Ingram Enhances Services, Partners With BestBuy.com
Staff -- TWICE, 6/11/2001
SANTA ANA, CALIF. — Ingram Micro recently announced several service enhancements for its U.S. IM-Logistics division, including its first dedicated reverse logistics center in Harrisburg, Pa.
Ingram Micro, a wholesale provider of technology products and supply chain management services, intends these changes to provide its "customers with optimum flexibility and the latest technologies to help drive costs out of their business model," said senior VP/general manager Michael Terrell.
The new, 220,000-square-foot automated reverse logistics center will be used to collect, process and recycle products and product parts, thus improving supply chain efficiencies with increased truck and return load capacity, lower disposal costs and more control over product return flows, according to Ingram Micro.
In addition to this facility enhancement, IM-Logistics recently improved its logistics outsourcing to help customers minimize risk while designing efficient and successful supply chain solutions. Among its new clients is BestBuy.com, which came to Ingram Micro when it lost its previous fulfillment partner, ClickShip.
The new process begins when a customer places an order, which is sent to BestBuy.com's servers. The order is rerouted to IM-Logistics' system, then picked up from inventory and packed with BestBuy.com labels. The order is shipped to the end user through Ingram Micro's distribution network. Finally, the company sends BestBuy.com an order confirmation, so that the e-tailer can complete the credit transaction with the customer.
With the partnership, the e-tailer can choose to have no ownership of inventory, since Ingram Micro stores and distributes all goods, the company said.
