Sargento Selects Sterling Commerce On-Demand Software to Optimize Its Transportation Operations.

Sterling Transportation Management Enables Sargento to Improve Logistics Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Sterling Commerce, the multi-enterprise collaboration company and a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), today announced that Sargento Transportation LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sargento Foods Inc., has implemented Sterling Transportation Management. The on-demand software works with Sargento's existing supply chain applications and Sterling Collaboration Network to automate its freight and invoicing processes, enabling the company to improve logistics efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Sargento selected Sterling Transportation Management for its on-demand architecture and rich application functionality, including settlement process automation and improved reporting, that have allowed the company to fully automate its transportation management process. Sterling Transportation Management provides access to a 6400-member carrier network and applications that enable Sargento to view, plan, execute, settle and analyze their inbound and outbound transportation.

"Sargento strives to be innovative in everything from how we shred cheese to how we use technology, such as on-demand software, to serve our customers better and more flexibly," said Keith Hartlaub, General Manager at Sargento Transportation, LLC. "Sterling Transportation Management enables us to automate our complex logistics processes, therefore we can focus on our core business of delivering high quality products on-time and at competitive prices."

With an on-demand architecture, Sterling Transportation Management integrated quickly with Sargento's existing systems and replaced the company's legacy transportation management system. Also, the Sargento IT staff was not extensively burdened with implementation and maintenance, which resulted in lower implementation costs.

Automating the settlement process is one of the biggest benefits Sargento expects to get from Sterling Transportation Management. It was not offered by other solutions Sargento considered. Eventually, this will eliminate manual invoicing from the company's commercial carriers and will enable Sargento to move to a paperless invoicing system.

Sterling Transportation Management also offers new analytical capabilities to Sargento. For example, the application allows Sargento to monitor carrier performance to a much greater extent than in the past through robust reporting and tracking, including on-time delivery and cost per lane and associated accessorial costs.

Sterling Commerce Solutions Automate Entire Order to Shipment Process

With the addition of Sterling Transportation Management, Sargento is able to automate its entire order-to-shipment process for orders placed through the Sterling Collaboration Network. The orders are accepted by Sargento's order management application and automatically fed into the Sterling Transportation Management system for transportation planning. Then, the plan is sent through the order management application to the warehouse management application for freight loading.

Sargento has used the Sterling Collaboration Network since 1996 for all of its electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions. The Sterling Collaboration Network is the market leader in EDI and managed file transfer (MFT), stemming from having some 250 million invoices flowing through its infrastructure each year. It incorporates the advantages of a full-service private network with a real-time, event-driven environment.

"Sterling Commerce is a vital portion of the whole integration package," added Hartlaub. "We're a long-term partner on the EDI side, and I hope to have the same partnership on the application side with Sterling Transportation Management."

About Sterling Commerce

Sterling Commerce, a subsidiary of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), has more than 30 years of leadership and expertise in extending processes beyond the edge of the enterprise to enable visible business with suppliers, customers, partners and employees. With more than 29,000 customers worldwide, the company is one of the world's largest providers of multi-enterprise collaboration solutions. Sterling Commerce builds collaborative, multi-enterprise communities for customers in the retail, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and telecommunications industries. For detailed, up-to-date information about Sterling Commerce and its solutions, visit www.sterlingcommerce.com.