R.R. Donnelley Logistics, Chicago, a consumer logistics and residential delivery solution provider, announced Oct. 24 that it has integrated i2 TradeMatrix Transportation Optimizer from i2 Technologies Inc., Dallas, an e-marketplace vendor.
The i2 TradeMatrix Transportation Optimizer is helping manage R.R. Donnelley's “pipeline-to-the-home” delivery network by optimizing Donnelley shipments across multiple transportation modes — including intermodal truckload and less-than-truckload — and products, such as magazines, catalogs, direct mail and packages. The solution is designed to manage logistics information for faster and more effective decision-making.
“With i2, we have a partner that helps us provide our customers [with] more efficient and effective services through an advanced software solution,” said John Campanelli, president of R.R. Donnelley Logistics. “We now have scalable systems in place that allow us to better manage the strong growth in our customers' logistics requirements. Our customers get access to this technology through our investment on their behalf.”
Donnelley Logistics, a business unit of R.R. Donnelley & Sons, annually directs the distribution of 19 billion print and mail pieces and 130 million residential packages. It also manages thousands of shipments every day, requiring complex decision-making in a time-sensitive environment. Decisions need to be made swiftly to address concerns such as:
• Should shipments travel directly to consumers or be routed to consolidation facilities?
• Which mode of transport provides the best balance of transit time vs. overall cost?
• Which carriers and fleets should be used?
• Should postal shipments be taken to regional postal centers or carried further into the U.S. postal system?
Combining Donnelley Logistics' expertise with i2 Technologies' configurable transportation optimization capabilities is designed to allow for quicker, smarter answers to these and other complex questions.
“We required speed in the solution to keep up with our high-volume, rapidly changing customer requirements,” said Bill Naughton, vice president of information technology at Donnelley Logistics. “With i2 TradeMatrix Transportation Optimizer, we get a real plan that is physically and financially executable, fast.”
