March 6, 2007   -  In this Issue

"Vendor Managed Inventory: What's Stopping You?" was the title of a presentation made by Bill Edwards, Vice President of Roll & Hold division, to members of the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) at their annual Carbon Steel Conference. Instead of companies having to keep track of their own inventories of goods and periodically re-order from their suppliers, under a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system the suppliers take the responsibility to know what the customer needs and when it is needed. It's basically backwards from conventional thinking because the supplier manages the customer's inventory. VMI procedures have been in place for over ten years in retail supply chains. But in industrial applications, such as steel industry supply chains, VMI applications aren't as common yet the benefits are as numerous. ADS presented a case study of one VMI program for a major automotive customer who is utilizing the VMI functionality within the ADS LoMaS Supply Chain Management Software program.

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Area Transportation's new Mobile Dispatch and GPS Tracking system has been working out so well, that ADS was invited to present their case study at the recent "Eye for Transport" conference. Rudy Bland, Assistant Vice President for Area Transportation division and Tom Hatz, Director of New Technologies for ADS presented the case study of how ADS researched and built this new system. It started at last year's conference learning about the various solution offerings and vendors in the realm of GPS solutions for logistics. ADS ultimately selected the BlackBerry as the preferred device, and Sprint/Nextel and Xora as the vendors. (Xora is the software component that captures the GPS information from the BlackBerry devices and provides a dispatching and time tracking system.) The GPS "off-the-shelf" solution provided by Xora was a good fit for our needs. However, the dispatching and time tracking component was geared more towards a "field services" business model, rather than our "logistics" business model. We ended up building a "hybrid" solution consisting of vendor components and a key custom built user interface for the BlackBerry devices. "We couldn't be more pleased with the finished product but there were definitely bumps along the way," stated Hatz. "So often you learn of solutions at these conferences and forget that there is no one-size fits all "off-the-shelf" technology. Vendors know a lot about their product and nothing about your business. Our presentation focused on the importance of working closely with your vendors for the best finished product. It's a learning experience on both sides, and working together helps draw out the best of both."

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• Experiencing input errors?
• Don't have EDI and you customers want it?
• Don't have the IT staff available to implement a new system?
• Think you need to purchase a whole new system to have EDI functionality?

If you answered "Yes" to any one of the above questions, LoMaS® Lite is the answer to your EDI dilemma. The EDI translation engine within ADS' supply chain management system, LoMaS® costs considerably less than VAN services and other EDI packages, and requires no change to your existing system.  LoMaS® ' EDI interface translates your data into outbound EDI transaction sets as well as taking inbound EDI communications and translating the data to meet your format requirements. LoMaS® accommodates any of your customer's requirements.  It's quick, easy, and cost effective -- no matter how large or small your business.

ADS broke the mold for its traditional blue box warehouses several years ago with its entrance into the automotive pin pallet handling business, and is presently readying its Eldridge, Iowa Roll & Hold facility for material handling of yet another non-coil metals product; specifically, plates and component parts. Plate hooks, racking systems, narrow aisle forklifts - are all soon to be part of the new face of Eldridge.

Need to reduce costs and have better control over your parts supply inventory? Consider storage of master coils awaiting processing or component parts from various suppliers in one facility. ADS will transport before and after processing, store, kit parts from various suppliers and deliver all on one truck, with each shipper paying his share of the transportation costs. Plus, with ADS' internet accessible Inventory Management System you can view, order, and release product 24/7.

New Intermodal Sled Promotes Safety and Provides System Efficiencies

Continuous Improvement has been at play at Western Intermodal with the introduction into active duty of a next generation Sled device onto which loads are secured before being slid into an intermodal container. WESTERN worked with a local material handling manufacturer for two years to perfect the new Sled which promotes safety in intermodal transportation and reduced load prep time by eliminating need for excessive amounts of lumber for blocking and bracing up to railroad standards. Additionally, the Sleds design accommodates safe handling of multiple commodities thereby allowing for added standardization in the Western Intermodal system.

 
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Gordy Gustafson, Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for ADS Logistics, LLC has been named President for the Midwest Association of Rail Shippers (MARS). MARS (www.railshippers.com) is one of five regional North American (Canada, Mexico and the United States) associations linked under the North American Rail Shippers umbrella. MARS' objective is to provide an open forum for resolving rail transportation and car supply issues, coupled with programs designed to educate and inform the membership in areas of railroad operating practices, new innovations in transportation and legislative matters. "I've been a member since 1979 and have always found the speakers and topics to be timely issues delivered by industry experts," commented Gustafson. "MARS is a catalyst for identifying and resolving industry issues and providing tools that benefit members in their job performance. I look forward during my term to contributing to MARS continued success."

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ADS Logistics plans to expand transportation services with the establishment of a new Brokerage division within its Area Transportation business unit. "Portions of the metals industry have been anxious in the past about "brokerage" due to potential concerns about delivery reliability and liability coverage in the absence of a direct trucker relationship," stated Tom Eatinger, Vice President and General Manager for ADS' Area Transportation division. "The fact is however, that AREA's high level of quality service and demonstrated ability to provide reliable brokered loads through our managed services over the last several years has successfully mitigated customer perceptions and concerns relative to brokerage. AREA has proven this capability to be a valuable addition to any freight manager's arsenal of solutions."

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