Pacer's Distribution Arm Implements LogiMax Warehouse Management System; Importers of 2006 Peak-Season Freight Are Already Benefiting from Improved Functionality and Inventory Visibility
The new system, which has been customized to support Pacer's value-added operations in Southern California, provides 24-hour web-based customer reporting and full inventory management capabilities, including radio frequency (RF) and barcoding, according to Kent Prokop, president of PDS.
He said it also positions the company to offer RFID (radio frequency identification) services with minimal additional cost and effort.
Customers successfully transitioned
Prokop said virtually all of Pacer's existing warehouse customers have been transitioned to the new WMS system, and that the company is successfully handling record volumes of Asian imports through its warehousing and cross-dock facilities in the Los Angeles - Long Beach region, the nation's principal gateway for Asian freight.
He noted that inbound container flows through the Los Angeles gateway, on an industry-wide basis, were up by 11.3 percent during the first half of the year.
"Importers and distributors are already benefiting from improved functionality and inventory visibility," said Prokop.
Looking ahead
According to Prokop, installation of the new WMS has helped prepare Pacer to better handle rapidly escalating inbound freight volumes in the future. "We are also better prepared to meet customer demands for increasingly complex value-added services, and the strict compliance requirements of today's large big-box retailers in such areas as EDI, systems integration, and UCC labeling." He added that PDS expects the added functionality will attract additional business.
PDS operates more than 800,000 square feet of warehousing and cross-dock capacity in the Los Angeles area, providing such services as consolidation, deconsolidation, transloading and cross-dock operations, order fulfillment, sorting and labeling, product manipulation, and even in-house drayage (local trucking). Its affiliates in the Pacer group also provide rail and truck brokerage, intermodal transportation, ocean services, and other supply-chain services.
The LogiMax warehouse management system was developed by ICS, a global software development and systems implementation firm specializing in supply-chain technology solutions.
About Pacer International: Pacer International, a leading non-asset based North America third-party logistics and freight transportation provider, offers a broad array of logistics and other services through its subsidiaries and divisions to facilitate the movement of freight from origin to destination. Its wholesale services include Stacktrain (cost-efficient, two-tiered rail transportation for containerized shipments) and cartage (local trucking) services; and its retail services include intermodal marketing, truck brokerage, trucking services, warehousing and distribution, international freight forwarding, and supply-chain management services. Pacer International is headquartered in Concord, California. Its principal business units, Pacer Stacktrain and Pacer Global Logistics, are headquartered in Concord CA and in Dublin OH, respectively. Web site: www.pacer-international.com
About ICS: For 25 years, ICS has provided technology solutions and consulting services for manufacturing, distribution and construction firms. ICS is the developer of LogiMax WMS solutions for third-party logistics firms; RF-SMART automated data collection solutions for JD Edwards and Microsoft Dynamics AX; and Equential mobile applications for construction contractors. Web site: www.ICSfl.com.
Certain Forward-Looking Statements -- This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) which are based on the company's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are general economic and business conditions; congestion, work stoppages, equipment and capacity shortages, weather related issues and service disruptions affecting our rail and motor transportation providers; industry trends, including changes in the costs of services from rail and motor transportation providers; the loss of one or more of our major customers; competitive pressures in the marketplace; the frequency and severity of accidents, particularly involving our trucking operations; changes in our business strategy, development plans or cost savings plans; changes in, or the failure to comply with, government regulation; and difficulties in maintaining, enhancing or integrating our information technology systems. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the company's business is set forth in the company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2005. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, expected or intended. Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, the company does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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