GT Nexus today announced that Liz Claiborne Inc. has signed a multi-year contract for an on-demand import operations platform. Delivered as a hosted service over the GT Nexus Trade and Logistics Portal, the system will help transform the way the apparel industry leader tracks and manages inventory sourced from overseas suppliers.

Liz Claiborne designs and markets a portfolio of branded women's and men's apparel, accessories and fragrance products. The Company's merchandise is available at more than 30,000 points of sale worldwide. In addition to its wholesale distribution, Liz Claiborne sells directly to customers via 383 full-priced specialty stores and 339 outlet stores in the U.S., Europe and Canada, as well as 10 e-commerce sites. In 2006, the company reported over $4.9 billion in revenue.

"Like any company with a global supply chain, we are always looking for ways to improve control and drive down costs," said Lois Davis, VP of Logistics at Liz Claiborne. "We selected GT Nexus because they offer more than a suite of applications. They also have an existing network of providers and data management services bundled into a single, on-demand platform."

The platform went live in three weeks and Liz Claiborne is currently using it to conduct their 2007 global transportation bid. The integrated procurement, spend optimization and contract management capabilities provided by GT Nexus replace traditional manual, spreadsheet-based transportation procurement processes. Global shipment visibility capabilities will be added to the platform after the bid is complete.