Management Dynamics, a leading provider of Global Trade Management solutions, today announced that it has changed its name to Amber Road.  The name change comes during a year of rapid expansion, marked by a 40% growth in employees, a 325% increase in European bookings, and the opening of a flagship office in Tysons Corner, Virginia.  This breakout year is anchored by a 33% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in overall revenue for the past decade. 

“Today, our SaaS-based solutions span fourteen software products that include global transportation management, import/export compliance, supplier management, supply chain visibility and a content knowledgebase covering trade regulations and tariffs for more than 120 countries, “  said Jim Preuninger, CEO.

To learn more, please read the full press release or visit http://www.amberroad.com/.

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“We’re proud to be associated with these leading companies and we continue to be impressed by their innovative use of our solutions. The results are a testament to the fact that global trade management solutions, when combined with forward-thinking supply chain strategies, can have a measurable impact on return on assets (ROA), revenue growth, and competitive advantage,” said Jim Preuninger, CEO of Management Dynamics.

For more information on how the survey and research was conducted, please visit The Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 for 2011.

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And, while you’re at the virtual conference, please check out the GTM Webinar at 1:00pm EST: How Global Trade Management (GTM) is Meeting the Compliance Challenge. In this webinar, speakers  Susan Waskow of  The Global Trade Academy and Suzanne Richer of Customs & Trade Solutions Inc. will discuss the latest news on global Customs initiatives; how applying GTM has benefited global shippers; and new GTM functionality delivery and functionality enhancements.

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Following the Aberdeen Group’s research with 136 enterprises from September and “regarding growth and complexity in global trade operations, we can see that changes in trade lanes, shifts in trade volume and increases in overall supply chain complexity have combined to place a renewed focus on the concept of global trade management and compliance,” said Bob Heaney, senior research analyst of supply chain management at Aberdeen.

Please join Aberdeen and distinguished industry executives (topic areas are considered sensitive and company names are not disclosed) as they discuss global trade management initiatives and practices within their enterprises around FTZ, RP screening, 10+2 and other initiatives. Key topic areas covered in the recent report will also be highlighted.

After viewing this webinar, you will:

• Understand the pros and cons of FTZs and other duty reduction provisions.
• Lower your overall Landed Costs
• Improve Import/Export document generation

Presenters:

Bob Heaney, Sr. Research Analyst, Supply Chain Management
Aberdeen Group

Craig M., Head of Customs Compliance
Large Global Copier OEM

Brian C., Director International Trade Compliance
Large Electronics Firm

Philip T., CFO of the North American Manufacturing Operations
Global Automaker/ Manufacturer

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As companies turn to the supply chain to wring out additional cost savings, one of the most exciting areas of value creation is in the area of Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs). FTZs were established in 1934 to stimulate economic growth by allowing companies to operate in a specially designated area, outside the Customs territory of the United States. Now, 75 years later, companies are still generating tremendous returns by reducing or eliminating duty payments, and minimizing transactional costs. This webinar will help you build your business case for an FTZ as well as present a case study of best practices in the application, activation and on-going administration of a zone.

What you will learn:

• The overall process to apply for and certify an FTZ
• The key business benefit areas to present to senior management for approval
• Best practices in on-going administration of your FTZ
• How an FTZ fits in an overall Global Trade Management deployment

Expert Speakers Will Include:
 
Craig M. Pool, President, Foreign-Trade Zone Corporation
Mr. Pool has in-depth experience in all aspects of the Foreign-Trade Zones Program from conducting cost-benefit analysis to activating facilities with Customs and Border Protection. During Mr. Pool’s 20 years as President and Senior consultant of the FTZ Corporation, he has successfully developed and implemented many procedures and processes that are considered commonplace today in FTZ Operations.

Mr. Pool first gained his experience through the hands-on operation of high volume FTZ logistic projects. To date, the FTZ Corporation has assisted well over 275 clients in molding their FTZ projects, and maximizing benefits.

Mr. Pool has served as the leader of Customs Automation efforts on three separate occasions since 1998; two on behalf of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones and one at the request of CBP themselves. Mr. Pool has provided training to several Government agencies, including the Bureau of Census, CBP, and FDA.

Mark Hardison, Director Global Supply Chain, Banner Pharmacaps
Mark successfully led Banner’s effort to establish a foreign-trade sub-zone in November 2009. In turn, Banner experienced an amazing return on investment for the project in less than one year.

Mark is a frequent speaker and instructor in a number of professional venues. He will attain his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Strayer University in March 2011. He is recognized as being Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) and a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) with APICS – The Association for Operations Management. Mark is also recognized as Certified Human Behavior Counselor (CHBC).

Nathan Pieri, SVP Marketing & Product Management, Management Dynamics, Inc.
Nathan Pieri has been involved in supply chain management for the past twenty years. He started his career at General Electric where he worked in Procurement and Global Logistics for both commercial and defense business units. After receiving his MBA he joined Coopers and Lybrand and focused on SCM projects for Consumer Goods and Manufacturing companies. Following Coopers he translated his industry experience and led the development of the e-commerce product line for Baan. Nathan has been with Management Dynamics for the past six years and is responsible for the marketing and product management of their GTM solutions.

