New 3PL launches Chicago operation using Delfour's logistics solution

Oct. 4, 2004
Frozen Assets Cold Storage will commence third-party logistics (3PL) operations in mid-October in a new 7,000,000 cubic-foot public refrigerated warehouse

Frozen Assets Cold Storage will commence third-party logistics (3PL) operations in mid-October in a new 7,000,000 cubic-foot public refrigerated warehouse facility on Chicago's near-Southwest side, using Delfour Corp.'s SmartEnterprise 2 3PL logistics software as its management and control system.

The 250,000 square-foot, single-level facility features an 18,000-pallet freezer, a 10,000-pallet position cooler and three -35 degree blast cells each with space for 45 pallets. It has 22 truck bays that open to a 40,000 square-foot inbound-outbound dock. It also has a 10-door refrigerated rail siding.

"This is very unusual for the Chicago area, but we think it is important to our future," says David Smith, vice president of operations. "Our receiving and shipping operations will be coast-to-coast and multi-modal in nature, focusing on a variety of food products including meat, poultry, seafood, bakery goods, vegetables, and beverages. We've built the facility from the ground up to handle this diversity of products in the most efficient way possible, equipping it throughout with state-of-the-art hardware and software systems."

Founded earlier this year, Frozen Assets Cold Storage plans to have 10-15 3PL logistics facilities in place within 10 years, with a growth plan that calls for a new facility to open every year. The company's SmartEnterprise 2 solution currently is hosted at Delfour's data center in Markham, Ontario, but it intends to install the system on-site in the future, Smith says. Meanwhile, using the hosted solution, operators communicate with the Delfour data center over high-speed data lines as effectively as if the system was on-site, and the company has avoided the immediate need for an IT department to staff and maintain the system.

The hosted solution includes multiple seats for the SmartEnterprise 2 integration platform, the WarehouseLogic 2 warehouse management system, the Active Desktop graphical user interface and control panel, alert management, the customer relationship management module, the document imaging module, the radio frequency integrated communications module, and the e-Vista web-based supply chain visibility tool that allows customers to view the status of their inventory and shipments at any time.

www.delfour.com

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