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Pacer Global Logistics Headquarters
Columbus, Ohio USA
October 17, 2002
Key Personnel:
Denis Bruncak, Exec.
V.P. – Pacer International
Jeff Brashares, President – Pacer
Global Logistics
Mike Fielden, President – Supply
Chain Services
Ken Kish, Director – International
Business Development
Alex Munn, CIO
Pacer is an interesting combination of two complementary strategies. 45% of
the company’s $1.8 billion in turnover is from the U.S.’s largest rail stack
train operation. It operates on long-term contracts with major railroads
(especially UP and CSX). It has its own COFC terminals and is very much a
transportation wholesaler.
The other part of Pacer International is a combination of retail offerings.
These include rail brokerage, truck brokerage, trucking and cartage,
international freight forwarding, consolidation and supply chain services. Pacer
prefers to bundle these services as “portfolio” sales.
The retail and wholesale businesses of Pacer offer a range of businesses from
high volume/low margin to low volume/high margin. Covering the range of
offerings effectively requires a strong management team and Don Orris has put
one together.
Denis Bruncak and Jeff Brasheres have put 20 years each into Pacer and its
predecessor, Rail-Van. They became involved in Rail-Van in 1984 through a
leveraged management buyout. They are now 48 and 50 years old respectively,
loaded with transportation expertise and entrepreneurial experience. Their
ambition is to build a single-source global logistics company. They have
surrounded themselves with very capable execs like Fielden and engineered a
culture of process perfection.
Bruncak took me on a tour of the new Pacer home office building. Like most of
the stuff he does, it is well designed for its mission. The three-story facility
is modestly decorated but loaded with well thought out infrastructure. The
telephone system is first class with significant remaining capacity. It has
battery backup for emergencies as do the computers. The primary computer is an
IBM AS-400 running two major software systems. They are Pacer’s heavily modified
version of i2’s transportation routines and Infinium’s accounting.
These two routines are used company wide. Employees receive up to eight weeks
of training before going on their own. As they complete training, they are
awarded graduation certificates which are prominently displayed in cubicles
throughout the building. All processes are diagramed as part of the ISO 9002
program.
Diagramming is carried over to all supply chain services accounts. When
contracts are signed, customers also sign off on the process complete with
diagrams.
Not surprisingly, metrics are used heavily. Processes are monitored
continuously and key performance indicators are consistently high. Given the
emphasis on process control and improvement, it is not surprising that Pacer’s
contract renewal rate is in the high 90s.
Pacer Supply Chain Services is the newest offering. It promises to be an
important part of the company going forward and Fielden brings a wealth of
experience. He also meshes well with the forwarders. Pacer is already a lead
logistics provider for several companies. Heinz USA and Continental Tire are two
examples. Here’s how these two accounts are managed:
Heinz USA
Pacer is on-site and provides the following services for Heinz USA:
• Network Design
• Central Dispatch
• Carrier Bid Management
• Mode Planning & Optimization
• Customer Management Reporting
• Claims
• Remote System Access
• On Site Staffing – Pittsburgh
• Electronic Freight Payment
Rail and Truck Brokerage
• Pacer controls $140 million in
transportation spend
• $25 million is tendered to other
Pacer companies
Other Opportunities Going Forward:
• Freight Handling and Logistics
• International Freight Forwarding
• Pacer Truck Brokerage Growth
Continental Tire
Pacer provides the following services for Continental Tire:
• Mode Planning & Shipment
Optimization
• Central Dispatch All Modes
• Exception Based Processing
• Customer Management Reporting
• Claims
• Remote System Access
• On Site Staffing
• Electronic Freight Payment
Rail and Truck Brokerage
• Pacer controls $36 million
• $4 million is tendered to other
Pacer companies
Other Opportunities Going Forward
• Freight Handling and Logistics
• International Freight Forwarding
• Management of U.S. Export and
Import Business to Mexico and Europe
The leaders at Pacer are bent on providing a one-stop, no worry solution for
their customers on a global basis. They’ve got a good start and pacer is big
enough, yet small enough to succeed. It is putting SOP and infrastructure in
place that will serve it well as it doubles and triples in size.
...Pacer, Pacer Logistics,
Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail
logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics,
IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment
optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment, freight forwarding,
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chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage,
global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning,
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forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International,
supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck
brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire,
mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment,
freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer
International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail
brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA,
Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management,
freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global
Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP,
CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz
USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid
management, freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer
Global Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail logistics,
COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2,
Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization,
carrier bid management, freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer
Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services,
rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global
logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning,
shipment optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment, freight
forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International,
supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck
brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire,
mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment,
freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer
International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail
brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA,
Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management,
freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global
Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP,
CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz
USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid
management, freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer
Global Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail logistics,
COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2,
Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization,
carrier bid management, freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer
Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services,
rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global
logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire, mode planning,
shipment optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment, freight
forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer International,
supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail brokerage, truck
brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA, Continental Tire,
mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management, freight payment,
freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global Logistics, Pacer
International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP, CSX, rail
brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz USA,
Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid management,
freight payment, freight forwarding, Pacer, Pacer Logistics, Pacer Global
Logistics, Pacer International, supply chain services, rail logistics, COFC, UP,
CSX, rail brokerage, truck brokerage, global logistics, IBM, i2, Infinium, Heinz
USA, Continental Tire, mode planning, shipment optimization, carrier bid
management, freight payment, freight forwarding...
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