Barthco Adds a New Dimension to OH Logistics’ Service Offering
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
April 4, 2008
By
Evan Armstrong

Key Personnel:
Scott McWilliams, CEO, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics
Michael Burns, EVP – Global Sales and Marketing, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics
Lawrence Antonucci, Jr., President, Barthco Americas
Mary Jo Muoio, Senior Vice President, Barthco
Donna Stelzer, Vice President – Supply Chain Solutions, Barthco
Michael Andrel, Vice President, Barthco
Karen Hall, Director of Marketing and Communications, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics

OH Logistics/Barthco Overview
In 2006 Ozburn-Hessey Logistics (OH Logistics) acquired Philadelphia based Barthco International adding customs brokerage and international air and ocean freight forwarding/non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) capabilities. Combined, OH Logistics had 2007 revenues of $920 million and now provides a well rounded suite of domestic and international third-party logistics (3PL) services. Its North American warehousing footprint includes 105 warehouses with 24 million square feet of space and OH Logistics managed $250 million in domestic transportation in 2007.

Barthco International, which is now a division of OH Logistics, is run by industry veteran Larry Antonucci, has over 700 employees, and generated 2007 revenues of $120 million. It is C-TPAT certified, ISO 9001:2000 certified, and an Automated Manifest System (AMS) accredited NVOCC. In 2007 Barthco managed over 30,000 trailer equivalent units (TEU’s) of product through its network of 18 North American offices. While that is a substantial number of TEU’s managed, Barthco has developed a reputation for being able to handle the customs legalities and international transportation management challenges of difficult commodities such as: fruit, high-value museum pieces, live animals, and military equipment. This expertise is bolstered by a staff of 58 licensed customs brokers. Barthco is managing approximately 450,000 cross-border moves (CBM’s) per year and provides customs brokerage services to 16 of the top 100 importers and 11 of the top 100 exporters in the U.S. Large apparel companies Ann Taylor, Jones Apparel Group, Limited Brands, and Polo Ralph Lauren are major Barthco customers.

Barthco Special Projects
Barthco handles extraordinary transportation moves through its special projects division which is headed up by part-time police officer and 24 year Barthco veteran Mike Andrel. Mike has managed projects including importing live fish, horses, dogs, and giraffes; getting Princess Grace’s wedding gown to an exhibition in Paris during a snow storm that closed major airports, and overseeing the air transportation of the Faberge Eggs from the U.S. to an English museum. The division also coordinates the transportation of high-value people. Mike said they once escorted rock musician Prince’s drummer Sheila E.

Special projects also coordinates domestic moves of military aircraft from a manufacturer near Philadelphia to military bases. Since the aircraft will not fit on a normal cargo plane, Barthco contracts with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) to use its “Super Guppy” cargo airplane. The NASA Super Guppy is the only airplane of its kind in the world and has a cargo compartment that is 25 feet tall and wide and 111 feet long. Barthco transports the military aircraft, including the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, via barge on a nearby river to a dock near the Philadelphia International Airport. It then overseas unloading and loading onto specialized trucks. The planes are then transported to the airport where they are loaded into the Super Guppy. Barthco coordinates the entire move from pickup at the manufacturer to delivery. This includes multiple security clearances and coordination with many Homeland Security departments.

Barthco Trade Services
Founded by leading industry expert Mary Jo Muoio in 1996, Barthco Trade Services specializes in assisting customers with issues that fall outside of traditional brokerage and forwarding operations. These include consulting services to companies in the following areas: C-TPAT certification filing, customs procedures auditing (including mock customs audits), international import/export procedures development, commodity classification training and support, temporary staffing, and other international transportation management related areas.

Giraffe live animal zoo shipment

Giraffes can fly

NASA Super Guppy aircraft

In addition to heading up Barthco Trade Services, Muoio also serves as the president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) and has been recently appointed to the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC); COAC is a federal advisory committee that analyzes on the impact of trade security measures and customs regulation and provides advice to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She has testified before Congress and her group consults with government agencies on policy and legislative changes.

Barthco “e-Focus™” Supply Chain Management System
To support its customers international transportation management processes, Barthco has developed a proprietary web based end-to-end supply chain management system named “e-Focus™”. e-Focus™ provides customers with complete purchase order to delivery management, product visibility, service alerts, and exception handling capabilities. It allows customers to better manage imports and exports, track time in customs, process duty drawbacks, and calculate landed costs. e-Focus™ collects, distributes and analyzes customer order/shipment information down to the Universal Product Code (UPC) level. Its customer data repository can be used to generate a number of standard supply chain management reports and ad-hoc customized reports.

e-Focus™ has the following main modules:

• Purchase Order management
• Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN) creation management
• UCC 128 barcode label creation
• Shipment booking & management
• Invoice creation
• Customs entry tracking
• Landed cost calculation
• Event management & exception alerts
• Freight audit

Barthco has over 11,000 users on e-Focus™ and over 500,000 orders were moved through the system in 2007. Large systems users include: Ann Taylor, Bed, Bath & Beyond; Polo Ralph Lauren, and Stone Source.

Printout of an e-Focus™ screenshot

Summary
When OH Logistics acquired Barthco International in 2006, it added significant new capabilities to its traditional North American value-added warehousing and distribution network. With the globalization of logistics and expanding global trade, Barthco will be key in OH Logistics becoming a truly global supply chain manager.

Sources: A&A Primary Research, https://geodis.com/us