- EXELlent relationship. Swindon Pressings Ltd. (SPL), which is owned by the BMW Group, has renewed its contract with Exel for another three years. Exel, a leading third-party logistics services provider, will continue to provide SPL with internal logistics services in the U.K., managing the movement of material—including raw materials and semi-finished and finished goods—on the 15-acre Swindon site to support SPL's manufacturing activities.
- Do you copy? GT Nexus, a leading provider of global logistics and supply chain execution technology, has been awarded a contract by Xerox Corp. for the software and services to support Xerox's global supply chain improvement initiative. Under the multi-year contract, GT Nexus will configure and deploy its Enterprise Series 7 software solution in a hosted, Web-based private logistics network specifically for Xerox and its supply chain partners and service providers. The company will also provide implementation, integration, partner connectivity and ongoing network support services for the solution.
- Honors program. Intermec Technologies Corp. has named Bluesoft Inc. of San Mateo, Calif., to its Honors Partner program. Bluesoft's AeroScout WLAN Location System adds location capability to a Wi-Fi wireless network. The AeroScout system, which has applications in markets ranging from manufacturing and logistics to retail and health care, provides realtime location information on high-value assets such as forklifts, trailers and expensive tooling, which can save manufacturers time and money in locating and managing equipment. AeroScout's location-based authentication capabilities also can be used to automatically detect and locate unauthorized network users and deny them access to the network.
- Extra! Extra! Alvey Systems, an FKI Logistex member company and integrator of automated material flow solutions, has signed a contract with The Courier-Journal, a Louisville, Ky., newspaper, to provide key material handling system components in its new manufacturing plant. Among the systems Alvey Systems will provide for the 135,000-square-foot facility is an advanced bundle sortation and distribution system. The project also features 10 newspaper tie-lines and conveyors, in addition to merging and sortation equipment that moves and routes newspapers through the plant. Ten inputs will sort and distribute bundled newspapers to five cart-loader output stations and four bulk-loading output stations. The system's maximum capacity is 132 bundles per minute, with each bundle containing 35 to 40 newspapers.
- Self-improvement regimen. General Nutrition Companies Inc. (GNC), a leader in specialized nutritional supplements, has licensed RedPrairie's DigitaLogistix suite of supply chain execution solutions to improve efficiency, customer service and overall operations. The areas GNC has earmarked for improvement include warehouse, labor and transportation management, and the "scorecarding" of vendors and internal operations.
- Anything for a buck. HighJump Software, a provider of extended supply chain execution (SCE) solutions, has announced that 99 Cents Only Stores has selected its Supply Chain Advantage solution to manage operations as the company continues its growth and expansion. HighJump's solution will boost warehousing, fulfillment and distribution operations in 99 Cents Only Stores' complex, high-volume environment.
newsworthy
