Supply Chain Intelligence
Transportation Management Systems
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SCI's implementation of execution-time based HGA™ technology in applications provides a powerful platform for integrating into a company's existing execution operations.
 
Supply-Chain Planning And Execution
 
Traditionally supply-chain management solutions have been divided between those that manage longer-time horizons (e.g., weeks, months, and years) and those that deal with the here and now (e.g., hours and days). For example, there are demand-planning solutions that might generate forecasts for the next year; factory schedules that determine capacity and material requirements for the next few months; and logistics solutions that help manage what goes where in the warehouse and on what truck today. As the Internet drives rapid increases in information velocity and volume, there is an emerging need for solutions that help drive planning/execution decisions in real time. So instead of developing long-term plans that become divorced from reality, these plans can be constantly updated and reoptimized to determine which plan is best, given daily changes in the constraints.
 

"The B2B Analyst by U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray - Volume 2, Number 18"

 

News Release
 
Price Chopper Selects Outbound Shipment Intelligence™
 

CARY, N.C., October 8, 2007 -- Supply Chain Intelligence, an innovative provider of logistics optimization systems, announces that Price Chopper has selected Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ to replace their existing routing & scheduling system. This decision was made after comparing the solutions generated by both systems. "We were skeptical that there was a system that could produce justifiable savings over our existing solution, especially due to our recent efforts to fine-tune our solution. Supply Chain Intelligence has proven the savings with their grocery expertise," says W. Thomas Bird, VP of Transportation, The Golub Corporation. "Supply Chain Intelligence worked diligently to understand our business, and in the end, showed how their solution will save tremendous dollars."

Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ will be deployed on a central server and accessed by the users at the distribution centers using standard web browsers. Price Chopper chose Supply Chain Intelligence's solution after an extensive review process in part because of the ease of use, flexibility to address different processes at each distribution center, and the ability to reduce overall transportation costs. "Price Chopper is operated by an exceptional group of individuals and has been squeezing the transportation budget as best they could with the tools available to them. With Outbound Shipment Intelligence™, they now have a system that fits their grocery process and allows them to continue their efforts in streamlining transportation" says Karl Hatt, Vice President, Logistics Systems, Supply Chain Intelligence. "The grocery industry has long been in search of ways to reduce costs to combat ever-shrinking margins. Our solution provides grocers a means to reduce the cost of transportation without changing their process, where they might believe none exists with their current routing system. Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ is proven to generate savings over other existing routing systems."

"We weren't even looking for a new routing system but became curious once we saw Supply Chain Intelligence at a tradeshow, we felt it was worth pursuing if the savings were there," says Bird. "We look forward to this relationship and the prospect of implementing additional modules in their transportation suite in the future."

About The Golub Corporation (www.pricechopper.com )

Based in Schenectady, NY, the Golub Corporation owns and operates more than 100 Price Chopper grocery stores in New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Beginning in 1932 as Self Service Market and later renamed Central Markets in 1933, Price Chopper was established in 1973 as the area's low price high quality supermarket operator. The family-owned company prides itself on longstanding traditions of innovative food merchandising, leadership in community service and cooperative associate relations. Golub's approximately 23,000 associates collectively own 54% of the company's privately held stock.

 
Hannaford Bros. Co. Goes Live with Outbound Shipment Intelligence™
 

Cary, NC, June 14, 2004 – Supply Chain Intelligence, an innovative provider of logistics optimization systems, announces that Hannaford Bros. Co. has successfully deployed Supply Chain Intelligence’s Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ system across their enterprise to improve their transportation function. Hannaford, a leading supermarket chain in New England, and subsidiary of Delhaize America, deployed the system on a central server at their corporate headquarters but is being operated by Hannaford Trucking Co. representatives at the distribution centers using standard web browsers, giving users at Delhaize’s Kash n’ Karry facility in Plant City, FL the same access to the system as users at the South Portland, ME facility.

Hannaford chose Supply Chain Intelligence’s solution after an extensive review process in part because of the ease of use, flexibility to address different processes at each DC, and the ability to reduce overall transportation costs. “Hannaford ran us through the wringer to ensure that we were the right long-term business partner. It was a grueling process, but in the end, Hannaford saw the commitment of our staff and the capability of our system to improve their transportation operations,” says Karl Hatt, Vice President, Logistics Systems. “The grocery industry has very unique demands from a routing & scheduling system, revolving around separate perishable and dry service windows, master scheduled versus dynamic routes, and routes that need to strongly adhere to target delivery times. Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ addresses these concerns in an efficient and flexible manner.”

“We’ve been looking for a new system for several years to replace our aging system, but hadn’t found one that matched our needs until we scrutinized Supply Chain Intelligence’s system,” says Pam Goode, Manager, Transportation Support Systems. “Not only does OSI™ meet our immediate needs, but with the what-if capabilities resident in the system, we can model and refine our delivery mechanism to reduce transportation costs, and also improve our service to the stores.”

