The consumer products division of Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications giant, found additional dollars to invest in its capital-intensive business by outsourcing inbound logistics and shifting responsibility for inventory management to vendors.

The market leader in networking hardware creates a single enterprise of channel partners, connected by the internet, with stunning results.

The cosmetics and fragrances manufacturer significantly reduced order-cycle times by assigning production and logistics operations to the same manager, and by implementing ISM's SPEX export documentation system.

Home Depot has centralized its import operations, opened a major import distribution center in Savannah, Ga., and installed purchase-order and import tracking software from RockPort Trade Systems to support its continuing, rapid-fire growth.

Denmark-based LEGO Group keeps its brightly-colored blocks flowing to consumers in 150 countries by incorporating logistics as an important adjunct to both manufacturing and sales.

Consolidation of North American distribution points, a major shift from company-owned and -operated facilities to public warehousing, and economies from a little-known program with U.S. Customs helped slash inventory and associated costs for the Audiovox Corp., a consumer electronics company in Hauppauge, N.Y.

When Daimler-Benz decided to tap into the growing demand for sport-utility vehicles with an all-new design, it relied on innovative manufacturing and supply-chain efficiency to bring the product to market at a reasonable cost.