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• Import Automation- automate, streamline and manage the entire import function within your organization, from pre-Customs through Customs clearance and even post-entry activities.
• Export Compliance – automate the international sales order management process including restricted party screening (RPS), export license determination and tracking, shipping document generation and government reporting.
• Trade Agreement Management – automate the management, utilization, and qualification processes necessary for global businesses to participate in preferential trade agreements.
• Supply Chain Visibility – connects importers and exporters with their overseas suppliers, logistics providers, brokers and carriers to communicate critical purchase order, shipment and inventory information and to support collaborative logistics processes.
• Transportation Management – allows importers, exporters and logistics providers to manage the spiraling costs associated with shipping by sea and airfreight.
• Trade Research Tools – classify products, screen for restricted parties, research regulatory controls and determine documents instantly with our web-based information services.

Please check out this brief video to learn more:

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As companies become more global, increasing and expanding operations all over the world, it becomes very difficult to manually manage supply chain processes. Especially when employees are spread out across multiple locations. GTM technologies allow users to seamlessly communicate with trading partners,  manage suppliers, optimize global transportation, ensure trade compliance, automate key aspects of trade finance, and develop timely resolutions of operational issues.

To be more specific, a supply chain visibility solution can provide shippers with near-real time visibility to the status of orders, shipments and in-transit inventory to optimize their network. Without a system in place, companies may be handcuffed with longer lead times, higher inventory levels,  budget overruns, and continued supply-demand imbalances. Furthermore, with regulations such as the Importer Security Filing (aka 10+2), it is more important than ever to have more visibility and control over what happens at origin. (And speaking of ISF, check out how Bunzl Distribution integrated a supply chain visibility solution with a trade import solution to establish a transparent and compliant import supply chain.)

The bottom line is that we are moving into an era where manual supply chain processes are becoming inept for companies who import or export. To learn more about how different types of GTM technologies can benefit your organization, please download one of Management Dynamics’ GTM Success eKits.

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FEATURED ARTICLES:
Journal of Commerce: Technology’s Survival Kit – September 1, 2009
Nathan Pieri discusses how the Global Trade Management providers have thrived during the recession magnifying the importance of controlling supply chain costs.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Hard Times Are GTM Time - September 1, 2009
As the recession took hold of many U.S. companies, new strategies were created to help counter-balance the hard times. Nathan Pieri offers several compelling arguments in favor of making Global Trade Management investments in today’s hard times.  

Journal of Commerce: Holding Your Breath Won’t Help – September 7, 2009
In recent months, major Global Trade Management software providers have launched a range of products aimed to help in the process of filing ISF information, including Management Dynamics. Ty Bordner discusses the importance for importers to be ready for the mandatory Importer Security Filing ruling.

MENTIONS:
Journal of Commerce: Retailer’s Balancing Act - November 2, 2009

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“We are expanding our business into international markets, adding new contracts and rates, and therefore needed a fully automated process that allowed us to handle more quoting without having to hire additional staff,” said Doug Clark, Senior VP, Global Marine & Int’l Logistics Services, Odyssey Logistics. “Management Dynamics has enabled us to differentiate our logistics services with a powerful solution that has significantly improved customer satisfaction and contributed to growing our business internationally.”

Management Dynamics’ Transportation Management solutionallows OL&T to centrally manage its ocean service contracts, describing every term with a powerful rules engine to create ‘calculable contracts’. Fully integrated with all carriers’ governing rules tariffs, the solution evaluates all potential routings from available bullet rates to more complex multi-factor combinations of outport arbitraries, alternate port-to-port rates, and inlands. This allows users, with little or no experience in pricing, to compare full bottom-line rates across multiple service contracts, modes of transport, routings and service levels. OL&T has also integrated Management Dynamics’ Transportation Management solution into the Odyssey Global Logistics PlatformSM, OL&T’s technology backbone, using an XML-based API. This allows OL&T users to check an ocean rate stored in the Management Dynamics Transportation Management solution without leaving OL&T’s system.

OL&T has seen several significant benefits since implementing Management Dynamics’ Transportation Management solution, including:

• Optimized Carrier Selection – a secure, centralized repository of ocean freight rates and service information provides the OL&T logistics team the ability to compare shipping options based on cost and service parameters and ultimately optimize carrier selection for its customers
• Differentiated Service Offering – powerful multi-factor search and rating engines empower the OL&T logistics team to quickly prepare accurate rate quotes and help OL&T’s clients handle complex rate requests when offering differentiated freight cost proposals to their customers
• Reduced Transportation Costs– ability to compare full, bottom-line shipment costs including all applicable assessorials side-by-side prior to booking allows OL&T to capture cost savings for its clients

“Logistics Providers must use specialized price management tools to improve sales productivity and better differentiate their services for shippers that are looking for detailed comparisons of equipment, routes and rates,”said Nathan Pieri, SVP Marketing & Product Management, Management Dynamics. “Odyssey Logistics is successfully using Transportation Management to support their international growth objectives and setting an example of how to exploit technology to build a winning edge.”

About OL&T
Odyssey Logistics & Technology provides global logistics management services to the chemical industry and other process manufacturers. OL&T delivers a comprehensive portfolio of logistics services to the chemicals and process industries so that clients` products are delivered safely, reliably and economically, with the advantage of shipment visibility and actionable data across all modes. OL&T presents a unique scope of industry knowledge, experience and technology, applied to client supply chain operations in two distinct outsourced logistics contexts: Managed Logistics Services and Third Party Services. The OL&T team of chemical engineers and logisticians brings unparalleled expertise-they are chemical and process industry insiders, intimately familiar with the supply chain complexities and hazardous materials requirements. Its technology backbone, the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform (SM) features a net-native transportation management infrastructure that supports highly integrated, flexible and data-rich service offerings. For more information, visit www.odysseylogistics.com.

Free White Paper:To learn more about the benefits logistics providers can gain from using an automated transportation management system, please read our white paper on NVOCC Profit Optimization.

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