we were missing a vital element in not providing third party logistics capabilities," said Stanford R. (Ron) Banks, chairman and CEO of GSL. "Manufacturers need 3PL in order to reduce the complexity of their distribution operations and more tightly focus on core competence, and foodservice customers need the benefits of a central source of supply."
"We selected SmartEnterprise and Freight Logix to manage our 3PL activities after examining many different solution options," said Dean Swint, vice president of information technologies at GSL. "We also considered very favorably Headwater's successful and productive relationships with other third-party logistics providers. It is an ideal solution for meeting our current requirements as well as for our aggressive plans for growth and diversification."
Headwater said that SmartEnterprise is an integrated solution that enables 3PL operators to conduct multiple activities for multiple clients concurrently. It was built for 3PL management, providing single-point data access and control, comprehensive periodic and ad hoc reporting and data mining, radio frequency identification (RFID), RF voice and data communications, integrated billing, real-time 24/7 web-based customer visibility, and electronic data interchange (EDI) for seamless and untended transactions with customers.
The Freight Logix TMS solution is integrated with SmartEnterprise as well as with Great Plains Financial software at GSL to provide transportation management from load building to billing. It manages and controls revenue and costs for any segment of the transportation operation, including leg, trip, truck, driver, lane, customer or any combination of segments.
"We have seen the difference very quickly," Banks said. "For example, we saved 15 hours in a single report generating activity in the first week of operations under SmartEnterprise."
Additional Articles of Interest
— To build a competency in supply network design, this consumer products company first had to build confidence. Read more in "Designing the Best Supply Chain Gillette Can Get," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
— Businesses today continue to look for ways to reduce their logistics costs, but in order to identify further costs savings, companies need to tap into new information. The answer? Benchmarking. Read more in "Freight Cost Benchmarking: The Final Procurement Level," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Charlotte, NC — May 17, 2006 — Logistics management and consulting firm Global Supply & Logistics (GSL) has expanded its menu of services with the acquisition of multi-temperature warehouse facilities in Chicago and the implementation of third party logistics (3PL) management and transportation management systems (TMS) from Headwater Technology Solutions, the company has announced.
A two-year-old minority-owned organization headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., and focused on the food service industry, the company adopted the Headwater SmartEnterprise third-party logistics (3PL) software and Freight Logix transportation management system (TMS) to replace legacy and proprietary solutions that were in place at the time GSL acquired the Chicago facilities.
GSL's Chicago acquisition, a 181,000 square foot facility with 4.7 million cubic feet of freezer and cooler, represents the first phase of a planned network of at least five regionally located warehouses intended to create a national logistics services platform for manufacturers addressing the food service and food retailing industries. The company's 50 or more current customers include prominent food manufacturers and broadline distributors.
"We realized over the course of our first two years that while our consulting and supply chain optimization services for food manufacturers were extremely successful, we were missing a vital element in not providing third party logistics capabilities," said Stanford R. (Ron) Banks, chairman and CEO of GSL. "Manufacturers need 3PL in order to reduce the complexity of their distribution operations and more tightly focus on core competence, and foodservice customers need the benefits of a central source of supply."
"We selected SmartEnterprise and Freight Logix to manage our 3PL activities after examining many different solution options," said Dean Swint, vice president of information technologies at GSL. "We also considered very favorably Headwater's successful and productive relationships with other third-party logistics providers. It is an ideal solution for meeting our current requirements as well as for our aggressive plans for growth and diversification."
Headwater said that SmartEnterprise is an integrated solution that enables 3PL operators to conduct multiple activities for multiple clients concurrently. It was built for 3PL management, providing single-point data access and control, comprehensive periodic and ad hoc reporting and data mining, radio frequency identification (RFID), RF voice and data communications, integrated billing, real-time 24/7 web-based customer visibility, and electronic data interchange (EDI) for seamless and untended transactions with customers.
The Freight Logix TMS solution is integrated with SmartEnterprise as well as with Great Plains Financial software at GSL to provide transportation management from load building to billing. It manages and controls revenue and costs for any segment of the transportation operation, including leg, trip, truck, driver, lane, customer or any combination of segments.
"We have seen the difference very quickly," Banks said. "For example, we saved 15 hours in a single report generating activity in the first week of operations under SmartEnterprise."
Additional Articles of Interest
— To build a competency in supply network design, this consumer products company first had to build confidence. Read more in "Designing the Best Supply Chain Gillette Can Get," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
— Businesses today continue to look for ways to reduce their logistics costs, but in order to identify further costs savings, companies need to tap into new information. The answer? Benchmarking. Read more in "Freight Cost Benchmarking: The Final Procurement Level," in the February/March 2006 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
- More articles about Headwater Technology Solutions.
