Descartes Optimizes Inbound Shipments for Top 20 Fortune 500 Healthcare Retail Company
NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NRF 99th Annual Convention & EXPO Convention -- Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG) (Nasdaq:DSGX), a federated global logistics network, announced that a top 20 Fortune 500 healthcare retail company that processes more than a billion drug prescriptions annually and employs more than 200,000 people across 7,000 retail locations and 18 distribution centers, has implemented Descartes' Dock Appointment Scheduling solution to help take control of its inbound supply chain.
Descartes Dock Appointment Scheduling is a collaborative transportation management software that enables shippers, carriers and consignees to schedule loading dock door appointments. It streamlines the dock appointment process by distributing the responsibility for scheduling across the warehouse, carriers and suppliers. By ensuring all supply chain partners are involved in the process and have visibility into requested, scheduled and rescheduled dock appointments, this solution optimizes receiving operations for inbound shipments to a distribution centre or warehouse.
With Descartes' Dock Appointment Scheduling solution, the healthcare company gained control over its inbound shipments, providing it with much needed reliability to lower costs and drive efficiencies in its operations. By planning more effectively, the company has increased its warehouse efficiency, and can now prevent out-of-stock situations and prioritize goods that are running low on inventory.
With the ability to optimize the receipt of goods at set days/times, the company has seen a dramatic improvement in inventory turns. Time-sensitive promotional items are also more readily available to meet customer demand.
Through effective planning, the company has greater insight into when staff is required for inbound receiving, allowing them to optimize hours of service and level the labor load. This eliminates the costly issue of understaffing when goods are not received on time and overtime must be paid; or overstaffing situations where productivity declines due to the incorrect utilization and allocation of resources.
While process improvements are seen in all aspects of this customer's implementation, one of the most critical measurements of success in effective planning is a decrease in the amount of safety stock required and a reduction in variability as to when goods will be replenished, said Ken Wood, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Descartes. Thanks to Descartes' Dock Appointment Scheduling solution, the healthcare retail company can better manage inventory levels, and the cycle time between when a purchase order is issued and goods are received has decreased. With advanced visibility into inbound shipments, the company can now focus more of its attention on the variability of demand.
The healthcare retailer has also seen a huge improvement in partner collaboration, as suppliers now have visibility into the real-time performance and compliance of carriers. Since suppliers are responsible for carrier payments, accurate data and insight into the delivery process has also minimized the number of dispute situations by ensuring deferred appointments are justified and noted.
For more information about Descartes' Logistics Suite for Retailers and federated platform, visit Descartes representatives at the NRF 99th Annual Convention & EXPO Convention at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City from January 10 to 13 at Booth #1623.
About Descartes
Descartes (TSX:DSG) (Nasdaq:DSGX), is making the world a better place by enabling global organizations with logistics-intensive businesses to save money by improving the productivity and performance of their operations. Underlying Descartes' offerings is the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN), one of the world's most extensive multi-modal business applications network. As a federated platform, the Descartes GLN combines with component-based 'nano' sized applications to provide messaging services between logistics trading partners, shipment management services to help manage third party carriers and private fleet management services for organizations of all sizes. Descartes' solutions and services deliver results by enabling organizations around the world to reduce administrative costs, billing cycles, fleet size, contract carrier costs, and mileage driven; improve pickup and delivery reliability; and optimize working capital through fleet visibility. Descartes' hosted, transactional and packaged solutions deliver repeatable, measurable results and fast time-to-value. Descartes customers include an estimated 1,600 ground carriers and more than 90 airlines, 30 ocean carriers, 900 freight forwarders and third-party providers of logistics services, and hundreds of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, private fleet owners and regulatory agencies. The company has more than 400 employees and is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Montreal, Miami, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Derby, London, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Toronto. For more information, visit www.descartes.com.
The Descartes Systems Group logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4065
This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking statements) that relate to Descartes' solution offering and potential benefits derived therefrom; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities commissions across Canada. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Descartes Dock Appointment Scheduling is a collaborative transportation management software that enables shippers, carriers and consignees to schedule loading dock door appointments. It streamlines the dock appointment process by distributing the responsibility for scheduling across the warehouse, carriers and suppliers. By ensuring all supply chain partners are involved in the process and have visibility into requested, scheduled and rescheduled dock appointments, this solution optimizes receiving operations for inbound shipments to a distribution centre or warehouse.
With Descartes' Dock Appointment Scheduling solution, the healthcare company gained control over its inbound shipments, providing it with much needed reliability to lower costs and drive efficiencies in its operations. By planning more effectively, the company has increased its warehouse efficiency, and can now prevent out-of-stock situations and prioritize goods that are running low on inventory.
With the ability to optimize the receipt of goods at set days/times, the company has seen a dramatic improvement in inventory turns. Time-sensitive promotional items are also more readily available to meet customer demand.
Through effective planning, the company has greater insight into when staff is required for inbound receiving, allowing them to optimize hours of service and level the labor load. This eliminates the costly issue of understaffing when goods are not received on time and overtime must be paid; or overstaffing situations where productivity declines due to the incorrect utilization and allocation of resources.
While process improvements are seen in all aspects of this customer's implementation, one of the most critical measurements of success in effective planning is a decrease in the amount of safety stock required and a reduction in variability as to when goods will be replenished, said Ken Wood, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Descartes. Thanks to Descartes' Dock Appointment Scheduling solution, the healthcare retail company can better manage inventory levels, and the cycle time between when a purchase order is issued and goods are received has decreased. With advanced visibility into inbound shipments, the company can now focus more of its attention on the variability of demand.
The healthcare retailer has also seen a huge improvement in partner collaboration, as suppliers now have visibility into the real-time performance and compliance of carriers. Since suppliers are responsible for carrier payments, accurate data and insight into the delivery process has also minimized the number of dispute situations by ensuring deferred appointments are justified and noted.
For more information about Descartes' Logistics Suite for Retailers and federated platform, visit Descartes representatives at the NRF 99th Annual Convention & EXPO Convention at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City from January 10 to 13 at Booth #1623.
About Descartes
Descartes (TSX:DSG) (Nasdaq:DSGX), is making the world a better place by enabling global organizations with logistics-intensive businesses to save money by improving the productivity and performance of their operations. Underlying Descartes' offerings is the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN), one of the world's most extensive multi-modal business applications network. As a federated platform, the Descartes GLN combines with component-based 'nano' sized applications to provide messaging services between logistics trading partners, shipment management services to help manage third party carriers and private fleet management services for organizations of all sizes. Descartes' solutions and services deliver results by enabling organizations around the world to reduce administrative costs, billing cycles, fleet size, contract carrier costs, and mileage driven; improve pickup and delivery reliability; and optimize working capital through fleet visibility. Descartes' hosted, transactional and packaged solutions deliver repeatable, measurable results and fast time-to-value. Descartes customers include an estimated 1,600 ground carriers and more than 90 airlines, 30 ocean carriers, 900 freight forwarders and third-party providers of logistics services, and hundreds of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, private fleet owners and regulatory agencies. The company has more than 400 employees and is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Montreal, Miami, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Derby, London, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Toronto. For more information, visit www.descartes.com.
The Descartes Systems Group logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4065
This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking statements) that relate to Descartes' solution offering and potential benefits derived therefrom; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities commissions across Canada. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.