November 20, 2008 - In a celebration of the successful opening of their Reno Distribution Center, PetSmart noted that "We could not have achieved the success we had without our partner Fortna".  It has been over six months since their go-live, and the performance of the DC has well exceeded their expectations.  The celebration was to recognize those who significantly contributed to the success.  Fortna was invited to attend as the sole outside services provider.

Peter Counihan, Fortna President, was called up to receive recognition for the entire Fortna team and their extraordinary efforts.

At ProMat 09, both Fox Racing and Osburn Hessey will present their case studies along with Fortna. 

Robby Dhesi, Director of Distribution, for Fox Racing will talk about their WMS Implementation and the factors that led to success. 

Jennifer Longard, Manager Operational Excellence, OHL is presenting how developing a path to organizational excellence provided measurable improvements in Productivity, Labor, and Quality.

Independent competitive research firm, wRatings Corporation recently released a report stating that companies that have partnered with Fortna over the past 6.5 years have become a better running business as a group in terms of economic profit and customer advantages than their direct peers.

Longtime Fortna client, O'Reilly Automotive, based in Springfield, MO, is highlighted in this month's issue of DC Velocity in an article focusing on the automotive aftermarket industry.  O'Reilly is cited as a leader in this space, particularly now that it has merged with CSK Auto Corp.  "O'Reilly intends to apply its sophistication in operations and inventory management to CSK's operations, while at the same time taking advantage of its increased size across what will effectively be a national distribution network," the article states.

Fortna client Quality Bicycle Products applied its commitment to the environment to the construction of a green building when it doubled the size of its distribution center.

Waveless processing is one of the hottest supply chain topics today.  More and more companies are experiencing tremendous productivity gains by implementing this new approach where waves and bottlenecks are a thing of the past.

Fortna's Marc Austin is one of the country's foremost experts on designing and deploying waveless processing.  We invite you to read his insights as featured in September's DC Velocity.

Fortna Inc. is designing Brown Shoe Company, Inc.’s new west coast distribution center from the ground up to meet very specific supply chain cost and efficiency goals.  The new 350,000 square foot facility will be a fulfillment and distribution center of Brown Shoe’s Famous Footwear division. Famous Footwear is one of the largest chains that sells branded, value-priced footwear for the entire family.   This latest project is a continuation of the successful supply chain partnership between Fortna and Brown Shoe, positioning them for store growth, maximized customer service and continued cost efficiencies. 

Fortna added horsepower to its labor management practice with the addition of experienced labor management professional, Troy VanWormer.  In his role at Fortna, he will lead the Organizational Excellence (OE) practice and focus on providing services and solutions that apply industry best practices, labor productivity tracking, engineered standards, and training and incentive programs that deliver successful user adoption and high performance results.

Fortna's President, Peter Counihan, was recently asked to comment on the pending FKI Logistex acquisition by Melrose plc.

Many DC managers assume their new materials handling equipment and other devices will automatically "plug and play" with existing systems.  Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case and many companies have struggled with integration of new equipment.  Although most agree that integration is easier than 10 years ago, "plug and play is still more of an ideal than a reality" according to this article.

Read Fortna manager, Daniel Ahren's comments in this article.

How would your company react to 40 times average order volume one week per year?  That's exactly the challenge for Fortna client ProFlowers (a division of Provide Commerce) as they experience this huge spike in orders prior to Valentine's Day. 

ProFlowers credits a Fortna crossdock design that streamlines processes and maximizes the use of real-time information technology to ensure the freshest possible product is delivered to their customers, ensuring client satisfaction.

Fortna's president, Peter Counihan, was quoted in this month's issue of Modern Materials Handling in an article debating forecasts for the 2008 US economy, with an emphasis on the materials handling industry.  Despite lackluster economic forecasts in the news, materials handling equipment companies, consultants and 3PLs expect business to be "reasonably good" this coming year. 

Nashville (January 7, 2008) – Fortna Inc. today announced the expansion of their management team with the appointment of Richard Kingdon as Vice President, Supply Chain Consulting.  Richard brings over twenty years of global logistics, supply chain and transportation experience to the position and will support the company’s expanded service offerings that benefit clients with improved customer service levels and decreased operating costs. 