About Hannaford Bros. Co.

Hannaford Bros. Co., based in Scarborough, Maine, operates 122 supermarkets and food and drug combination stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. These stores operate under the Hannaford name. Hannaford employs more than 21,000 associates. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delhaize America, Inc. which in turn is owned by Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG) of Brussels, Belgium. For more information, visit www.hannaford.com.

 
Performance Food Group -- Customized Distribution Excels with Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM)
 

CARY, N.C., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Supply Chain Intelligence, an innovative provider of logistics optimization systems, announces the continued success of our Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM) at Performance Food Group's Customized Distribution division. With all sites implemented, Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM) has been delivering substantial cost savings. "I've been route planning for many years and haven't seen a system perform as well as Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM)," says Patrick Agee, President, PFG Customized Distribution. "Over the years, we've had many vendors show their systems, but in the end, their results were less optimal than our in-house routes and did not fully comply with our service contracts."

"It was a challenge to convince Pat that we could deliver savings, but I was confident that we could by utilizing our genetic algorithm, the latest in optimization technology," says Karl Hatt, Vice President, Logistics Systems. "With tight customer time windows and a wide variety of restaurant concepts, traditional systems have trouble meeting all the constraints because routing & scheduling are done sequentially. With Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM), these are performed concurrently, ensuring delivery windows are met, while reducing route times and miles."

From previous engagements with routing and scheduling vendors PFG Customized was skeptical of achieving savings with any software-based system. After initial discussions with PFG Customized, Supply Chain Intelligence presented a set of routes using PFG Customized's own orders and service requirements. From this review they decided to implement Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM) and were able to achieve payback well ahead of their expectations. In addition, PFG Customized has been able to use the system for substantial what-if capabilities, budgeting, bidding new concepts, and opening new distribution centers.

To get achievable routes with other systems, you have to manually edit many routes. This is why other systems' focus is on editing capabilities. With Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM), to get optimal routes you click a button and go. And because Outbound Shipment Intelligence(TM) is web-enabled, corporate transportation can develop each distribution center's master routes. Onsite transportation managers can then access the system from any web- enabled computer on the network to review, adjust, and approve. It adds a level of internal collaboration not found in many other optimization systems.

About Performance Food Group

Performance Food Group, parent of Customized Distribution, markets and distributes more than 61,000 national and private label food and food-related products to approximately 46,000 restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, schools, healthcare facilities and other institutions. Our Fresh Express line is the industry leader and pioneer of fresh packaged salads. For more information on Performance Food Group, visit http://www.pfgc.com/.

 
 
Supply Chain Intelligence, Inc. Introduces Outbound Shipment Intelligence™
 

Cary, NC, June 25, 2001 - Supply Chain Intelligence, Inc. (SCI), an innovative provider of supply chain optimization software, announced the general availability of its Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ module, a component of SCI's I-Suite™. Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ is a web-enabled, server-based routing and scheduling system that optimizes the delivery of freight through the use of SCI's Hybrid Genetic Algorithm™ (HGA™). Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ closes the gap between planning systems and execution systems by planning and re-planning delivery schedules in execution-time.

It is a given with planning systems, that exceptions will occur that erode the effectiveness of any plan. "What's remarkable about Outbound Shipment Intelligence™ is that as exceptions occur and new events become known, they trigger the HGA™ to respond to the plan," says Karl Hatt, Vice President, Logistics Systems. "Modifications to the plan are then made in execution-time, as necessary, to keep the flow of freight moving at the lowest achievable costs while maintaining the highest level of customer service. All necessary changes are then delivered to the appropriate people and systems…no more manual decision-making is required."

Because the system is deployed within your company's intranet, users can log in from anywhere in the world to monitor the response to events as they occur. "A huge advantage in using the I-Suite™ is the proactive response, enabled in both upstream and downstream systems and personnel. They become part of a larger choreographed event-response team responding to exceptions as they occur," says Don Wickelgren, CEO and Co-founder.

Not only does the HGA™ allow for execution-time response, but the factors that enable effective routes can be tailored to your company's needs. With a wide variety of constraints and rules, you specify the relative importance of the rules to fit your distribution environment. These rules ultimately define the trade-offs of determining delivery method, minimizing miles, routes, vehicles, geographic distribution, and warehouse load balancing. With Outbound Shipment Intelligence™, the end results maximize resources company-wide, allowing the organization to further compete in the marketplace.

ABOUT SUPPLY CHAIN INTELLIGENCE, INC.

Headquartered in Cary, NC, Supply Chain Intelligence, Inc. is a logistics software company focused on achieving broad-scale supply chain optimization. The Intelligence Suite™ is a modular system that allows for a component-based implementation process so that customers gain efficiencies and confidence in the implementation. The I-Suite™ further gains synergy when utilizing multiple components in tandem. For more information, please visit www.scintelligence.com.

Press Contact:

Debbie Kingsley 919.342.4745

corporate@scintelligence.com