Logistics Software: California Distribution Inc. Upgrades Logistics Management Software To Accellos Enterprise 3PL
California Distribution Inc. is upgrading its third party logistics (3PL) software from a Delfour WarehouseLogic third party logistics (3PL) system in use for more than six years to Accellos Enterprise 3PL, formerly Delfour SmartEnterprise. In the process it is transitioning from on-site software residing on an aging HP 9000 UNIX platform to an ASP version hosted by Accellos at the Accellos Data Center in Toronto. The company purchased a 41-seat license for the Linux environment and it projects cutover to the new solution in March.
California Distribution operates two warehouses with a total of 375,000 square feet, serving 40 customers through a permanent complement of 75 employees and up to 75 temporary workers. It receives, stores and ships a variety of dry product, including such items as clothing, luggage, chemicals, giftware and electronics, along with some food products. Most of the merchandise is imported through the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles for local, regional and national distribution.
The new solution represents the latest version of Accellos Enterprise 3PL. Key components are On Demand Enterprise Self Service for warehouse clients, Advanced Labor Planning and Automation, Enterprise Revenue Assurance, Client Process Assurance and WMS Foundation.
"We're excited about this upgrade," said California Distribution President Larry Willett, "and we are the first to move to Accellos Enterprise 3PL Version 2.8. We expect to achieve major economies in efficiency and personnel savings and at the same time deliver better service to our customers by consolidating many functions that currently require custom software tools. One of these, for example, schedules dock appointments, which we will now be able to do within Accellos Enterprise 3PL. We are also working with Accellos on a VICS bill of lading that will become a feature of the system."
Accellos Enterprise 3PL abounds in power features, Willett added, including document imaging and customer relationship management. On-Demand Enterprise Self-Service is widely accepted by the company's customers, an enormous advantage given the company's multiple time-zone operations. The system's exceptional inventory visibility enables the company to manage customer product in great detail – by clothing style, color, and size, for example. Several high-volume customers have engaged with the company's B2B electronic commerce solution, which has seven ANSI X.12 transaction sets available with four in regular use.
Willett noted that the company had considered an ASP solution when it purchased WarehouseLogic, but opted for an on-site solution because communications costs at the time were deemed prohibitive. "Today, everything we need can all be accomplished on the Internet at little or no cost," he said. "For us, ASP becomes an ideal solution."
According to Joel Banez, director of information technology, he expects the transition to be straightforward, with data transferring to the new system without modification.
"There are many advantages to us in outsourcing management of the solution," he said. "Customer data will be in a real data center instead of an office at our warehouse, and we will be able to achieve significant savings on IT department resources. It will be professionally tested and maintained by people with intimate knowledge of the system, and with no local assets it will be both secure and immune to the earthquake potential that is a constant in Southern California."
About Accellos Inc.
Accellos is a global provider of, logistics, warehouse, 3PL, transportation and mobile fleet management solutions. Accellos addresses the supply chain management and execution market with warehouse management systems for multiple environments; Microsoft Windows-based transportation management solutions; and in-field mobile resource management solutions. Accellos' powerful supply-chain execution solutions are easy to customize and implement, providing our customers with more innovation for less investment while producing significant savings and greater profitability. Through a culture of innovation, Accellos strikes the perfect balance of customer satisfaction, employee fulfillment and shareholder value, delivering greater profitability and rapid return on investment for our customers and accelerated logistics and warehousing services for the clients they serve.
For more information, email
info@accellos.com or visit
www.accellos.com,
www.headwaterinc.com,
www.radiobeacon.com
For more information, contact:
Jody Rubenovitch
Accellos, Inc.
416-488-6151 ext 218
jody.rubenovitch@accellos.com
Victor Wortman
VW Communications for Accellos, Inc.
310-393-6281
vwortman@earthlink.net
SOURCE: California Distribution Inc. and Accellos Inc.