AquiTec eWMS Selected By Lloyd Fraser to Manage Outsourced Warehouse Operations For DP Furniture Express

AquiTec, a leading provider of supply chain execution software, today announced that it has been selected by contract distribution company, Lloyd Fraser, as the warehouse management system (WMS) for DP Furniture Express. As Lloyd Fraser's preferred supplier of WMS, AquiTec is being deployed within the 110,000 sq ft national distribution centre in Liverpool Freeport where Lloyd Fraser has consolidated warehousing and distribution for DP Furniture Express in order to reap substantial savings over existing supply chain costs.

Lloyd Fraser won the five-year warehousing and distribution contract with DP Furniture Express in July 2004. Operations at the centralised distribution centre went live in July, and Lloyd Fraser is using AquiTec's eWMS to handle inbound products from DP Furniture Express' worldwide supplier base, and distribution to its 82 stores throughout the UK.

Lloyd Fraser recommends AquiTec's eWMS system to new and existing clients that require a flexible, resilient solution with a market leading depth of functionality to manage warehouse operations. AquiTec received preferred supplier status in April 2004 and DP Furniture Express is the first of Lloyd Fraser's customers to deploy AquiTec's solution. This is also the first UK implementation of AquiTec's next-generation web-based eWMS solution.

Lloyd Fraser chose the AquiTec software following a 12-month investigation into the different warehouse management systems available on the market. AquiTec was selected due to the heritage and intellectual capital of its product and people, and because the product offered the flexibility and depth required to meet the needs of Lloyd Fraser's customers.

"At Lloyd Fraser we pride ourselves on our innovative approach to the marketplace and this is shown by our desire to work with AquiTec and its new product," said Les Corbett, group IT systems manager at Lloyd Fraser. "AquiTec has an excellent set of value propositions and we are really keen to show our clients new ways of gaining efficiencies and potentially a market advantage by using the services we offer."

"Distribution companies are under constant pressure to improve service levels, reduce costs and improve productivity, commented Frank Arico, CEO at AquiTec. "Lloyd Fraser has recognised the value that can be delivered by software that allows the company to expertly manage inventory, labour, facilities, and equipment on behalf of its customers. This is a very important strategic partnership for AquiTec and we are looking forward to developing it further in the future."