MarketWatch

June 6, 2007

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Special Announcement: SAP America Slates June 14th Webcast on Managing IT Maturity for LSPs
SAP America will host a webcast panel discussion on June 14 on the topic of managing information-technology maturity for transportation and logistics service providers (LSPs). The event will examine how LSPs can achieve business-wide visibility, cost control and technology integration through IT. "Globalization, outsourcing and shrinking cycle times are adding risk, cost and complexity to transportation operations," said Adrian Gonzalez, director of the Logistics Executive Council of ARC Advisory Group, and a member of the webcast panel. "Companies that take an end-to-end, process-centric perspective will achieve greater financial and operational success." Other panel members include Rodney Strata, industry principal, logistics and transportation industries, SAP America; and J.P. Wiggins, director for industry solutions marketing, travel and transportation, SAP Labs. The moderator will be Jean Murphy, editorial director of Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies magazine.
http://supplychainbrain.com

Lawson Releases New QuickStep Application for Business Asset Management, Cuts Implementation Times
Lawson QuickStep Enterprise Asset Management is now available from Lawson Software. The tool is designed to help asset-reliant companies cut implementation times in half, by pre-configuring between 70 and 90 percent of required processes, the vendor said. Users can capture and manage complex asset data, while tracking assets for compliance with legal and financial legislation, as well as a wide variety of environmental and safety regulations. The software also allows for the managing of work-order requirements for spare parts, coordination of competing demands between maintenance and operations, minimization of procurement costs, and execution of detailed analyses on reliability, performance and cost. Quick Step Enterprise Asset Management can be extended to include integrated support for techniques such as reliability-centered maintenance, which helps companies to evaluate the cost of asset failure versus that of prevention.
http://phx.corporate-ir.net

Envirotainer Plans Big Boost in Temp-Controlled Containers
Envirotainer plans a 10-percent increase in its fleet of temperature-controlled air-cargo containers, to meet the needs of the international healthcare sector. The company will add 200 RKN t2 units, and 175 RAP t2 boxes, to its fleet of 3,500 containers by July 1. Envirotainer said it was responding to demand for equipment from the healthcare industry, along with airline and logistics customers that have developed their own premium cold-chain products by incorporating the use of ALK technology. The boost will satisfy demand for additional containers during traditional peak-demand periods in the third and fourth quarters of the year. Research conducted last year by a consulting firm on behalf of Envirotainer predicted that the volume of temperature-sensitive airfreight required by the healthcare industry and logistics providers would grow at 10 percent annually for the next five years. Envirotainer launched the first-ever active temperature-controlled air-cargo container more than 10 years ago.
http://www.envirotainer.com

Ramco Issues Update of App for Business-Process Modeling
Ramco has made available version 3.0 of its Business Process Platform (BPP), a process-modeling and integrated service environment for composing software applications. Ramco's product models and manages applications independently of the architecture or infrastructure. As a result, users can develop applications to change in accordance with the needs of the business. With "model-to-code" capability, the BPP automates the building of customized applications by integrating dynamic process modeling, a business-service repository, and environment for composing applications in a single system. As the foundation for Ramco's Business Process Delivery System (BPDS), the BPP is the backbone for deploying applications that are composed, not coded, using existing or newly created business services that represent common processes. The BPDS includes a library of more than 1,000 pre-built business services that users deploy in the BPP to create or update various applications. The business services are reusable and pre-packaged, drawing on best practices across a variety of industries, Ramco said.
http://www.ramco.com

Ventyx Creates Enhanced App for Field-Service Management
Ventyx, a vendor of service delivery management (SDM) software, has developed version 8.0 of its Service Suite. The application represents the first product release since the combination of Indus and MDSI, creating Ventyx. Drawing on the Advantex enterprise workforce management platform developed by MDSI, it manages all types of field work, including service, maintenance, inspection, repair, trouble/outage and construction. Among the features of version 8.0 is a new Gantt chart in the Dispatch application, giving dispatch users a graphical overview of shifts worked by mobile users and the orders assigned to those shifts. A color-coded display of states, alerts and "hover" menus provide for more detail, presenting a real-time view of current day orders and activities in the field. The tool can trigger local optimization of workflows as work orders are completed. Enhanced scheduling features for complex, long-duration orders apply to a broader set of clients in multiple industries, Ventyx said. Long-duration orders can be assigned on the Gantt chart manually, or the system can automatically assign them over one or two consecutive shifts. In addition, Service Suite can now share information with a broader set of mobile devices and applications, including smart phones and PDAs with voice and data capability supported by a Java virtual machine.
http://www.ventyx.com

