Ralph Lauren Pioneers International TMS

January 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Matt Pillar, Editor In Chief

A transportation management system test run with just 16 of its 400 major trading partners saved the retailer $50,000 in transportation costs over four weeks. With 97% on board today, big savings are on the horizon.

Call it Expedia for international logistics. Kathleen King, senior director of international transportation for The Ralph Lauren Corporation, says that’s how the transport operations team there characterizes its new international transportation management system, internally referred to as its International Vendor Air Routing Web Portal.

Before we dive into the details of its new TMS, let’s get some baseline stats out of the way. Ralph Lauren imports 9 million pounds — or 4,500 tons — of clothing into North America each year. Those clothes come from more than 400 different factories located in 50 different countries. They’re ultimately sold to consumers through a distribution network that spans more than 12,000 points of sale across the globe.