Supply Chain, Outsourcing, Transportation, Logistics, Odyssey

Hercules outsources transportation and logistics functions to Odyssey

02 Sep 2003 | (News)

Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation, a provider of outsourced logistics management services to process manufacturers, today announced that Hercules Incorporated, a $1.7 billion chemical manufacturer and marketer, has signed a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract to outsource its North American import and export transportation and logistics operations to Odyssey.

As Hercules' contract transportation arm, Odyssey will provide all necessary services to ship product from Hercules' manufacturing plants and other shipping facilities to its global customers. Hercules' four divisions are focused on providing chemicals and other materials for industrial manufacturers in markets such as pulp and paper, personal care products, paints, carpets and adhesives.

In 2002, Hercules forged a renewed focus on its core business units and decided to outsource its transportation functions for three compelling business reasons: To achieve more insight into its global supply chain costs; to reduce its transportation costs by gaining increased leverage in negotiating rates with its multimodal carrier network; and to deploy its own expertise in the business of manufacturing chemical products and meeting its clients' needs.

"The transportation needs of the chemical industry are unique in their sheer variety and scope," according to Rick Pekarski, director, global supply chain, at Hercules. "With multiple modes of transportation -- from tanker trucks to ship cargos to railcars -- we found that having one view of our transportation supply chain was the only way we would achieve efficiencies."

Prior to outsourcing to Odyssey, Hercules worked with a variety of third-party logistics providers who were focused on one or two modes of transportation. Unlike Odyssey, they were not connected to one another and could not provide Hercules with a holistic view of its multi-million dollar transportation spend.

"When you can't measure efficiencies -- or inefficiencies -- within your supply chain, you can't manage the processes effectively," Pekarski said. "With Odyssey, we have a much better view of the entire scope of our transportation operations and transactions and can make better decisions about opportunities to trim costs wherever possible. We believe the savings generated by outsourcing to Odyssey will be significant."

Odyssey's transportation management solution interfaces directly with Hercules' SAP enterprise resource planning application, incorporating SAP's order management system directly into its freight planning solution. The technology integration provides the critical link to allow Pekarski and other Hercules senior executives to have one view of the transportation supply chain.

"The Odyssey team has a depth of experience, domain expertise and proven success at delivering significant cost savings to process manufacturers," said Robert Shellman, the company's chief executive officer. "Our business is to help these companies regain control of their transportation and logistics supply chains and improve their profitability so they can focus all their resources on their main business."

Odyssey is a full-service third-party logistics provider with capabilities in all transportation modes -- truck, rail, ocean and air. The company has significant experience supporting the requirements of the chemical industry where the movement of liquids and dry bulk are often an important part of the product mix. In addition to these services, Odyssey deploys a Net-native technology that easily interfaces with its clients' ERP systems to enable tracking, freight audit, payment, event management, paperless documentation and much more. The technology is provided as part of its comprehensive value offering to clients.

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