Mincom Launches Tool With Pricing, Billing CRM Application
Mincom has launched Mincom Smart Billing, software for dynamic pricing, billing and customer relationship management for utilities. The action was in response to the increased deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), or "smart metering," the vendor said. Driven by smart meters, smart thermostats and consumer web services, the industry is turning to new channels of communications between energy providers and residential customers. Traditional customer information systems (CIS) are limited to batch-oriented tasks. Built on a service-oriented architecture (SOA), Mincom Smart Billing automates real-time business processes such as billing and customer care, integrating with both the AMI network and the legacy CIS. Smart billing ensures business-process continuity and preserves corporate software investments, Mincom said. Mincom is an Australian company serving such asset-intensive industries as mining, utilities, transport, defense and government around the world.
http://www.mincom.com

DHL Introduces Dedicated Flight Between Chinese Cities
DHL has added a dedicated flight connecting the Chinese cities of Qingdao and Hangzhou with the carrier's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong. The move will augment the inbound and outbound express business in Zhejiang and Shangdong provinces, DHL said. The company has already begun gateway operations at the Hangzhou International Airport. A new, 10-times-weekly flight, operated by a Yangtze River Express Airlines 737-300 freighter aircraft with payload capacity of 13 tons, marks Hangzhou Airport's first international air-express cargo connection. According to DHL, the flight, together with the company's new 2,000-square-meter Hangzhou Gateway, will boost economic development in Hangzhou, Ningbo and Qingdao, while strengthening the carrier's presence in China. Qingdao is the leading city in Shangdong Province, a major force behind economic development in the Bohai Sea region. The latest investments, totaling $40m, are part of a planned $110m investment in DHL's China business over the next few years.
http://www.dhl-usa.com

ALK Releases 21st Annual Upgrade of Its Truck Routing Tool
ALK Technologies, Inc. has released PC-MILER 21, the 21st annual upgrade of its routing, mileage and mapping software. PC-MILER 21 includes a new fuel-optimization feature, truck-specific toll cost functionality, and improved map graphics and navigation, as well as database updates. The fuel-optimization option gives users the best fuel-purchase plan for each route generated. Drivers can follow a route with turn-by-turn directions which include specific instructions on precisely where to purchase fuel along the way. Optimization takes advantage of differences in fuel prices at the pump from one outlet to another. According to ALK, customers using fuel optimization can save from 4 to 11 cents a gallon when drivers purchase fuel on the road. In addition, an optional toll-cost function calculates truck-specific tolls throughout North America, including adjustments for all major toll discount programs. Also featured in an optional module are 6 million points of interest from infoUSA's business database, any of which can be included in a route.
http://www.alk.com

NationaLease Adds Integrated Logistics to Menu of Services
NationaLease, on the heels of its merger with AmeriQuest, has begun offering integrated logistics services to private truck fleets and transportation-service providers. A full-service truck-leasing operation, NationaLease has more than 700 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a combined customer fleet of more than 150,000 tractors, trucks and trailers. The integrated logistics service is intended to complement the company's existing menu of transportation offerings, which include customized maintenance, finance leasing, distribution routing and analysis technology, asset management, used vehicle sales, logistics consulting, business management and automation services through Corcentric electronic-commerce technology. AmeriQuest had been providing integrated logistics and related services since 1999. The new offering will now be available through an even larger platform, the company said.
http://www.nationalease.com

Euler Hermes Teams With Local Partner in New Dubai Office
Euler Hermes, the global trade-credit insurer and member of the Allianz group, has opened an office in Dubai. The venture is in cooperation with a local partner, Alliance Insurance, a major presence in the United Arab Emirates. In Dubai, Euler Hermes will offer a wide range of credit-insurance services to companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), consisting of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. Euler Hermes will work closely with a number of local entities, including Alliance, Al Buhaira Insurance, Assurance Saudi Fransi and Qatar Insurance Co. A risk-underwriting team will manage Euler Hermes' credit risks in the region. The company has 5,500 employees in 49 countries, offering a complete range of services for the management of customer receivables.
http://www.eulerhermes.com

VAI Integrates Technology With VeriFone for Retail Payments
Vormittag Associates, Inc. (VAI) has signed an agreement with VeriFone Holdings, Inc., whereby VAI will integrate VeriFone's MX870 payment platform and RiTA Server payment-transaction middleware into its S2K Enterprise for Retail Point-of-Sale software. According to the partners, the arrangement will give retailers fast, secure credit card transactions and direct updates to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) package in real time. Customers will have access to the graphical user interface of the MX870's touch screen, along with fast, secure transactions processed by the RiTA Server. The MX870 combines full-motion video, a 65,536-color display and high-quality digital sound. The RiTA Server consists of middleware which supports high-volume, multi-threaded transaction processing. It can accept all major credit cards, support a range of processors and connection methods, and process credit, debit, purchasing card, gift/loyalty and check transactions.
http://www.vai.ne

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