Manhattan Associates K.K., a subsidiary of supply chain solutions provider, Manhattan Associates, Inc., announced that Nissin Corporation, a leading logistics service provider in Japan, has selected Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management solution, a component of its Integrated Logistics Solutions(TM), as the global standard for its Logistics Management systems, Business Wire reported. The solution will first be used at seven distribution centers (DCs) and stock points in China.

Under changes to the Chinese commercial law, "Measures for the Administration of Foreign Investment in the Commercial Sector," which became effective on June 1, 2004, foreign-owned companies are now allowed to establish local subsidiaries in China for purposes such as retailing and wholesaling. With this change, a major Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer established a local sales company which started operation in October of last year.

To strengthen its sales network in China, the consumer electronics manufacturer determined that it was necessary to restructure its logistics infrastructure. As a result, they entrusted Nissin Transportation Co., Ltd., to build a new logistics operation to support them.

As the logistics service provider in China for the consumer electronics company, Nissin had been utilizing a software package made in China that required extensive customization. However, Nissin reached the conclusion that they could not continue using the old system because it needed even further customization and enhancements, had a large cost of using it at multiple sites, was unable to support both Japanese and Chinese languages and required a long length of time to implement.

Recognizing these constraints, Nissin investigated standard logistics packages which can be introduced in any country or region in order to strengthen logistics service abroad. As the result of the evaluation of features in multiple logistics management solutions, Nissin selected Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management, built on Microsoft .NET as the global standard for its logistics management systems.

Nissin was entrusted by the major consumer electronic company with the logistics of its domestic hubs in China, and started using Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management solution at the following locations:

-- Three DCs, including the Shanghai DC

-- Four local stock points--shipping hubs where cargo is consolidated from factories and logistics centers and transshipped

"As an integrated logistics company, we have launched supply chain execution services both domestically and globally, and the business in China is the largest of all," said Mr. Mitsuhiro Kinoshita, deputy general manager at Nissin's China department. "We expect that the Manhattan Associates solution that we have adopted will play a very important role as the solution infrastructure to support our logistics services. We have high expectations regarding its capability and Manhattan Associates' ability to support us and our customers' needs in other countries and regions."

Nissin aims to win orders for comprehensive logistics services from Japanese enterprises that plan a global launch in various regions such as China, the United States, and Europe, leveraging Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management, built on Microsoft .NET. This solution supports six languages today and is already installed at over 150 sites in more than 25 countries.

"For enterprises that run business globally, China is an important market. An essential task is to build an efficient logistics infrastructure in addition to leveraging the country's manufacturing base," said Arnold Consengco, representative director of Manhattan Associates K.K. "Our solutions can meet such needs in China and around the globe and we are pleased to support this Nissin launch and their operation expansion in other countries."