Pacer International announced completion of the Blueprinting phase of its SAP information technology system. The Blueprint, under development since October 2007, provides a path for the complete integration of Pacer International’s business units under a single IT system, the implementation is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2008.

Pacer has already realized internal synergies as a result of the Blueprinting process. “Our development team has found new common interests across the business units,” said Michael E. Uremovich, Chairman and CEO. “The people of Pacer are behind this, and they are excited about the opportunities presented by the SAP system. We all understand the importance of this project to Pacer, and we’ve dedicated the resources to make it successful.”

Jim Ward, executive vice president and CIO, is responsible for the SAP implementation. “In addition to integrating the Pacer organization,” he said, “we are also among the first to deploy SAP’s Transportation Management Solution. As the ‘lighthouse customer’ we are working very closely with SAP on the implementation and are able to influence the direction of the TM solution to better fit our customers’ needs.” Through this project, Pacer will further enhance its market competitiveness by integrating business processes across organizational functions and improve its responsiveness to customer demands. The project involves the deployment of an SAP framework to accommodate Pacer’s newly defined business processes and will ultimately provide thorough visibility to client shipments. This will allow Pacer to continue to focus on satisfying customers by delivering strategic, value enhancing services.

Pacer also sees an opportunity to more closely connect with its existing customers that are also running SAP applications as well as use the SAP Transportation Management solution as a competitive differentiator in winning new customers. Pacer anticipates being able to more easily onboard new clients already using SAP solutions and provide them with more strategic services by leveraging the common framework.

According to Gregory T. Tomb, CEO, SAP America, the firm is working closely with Pacer to implement a solution that is ideally suited to its customers. "We are delighted with the results," he says. "Our objective has been to collaborate with the Logistics Service Provider (LSP) market to ensure that the SAP Transportation Management solution is built to address the complex requirements of the industry today while offering the flexibility to meet evolving market dynamics. Pacer has been a key partner for SAP in optimizing the solution for the LSP industry and building the roadmap for continued innovation. Our team remains committed to assisting Pacer in achieving their goals through the use of SAP applications."

Pacer anticipates substantial cost savings once the implementation is completed. However, the most important benefit of the SAP system will be the customer information and service improvements. “From our customers’ perspective,” Uremovich said, “this system will provide seamless customer service, shipment information, and invoicing across all Pacer units. It will allow our customers to optimize their supply chain systems from a single point of contact that provides instantaneous information visibility.”