For Immediate Release

Contacts:
Malcolm Hollombe
Exxel Grocery Supply Inc.
310.271.7050
malcolmh@exxelusa.com

Ronald Margulis
RAM Communications
908.232.3230
ron@rampr.com

Exxel Grocery Supply Deploys new technology to reduce cost from the Supply and Packaging supply-demand chain

Exxel Grocery Supply Systems (EGSS) delivers inventory and manpower cost reductions for retailers and production scheduling optimization for manufacturers in the Supply and Packaging segment of the grocery industry.

CHICAGO (May 7, 2000) In conjunction with the launch of its service, Exxel Grocery Supply Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif., introduced the Exxel Grocery Supply System (EGSS) at the Food Marketing Institute’s Annual Supermarket Show here. The system is the centerpiece of Exxel’s e-commerce solution to the supermarket industry’s $5.6 billion supplies and packaging challenge.

EGSS is a Unix based software environment that integrates the inventory and re-ordering activities of supermarkets, distributors and manufacturers as well as financial transactions between the parties. Exxel has a patent pending on the system, which executives at the company say gives it a strong competitive advantage over its competitors. The system gives grocery retailers, manufacturers and distribution users a great advantage by streamlining many of the repetitive and manpower, financial and space heavy features of the current methods of Supply and Packaging replenishment.

"We are deploying state-of-the-art technology to deliver real cost savings to the trading partners in the Supply and Packaging segment of the supermarket supply chain," explains Herb Halimi, Exxel’s CEO. "Combined with our personnel and management team, the EGSS system is a powerful service offering designed to make the lives of retailers, distributors and manufacturers easier and more productive."

The system can best be viewed from the perspective of the retailer. When an item is taken from the store inventory and placed in service, it will be scanned at the point of service into the EGSS system. This information is then relayed to the Exxel Operations Center, using a secure select port to insure privacy, via the Internet. The system recognizes the barcode and automatically prepares an order to replenish the item and notifies the store manager of the action taken. At the distributor level, EGSS adds the requested item to the next scheduled delivery, and a shipping list is prepared to facilitate product fulfillment and to aid the shipping clerk in verifying that order has been delivered.

The system also evaluates and recommends to manufacturers a production schedule based on inventory levels and forecasted demand. It compares the scheduled delivery for each order to the actual items delivered, and highlights any discrepancies for managerial action. If the shipment causes the distributor’s warehouse to fall below minimum on-hand quantities, an order is prepared and an alert is posted for review. If no human intervention occurs, the item will be ordered from the manufacturer.

"During this activity, the system is updating on hand quantities and projecting usage statistics by store, distributor and manufacturer in order to better forecast anticipated needs. When the product is received at the store or distributor, the receiving party confirms the shipment," explains Mal Hollombe, Vice President of Marketing for the company. " The system is designed to be extremely user-friendly and easily operable by all levels of employees.

EGSS then prepares an invoice, initiates a request for the transfer of funds and, in due course, funds are transferred electronically to the appropriate parties through a central clearinghouse bank. Then the process starts all over again.