Blue Rhino Enhances Delivery Process with UPS Logistics Technologies
April 17, 2003 - Winston-Salem, NC and Baltimore, MD-Blue Rhino Corporation (Nasdaq: RINO), a leading national provider of branded propane cylinder exchange and complementary propane-fueled products, plans to begin using the Roadnet® Transportation Suite from UPS Logistics Technologies, a global provider of innovative solutions for delivery management, the two companies announced today. The delivery management system is expected to increase delivery efficiency and forecasting capabilities for the industry's most sophisticated delivery model based on Blue Rhino's proprietary Service Scheduling Software - allowing retail customers to benefit from a further optimized delivery experience.
Beginning in early spring 2003, Blue Rhino will employ Roadnet Transportation Suite software in conjunction with its proprietary delivery system for a complete delivery management application, supporting operations from route planning through delivery.
"One of the cornerstones of Blue Rhino's industry leadership is our ongoing ability to leverage our established infrastructure, which we believe is the most advanced and efficient direct-store delivery system servicing retailers today," said Tim Scronce, Blue Rhino chief operating officer and president. "By licensing UPS Logistics Technologies' Roadnet Transportation Suite, we expect to further leverage both our infrastructure and our leadership position, producing time and cost savings by consistently delivering the right product to the right account at the right time."
This fully integrated application will allow Blue Rhino distributors to enter information into a single database and share the information among applications including - Roadnet® and Territory Planner®. The Roadnet Transportation Suite also supports some of the nation's leading direct store delivery companies, including some of America's most recognized names in snacks and beverages.
"We are very excited about our new customer, Blue Rhino," said Len Kennedy, Vice President-General Manager, UPS Logistics Technologies. "By utilizing our software, Blue Rhino should experience time savings and increased order efficiency."
Roadnet optimizes daily routing and scheduling by providing a route plan in a matter of seconds, compared to the hours it takes to plan a route manually. TERRITORY PLANNER analyzes entire sales and service areas to build better-balanced, more profitable routes by considering the order frequency and volume for individual stops and clustering stops together for optimum efficiency.
The Roadnet Transportation Suite is the only transportation management application with seamless data transmission from routing to delivery available today. It utilizes a single database for both products, allowing for significant time saving during account maintenance. Additionally, since the applications use a common database, reports can be queried and printed from a single location for multiple applications.
About UPS Logistics Technologies, Inc.
As a subsidiary of transportation and supply chain management company UPS (NYSE:UPS), UPS Logistics Technologies delivers transportation and logistics solutions that directly impact a company's bottom line. From its inception, UPS Logistics Technologies has been focused on developing products and solutions to improve the operational efficiency of distribution companies. This concentrated focus has produced industry leading software solutions that enable highly efficient order-to-delivery processes. Solutions include street-level route optimization, territory planning, mobile delivery execution, real-time wireless dispatch and GPS tracking.
UPS Logistics Technologies' products are in use with more than 1,300 installations worldwide and manage more than 60,000 vehicles daily. Customer Service is available 24 x 7 to customers in need of assistance. For over 16 years, these solutions have helped elevate the customer experience while lowering transportation costs. For more information email market@upslogistics.com.
About Blue Rhino
Blue Rhino is a leading national provider of branded propane cylinder exchange and complementary propane-fueled products to consumers. Blue Rhino cylinder exchange is offered at leading home center/hardware, mass merchants, grocery and convenience stores, with branded cylinder displays at more than 27,000 retail locations in 48 states plus Puerto Rico. Cylinders are delivered to retailers through a national network of both independent and affiliated distributors. The company's propane-fueled products segment is focused on appliances such as grills and patio heaters that use cylinders as their fuel source. These products are sold through many of the same retailers that offer the company's branded cylinder exchange service. The company's stock is quoted on The Nasdaq National Market under the symbol RINO. For further information regarding Blue Rhino, visit the Blue Rhino website at www.bluerhino.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the company's plans, objectives and estimates. The terms "should", "believe", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and "project" and similar words or expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The company's business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which are detailed in the company's most recent Annual Report of Form 10-K and in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from those expressed or implied by any of these forward-looking statements. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the company makes no commitment to update any forward-looking statement or to disclose any facts, events or circumstances after the date of this press release that may affect the accuracy of any forward-looking statement.
® TERRITORY PLANNER and Roadnet are registered trademarks of the United Parcel Service of America
® Blue Rhino is a registered trademark of CPD Associates, Inc.
