- On a good footing. Birkenstock Footprint Sandals Inc., a company that imports and distributes Birkenstock footwear from Germany in the United States, says it will shorten special-order handling time by weeks and increase its product offering in U.S. retail stores through an agr e ement with UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Under the agreement, UPS Supply Chain Solutions will provide a dedicated team using UPS's full p o rtfolio of services (including air, ocean, customs brokerage and small package delivery) to move shipments directly to retail outlets. This alleviates interim handling and repackaging steps typical of the retail distribution process. UPS will also deliver retailer orders for the spring 20 0 4 season beginning this fall.
- IT's out of this world. GeoLogistics Corp., one of the world's largest global third-party logistics companies, has announced a strategic alliance with Syntel Inc., a global information technology (IT) services firm. The multi-year agreement will enhance GeoLogistics' ability to deliver application solutions in support of its extensive internal operations and its customers' supply chain management activities on a global basis. Syntel assumes ongoing management and operational responsibility for all GeoLogistics IT applications, including GeoVista, which provides global visibility for its customers' supply chains. Syntel, incidentally, has a high standard to uphold: During 2002, information company Datamonitor plc ranked GeoLogistics number one for IT capabilities and number two for overall performance, according to an independent survey of logistics managers at leading European manufacturers and retailers.
- In sync. J&J Snack Foods has selected ESYNC to help it with the installation and integration of a system for controlling pallet flow rack (PFR) staging and storage. In addition to controlling the PFR systems, ESYNC will perform the integration necessary to interface with HighJump's Warehouse Advantage product, currently being implemented at J&J Snack's Pennsauken, N.J., facility.
- Drink orders. Swire Beverages China recently expanded its use of Descartes' routing and scheduling solution, Descartes Roadshow, to manage its sales and delivery operations in mainland China. The company selected the solution after several years of successfully using it in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Descartes solution will help Swire Beverages manage its soft-drink sales in a territory of nearly 400 million people in China.
- Essential oils. USCO Logistics, a North American third-party logistics services provider, has been contracted to manage and operate four distribution centers for Minerva U.S.A. Inc., the North American subsidiary of one of the world's leading olive oil manufacturing and trading companies.
- Air force one. Dana Corp. has selected Kuehne & Nagel as its primary airfreight forwarder worldwide. Dana designs, engineers and manufactures value-added products and systems for automotive, commercial and off-highway vehicle manufacturers and the related aftermarkets.
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