CC&S to Use Manugistics Software to Streamline Transportation Management

Crown Cork & Seal, the worldwide supplier of packaging products to consumer marketing companies, will be using Manugistics5 software from Manugistics Group, Inc. to optimize its supply chain around its customers. Crown anticipates improved efficiencies and a competitive advantage through supply chain management by utilizing the software to optimize its transportation network across multiple plants to meet customer needs.

An $8.5 billion manufacturer of metal and plastic packaging products for food, beverage, household and other consumer products, Crown operates 247 plants located in 49 countries worldwide. The Philadelphia-based packaging supplier will initially be using Manugistics5 to optimize transportation management, including planning for inbound, outbound and inter-plant movement of raw materials, finished goods and work-in-process.

"We were looking for a long-term partner that could help us achieve a competitive advantage both by first optimizing our internal supply chain and then through collaboration with our key customers," said Mike Dunleavy, VP of business development for Crown. "Many vendors either offered a supply chain solution with limited transportation functionality or a transportation-only solution with no support for the other critical functions along the supply chain."

Crown's Ed Hatter, VP of transportation, said that optimizing transportation was where the company needed to start to drive significant savings and efficiency. "In addition," said Hatter, "we needed to manage a supply chain that included more than 100 locations in North America, and Manugistics had the best solution for centralized planning in a multi-plant environment."

Headquartered in Rockville, MD, Manugistics Group, Inc. is a supplier of solutions for customer-centric supply chain optimization and, the company says, has the largest global client base of any supply chain provider. The company's solutions are used by more than 850 companies to improve the flow of product within and among companies from raw materials or parts through manufacturing to delivery of product to the end customer. Manugistics' solutions enable its clients, such as companies like Compaq, DuPont, Harley-Davidson, Nestle, Nike, Nortel and Wal-Mart, to create and optimize their supply chains around their customers.

For more information: Crown Cork & Seal, One Crown Way, Philadelphia PA 19154-4599, Tel: 215-698-5100; Manugistics, Inc., 2115 East Jefferson St., Rockville, MD 20852-4999, Tel: 301-984-5000.