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Global Institute of Logistics Press Release - 12 May 2004

Advanta Awarded for Contribution to Third Party Logistics

Advanta Software has been recognised by the Global Institute of Logistics for its contribution to the development of operating standards within the 3rd Party logistics sector

Following a detailed correlated research and selection process into the provision of software solutions to the transport and third party logistics industry, the Awards Committee at the Global Institute of Logistics (GIL) has designated Advanta Software as the recipient of it’s 'Best Australian Warehouse Management Solution 2004” accreditation. The comprehensive study conducted by the research department of the Institute over the last year draws for a significant part on a quality-ranking system based on responses provided by concerned parties within the global third party logistics (3PL) sector. The research department of the Institute has been conducting a comprehensive study into the provision and application of software solutions in the 3PL sector over the last year and this has led to the Institute’s recognition of Advanta. The Institute, in its research of warehouse management solutions specifically looked at a range of factors applied by those in the information technology sector that are contributing to the development and advancement of logistics and best practice in the sector. These include applications functionality, implementation and support capability, supplier stability and management vision. Advanta rated exceptionally highly across all factors and accordingly marks Advanta as leading the way in 3PL applications.

One of the outcomes of the study sees Advanta emerge as the unequivocal choice of the Awards Committee for conferring of its 'Best Australian 3PL Warehouse Management Solution 2004”, for its BILS (Berger Integrated Logistics Suite) software.

The BILS system rated highly in terms of warehouse management functionality. In addition it was specifically found to be one of the few systems able to cope with the wide variety of requirements typically demanded by the 3PL sector. This was evidenced by the application of the system in a broad range of sites from small freight forwarding warehouse operations through to highly complex, high volume pick-pack DC’s.

BILS has been designed to control every aspect of contract logistics operations. This includes not only the warehouse management functions but also extends to cover transport operations and a variety of value added services starting to be offered by 3PL organisations. This is possible because BILS incorporates a full ERP suite, with Supply Chain Management, CRM, Web ordering, Sales Analysis, and Financials.

Advanta’s clients have used this breadth of functionality to grow their own business operations. It has allowed then to win new business by offering differentiating services in the market, taking them well beyond provision of simple warehousing services.

Advanta’s 3PL clients have taken on management of their customers’ supply chain, or management of client ERP functions such as customer billing and credit control.

Advanta’s BILS system has been designed to control every aspect of warehouse operation. This includes physical receipt and put away, stock replenishment and order picking. The systems are a set of high-end packages developed over the past 20 years. They address the needs of all types of distributors and contract warehousing organisations. Latest developments in optimising warehouse throughput and space utilisation have been incorporated into the system, providing tangible benefits to users. Paperless warehousing techniques such as radio frequency terminals provide real time information to all warehouse personnel to control, measure and manage all warehouse activities. These paperless techniques when coupled with barcode scanning, offer vastly increased accuracy.

About Advanta Software

Commenting on the Award Kieran Ring CEO of the Institute said:

“In designating Advanta as recipient of this award of excellence for its work in the development of 3PL Solutions in Australia, we are paying tribute to an organisation that has developed and nurtured its solutions over 30 years.

"In the revolution that is information technology, Advanta has been a pioneering force along each step of the way since its inception in 1973. Although often considered in its infancy, what we are now experiencing in I.T. has taken a generation to evolve. Few companies can claim the level of experience that this company can boast.

"The DNA of 3PL’s is I.T., the whole concept of supply chain has evolved from its development and companies like Advanta and others across the globe have been its architects. By virtue of the nature of the product customers place an enormous amount of responsibility on the operating platform at the core of their business and as such they must have absolute confidence in their system provider and the solutions they employ.

"Our award seeks to recognise the pedigree of Advanta and in so doing we acknowledge the fundamental importance of experience through hands on involvement and the crucial advantage of dependent and comprehensive customer support as the leading bench marks in the selection and successful application of such systems, characteristics we believe Advanta has in abundance.”

Commenting on the Award Robert Kery CEO of Advanta Software said:

“We are delighted to receive this recognition from the Global Institute of Logistics. Advanta’s simple mission over the past three decades has been to develop IT solutions that deliver long term value to our client organisations. It is very pleasing to know that our efforts have yielded this recognition.

"The 3PL industry is undergoing continued technological changes – we at Advanta are looking forward to the coming decades with the same enthusiasm that has driven us in the past. This will no doubt see us applying new technologies to create innovative solutions to address the constant challenge to reduce cost, increase productivity and efficiency.“

About the Global Institute of Logistics

Membership is drawn from the world's 3rd party logistics community and is by invitation. Participants are organisations who have met the necessary standards for membership and that have been identified through the Institutes G50 programme. The G5O programme aims to establish the worlds leading logistics providers territory by territory across the globe.

The Institute acts as an intelligence-gathering agency and disseminates this information in the form of daily news reports and briefings via this website and our journal "RELAY".

The Institute promotes third party logistics to end-users through its circulation of regional and global reports. Our reports examine the changing face of the logistics industry and include profiles on leading regional 3PL's. These profiles are supported by case studies demonstrating logistics in action and illustrating the cost-cutting, sales-building achievements of the world's best 3PLs.

PRESS CONTACT
Kieran F. Ring

New York
(1) 212 672 1846
London
(44) 207 887 1498
For more information visit www.globeinst.org

About Warehouse Management

The warehouse management system provides a formal structure under which the distribution center’s operational activities are carried out by operators as directed by a precise set of instructions, which are created by the distribution center management team. The highest priorities in any warehouse are to maximise storage utilisation, minimise the costs of receiving and order picking, and achieve higher customer service levels. An agile supply chain is one that can do more than simply move goods from Poin t A to Point B. It's one that can manage increasing complexities with ease. It must adapt quickly to changing customer demand, vendor compliance initiatives and multi-channel issues. The primary purpose of a warehouse management system is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation and process the associated transactions. Directed picking, directed replenishment, and directed putaway are the key to warehouse management system. The detailed set-up and processing within a warehouse management system can vary significantly from one software vendor to another, however the basic logic will use a combination of item, location, quantity, unit of measure, and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. Warehouse management systems along with automated data collection give rise to increases in accuracy and reduction in labor costs.

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