DALLAS -OMI International, a leading provider of supply chain management solutions, announced that Wild Oats Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: OATS), has selected OMI's Procurement and Warehouse Management applications for their internal purchasing and logistics functions. Wild Oats Markets, a leading national natural and organic foods retailer, will install OMI's BICEPS/PROMPT procurement applications within their headquarter facility in Boulder, Colo. and the TRICEPS Warehouse Management application will be installed in the Company's four regional distribution centers.
Wild Oats is actively building a new enterprise-wide supply chain management suite, including order management, replenishment and advanced warehouse management. In its selection of OMI, Wild Oats will engage IBM's Global Services division as an implementation partner to work with OMI's installation team to improve inventory management and, ultimately, increase savings and overall market position. In a competitive appraisal, OMI's applications were selected as 'best of breed' solutions that will interface to other industry-leading applications, including IMI's Retail software. This effort will provide a completely new Supply Chain architecture to enable new efficiencies and enhanced supply chain processes throughout Wild Oats' distribution centers and their 102 stores throughout North America.
"Wild Oats rapid growth prompted the need for centralized purchasing with tightly managed control and visibility across our retail stores and distribution centers," said John Lauderbach, vice president of technology and logistics for Wild Oats. "OMI's suite of supply chain products will provide us with the integrated tools needed to address our rapid growth."
OMI's BICEPS/PROMPT applications provide advanced purchasing and inventory management, with specialized capabilities for the grocery industry. The TRICEPS Warehouse Management application offers comprehensive capabilities that allow grocery chains, wholesalers and other large consumer package goods distributors to improve their productivity through paperless end-to-end inventory management from the point of receipt until final shipment. Combined with advanced labor management capabilities, the TRICEPS installation at Wild Oats will provide real-time information to track warehouse inventory levels, reduce warehouse labor handling charges, trim inventory costs, and manage store orders more efficiently.
"OMI's supply chain applications are uniquely designed for the grocery industry, and we see our new relationship with Wild Oats as a key strategic business partnership for both our organizations," said Gerry LisÈe, executive vice president of OMI. "Our ability to integrate with existing applications and OMI's proven experience in the grocery industry makes this decision a 'best solutions' choice to handle the rapidly growing logistics requirements for the natural and organic products carried by Wild Oats. We are confident that the tracking and inventory visibility features in our solutions will enable Wild Oats to quickly attain savings in their warehouse operations, and we expect Wild Oats to benefit from a rapid return on their investment."
For more information, visit the company's website at www.wildoats.com.
For more on OMI International visit web site www.omiintl.com.
