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NEWS RELEASE —
Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. and LogicTools Partner to Assist Steelcase, Inc. with North American Distribution Strategy
Chicago - September 15, 2005 — LogicTools, a leading developer of supply chain planning solutions, announced today that Steelcase, Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of contract office furniture, has reported early success in using LogicNet Plus to devise a new North American distribution strategy.
The project was conducted in partnership with Supply Chain Solutions, Inc., a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based consulting firm.
"The loftiest goal we had to achieve for Steelcase was to ensure that its end-customers would receive large orders all in one delivery," said Jim Ward, President of Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. "LogicTools’ LogicNet Plus allowed us to cost-justify our plan for nine regional distribution centers (RDCs) that would change the way Steelcase did business, and benefit its dealers and customers with dramatic and obvious cost savings."
The tool also allowed Supply Chain Solutions to continuously track those cost savings, and launch the first two of nine RDCs in a shorter amount of time than expected. LogicNet Plus is a proprietary optimization solver which quickly analyzes various tradeoffs between production costs, warehousing costs, transportation costs and service requirements to arrive at the best distribution solution.
"Everything we do must improve the customer experience," said Joe Verbraksa, vice president of transportation. “The supply chain is a big part of that – if we can meet the needs of our dealers, they can keep their commitments to the customer, and ultimately, the customer’s relationship with us is solidified. The teams at Supply Chain Solutions and LogicTools are as passionate about customer closeness as we are, so they were the perfect partners to help us.”
Using LogicNet Plus, Steelcase was able to make strides towards efficiency, changes that will translate to the company’s bottom line.
“Our dealers enjoy the fact that fewer trucks are coming to their facilities,” Verbraska said. “They can clearly see the value of what my team and SCS are bringing to the table. Our new system is really just getting started, and we expect the improvements to continue making a positive and dramatic impact for years to come.”
About Supply Chain Solutions, Inc.
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. was founded on the understanding that ongoing supply chain improvements are crucial to a company’s survival and growth potential. The company creates value for clients through assessment, design, implementation and management of end-to-end integrated supply chain solutions. The SCS family of companies includes Supply Chain Shipping, SC Intech, Supply Chain Sourcing and Supply Chain Diversity. Visit www.scsolutionsinc.com for more information.
About LogicTools
LogicTools (www.logic-tools.com) a leading provider of supply chain planning solutions was founded in 1995 by David Simchi-Levi, Professor of engineering systems at MIT. LogicTools provides the expertise, software, services and support that enable comprehensive supply chain planning processes in a variety of industries. LogicTools’ suite of supply chain planning solutions includes network design, inventory planning, and multi-site production sourcing. LogicTools is a long-time SAP Software Partner through its certified integration of LogicNet Plus® which is offered as an extension to the mySAPTM Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM) solution and Inventory AnalystTM, a multi-echelon inventory optimization solution which is Powered by SAP NetWeaver.
About Steelcase
Steelcase, the global leader in the office furniture industry, helps people have a better work experience by providing products, services and insights into the ways people work. The company designs and manufactures architecture, furniture and technology products. Founded in 1912 and headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Steelcase (NYSE:SCS) serves customers through a network of more than 800 independent dealers and approximately 14,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 revenue was $2.6 billion. 
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