ATLANTA and LONDON, Nov. 27, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Global supply-chain solutions leader Manhattan Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq:MANH), today announced that The Co-operative has successfully deployed the Warehouse Management component of Manhattan Associates' supply chain platform in its new Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) at Thurrock, Essex as the first phase of a UK-wide implementation.
The Co-op's South Eastern region, served by the Thurrock RDC, has already enjoyed a marked increase in on-shelf availability, greater delivery efficiencies and the benefits of a new distribution network capable of supporting future growth. The company anticipates that the system will have paid for itself through cost savings in less than three years.
The Co-op selected Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management solution for Open Systems to manage the distribution of products for its food retail business following a review of its supply chain infrastructure in 2003. As a result, the company is in the process of transforming its entire distribution network, with improvements that include a new national distribution centre in Coventry and a re-planning of the company's delivery routes nationwide.
The South East is the first region to benefit from the full working model of the Co-op's new vision. It will subsequently be taken to the organisation's RDC in Nottingham, before being implemented at the national distribution centre in Coventry.
Trevor Ashworth, director of food retail logistics at the Co-op, explained, "We're outperforming the market in terms of like for like sales growth and make more than 38,000 deliveries a week to our stores. We could never have maintained these levels with our old solution; we were suffering from too many orders, too many trucks, too much admin and too much hassle! On-shelf availability has increased significantly since we rolled out the new software and the entire region is running far more efficiently. The South East used to be our worst-performing region; now it is our best. The only difference that can explain the improvement is Manhattan Associates."
Allen Scott, Manhattan Associates' UK managing director, commented, "The Co-op's primary challenge is servicing 3,300 food retail stores located across the UK, from the Shetland Islands to the Channel Islands. The flow of goods has to be fast, accurate, and easy to view at a glance. We are proud to be working with the organisation as it transforms its supply chain and we look forward to helping the Co-op achieve its goal of becoming the country's leader in convenience retailing."
About The Co-operative
The Co-operative is the new name for the company created following the amalgamation of The Co-operative Group and United Co-operatives on Sunday 29 July 2007. The new Society is the world's largest consumer co-operative with a turnover of more than 9 billion pounds, 4.5 million members and 87,500 employees.
The new organisation operates over 4,500 trading outlets throughout the UK, including food stores, pharmacies, travel branches and funeral homes, which will adopt the uniformed brand - The Co-operative - to be rolled out across the estate. For more information about The Co-operative, please visit www.co-operative.co.uk.
About Manhattan Associates, Inc.
Manhattan Associates(r) provides global supply chain solutions to organisations that consider supply chain software, processes and technology strategic to market leadership. The company's software portfolio includes five key Supply Chain Solution Suites: Planning and Forecasting, Inventory Optimisation, Order Lifecycle Management, Transportation Lifecycle Management and Distribution Management. These solution suites are enhanced by Platform Applications - including Supply Chain Intelligence, Supply Chain Visibility and Supply Chain Event Management - that organise and deliver the information and processes needed to optimise supply chains across functions and locations within and outside an enterprise. A Supply Chain Process Platform provides a unifying architecture that fosters agility and scalability while minimising solution implementation, evolution and support costs. More than 1,200 customers worldwide use Manhattan Associates' global supply chain solutions to enhance profitability and build sustainable competitive advantage. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.