Frontline Solutions Announces Supply Chain Superstars Winners.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Frontline International Supply Chain Week 2003

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2003

Frontline Solutions announced the winners of its inaugural Supply Chain Superstars awards during the AIM Industry awards ceremony last night at the Frontline Solutions International Supply Chain Week Conference and Expo, held at Chicago's McCormick Place. Frontline Solutions began its Supply Chain Superstars program this year to honor companies that display the most impressive implementations of supply chain technologies.

The editors of Frontline Solutions chose five winning projects that demonstrate a range of technologies and benefits. Companies who competed were judged on their projects' complexity, the gains they achieved, and their unexpected benefits.

"We got a great response to this competition and were impressed by the achievements they demonstrated," said Barbara G. Goode, group editorial director for Frontline.

The winners are:

Alcatel eND (Calabasas, CA; www.ind.alcatel.com) provides IP networking infrastructure and solutions to businesses. To deal with excess inventory, the company turned itself into a virtual manufacturer, outsourcing all assembly and logistics to third parties. Using Oracle Corp.'s calibration software, Alcatel has cut planning cycle time by 75%, reduced inventory by 60%, reduced its break-even structure by more than 40%, and expects an annual savings of about $15 million by shedding inventory to moving to a direct order fulfillment model. The company has transformed its business into a 100% virtual enterprise and now provides 90% on-time delivery.

Associated Food Stores Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT; www.afstores.com) is a wholesale grocery distributor that needed help tracking its assets more accurately. Using a wireless real-time locating system to track trucks and equipment through its 600-acre distribution center, the company has eliminated trailer leasing, cut its number of tractors from 92 to 62, reduced the number of drivers from 123 to 83, reduced weekly deliveries from 1500 to fewer than 1000, saved $100,000 in annual spoilage, and realized an annual fuel savings of more than $500,000.

Lanier Worldwide, Inc. (Atlanta, GA; www.lanier.com), a distributor of private label copiers and related business products and services, was looking for a new supply chain management system that could enable real-time, virtual national inventory and allocation for its five U.S. distribution centers. By using Provia's integrated ViaWare Warehouse Management System, Lanier reduced inventory by 50%, reduced budgets by 20%, increased productivity 33%, and reduced forms expense by $100,000, while enabling customers to track order status in real time.

StorageTek (Louisville, CO; www.storagetek.com) provides a broad range of data storage options, including tape automation, disk storage systems, and storage networking. It wanted to institutionalize its vendor-managed inventory program across all lines of its business and take both inventory and cost entirely out of the supply chain. By implementing WorldChain's Synchronized Supply Management BizPak System, the company reduced inventory by more than $100 million (the lowest levels in 13 years), enabled management of nearly 100% of material flow, improved turns by 74%, improved its cash position by nearly 50%, and eliminated its debt.

West Marine (Watsonville, CA; www.westmarine.com), the nation's top boating supplies retailer, was looking for help with forecast and inventory management, given the fluctuations of its seasonal inventory. The company has used its demand forecasting software to achieve 96% in-stocks during peak season, maintain 85% forecast accuracy, drive $3 million in costs out of distribution centers, and improve visibility and collaboration with suppliers.

Frontline Solutions (www.frontlinetoday.com) is the leading source of information and ideas on the strategic use of supply chain execution software and mobile, wireless, and automated identification/data capture. It is published by Advanstar Communications, a worldwide business information company with local offices in Peterborough, NH. The company also publishes Sensors magazine and organizes Sensors Expo. Operating from multiple locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, Advanstar Communications produces numerous business magazines and directories worldwide, hosts a variety of exhibitions and conferences, and offers many Web-based communities.