Lilly Software and Bekins Group Make 3PL Pact

With an aim at providing customers real-time supply-chain visibility, Bekins Group has entered a partnership with N/A, Hampton, NH, to develop an end-to-end 3PL application, the companies said.

Bekins, Sioux City, IA, provides third-party logistics and fulfillment services for such market sectors as food processing, chemicals, consumer products and technology. Some of its customers are Gateway, Wells and Blue Bunny.

Bekins said it selected Lilly from a field of the best-established warehouse-system vendors because of the company's "superior technology and functionally complete product line." The company said that Lilly's Visual DCMS, a radio-frequency-enabled WMS, would provide the kind of supply-chain information, such as orders and inventory data, that customers want. The application will assist Bekins improve customer service and satisfaction.

"The third-party logistics industry is an exciting marketplace, especially for emerging e-commerce technologies," Stanley Chew, Lilly Software's vice president for distribution, said. "Bekins Group signed with Lilly because they recognized the capabilities of our end-to-end distribution solutions from the Internet all the way through our best-of-breed warehouse management system. Lilly Software offered system solutions that fit with Bekins' vision of what it needs to succeed in today's new economy."

Lilly said that a Bekins Group pilot site would be in production by August, with a multiple site rollout planned for a later date.