In his role at Fortna, Richard will support the continued growth and leadership of the Supply Chain Consulting Practice with a focus on quality assurance, key client delivery management, sales support and practice development and management support.  Based in Toronto, Richard will focus on growing Fortna's Canadian business and will serve as the lead for Fortna Canada Inc. 

Waveless picking makes use of intelligent warehouse control systems (WCS) that can perform dynamic workload balancing, adjusting work flow to changing circumstances.  This ability to juggle flows in real time makes continuous-flow picking possible.  By using this technology, managers avoid wasting energy in planning and executing waves and improve DC productivity substantially.  In fact, picking productivity can increase by as much as 20 percent and throughput capacity by up to 35 percent by switching from waves to waveless processing.

Daniel Ahrens, Fortna Product Manager, discusses the latest trends and advancements with Warehouse Control Systems in the latest issue of DC Velocity.  

Ahrens explains how WCS technoloy has grown more sophisticated over the years and has evolved to execute the most complex of order fulfillment tasks.  

A recent presentation given at ProMat by Fortna Account Executive, Helgi Leja, was featured in the latest issue of Distribution Center Management.  Leja outlines four key factors that can instantly expose how well a DC is managed.  

Fortna discusses lean distribution in the latest issue of DC Velocity.  In the article titled, "We're Gonna Need a Bigger Box," Jeremy Davidson, Account Executive, sees lean as a critical way of looking at business issues. Rather than focusing on, say, picking productivity, it forces managers to look downstream at customer needs, he says.

In the December issue of Packaging Digest, Cingular Wireless discussed how it expedited its picking, printing and shipping by automatically applying RFID labels to its shipping cases. 

Cingular Wireless worked with Fortna, Zebra Technologies, and ID Technology to help design and implement an automatic smart label print-and-apply system. FortnaPlus, Fortna's warehouse control system, was chosen to direct messaging from Cingular's WMS (RedPraire) to the conveyor system and print-and-apply stations.  This collaboration makes it possible for Cingular to process 45 print-and-apply cases per minute.

Fortna Vice President, Dan Graville, guest lectured at Arizona State University Wednesday, November 29, 2006. Mr. Graville presented "Innovation in Distribution Technology" for Supply Chain students in ASU's Executive MBA program.

The two-hour interative lecture discussed new distribution technologies and their overall role in the supply chain.

Fortna views such events as a way to demonstrate its commitment to thought leadership initiatives in areas of the supply chain. 

Fortna's Q4 Systems Implementation Division receives rave reviews in the lastest edition of Inbound Logistics for its WMS implementation project for The Forzani Group.  Q4 implemented Manhattan's warehouse management system for the sporting goods retailer in order to better manage Forzani's rapidly growing business and expanding product selection.

Fortna is proud to annouce that long-time Fortna client, Avnet Technology Solutions (NYSE: AVT), for the second consecutive year, was named the number one preferred source of IT "specialty distribution" by solution providers in the 2006 CRN Sourcing Study.

The CRN study measures the overall preferences and performance perceptions that today's solution providers have regarding the strengths and challenges surrounding distribution partners, manufacturers and other alternative sources for products and services. Solution providers taking part in the study were asked to name their preferred source for each type of supplier, including broadline and specialty distributors, custom systems/component suppliers and alternative/national retailers.

Fortna announced the appointment of John A. White III as Executive Vice President.  Mr. White is responsible for leading Fortna's expanded supply chain management consulting services practice.

Mr. White's distinguished seventeen-year performance record includes successfully designing and implementing supply chain strategy for many distribution intensive industries (e.g., Retail, Consumer Package Goods, Industrial Products, Electronics and High Tech, 3PL).  Before joining Fortna, Mr. White was a Managing Officer of the Products Industry Group and Supply Chain Management Practice at Adjoined Consulting. He has also served in a number of senior executive positions for top-tier supply chain consulting companies such as Cap Gemini, Manugistics, Inc., and Accenture.

"Fortna's has built an excellent suite of consulting services and has become a compelling alternative to traditional strategy services groups in the market today," said Mr. White. "Fortna is comprised of outstanding consultants, thought leaders and practitioners that rival the best consulting and supply chain service companies in the industry."

Mr. White's extensive supply chain background will enable Fortna clients to receive valuable guidance and delivery resources for complex issues encompassing the entire supply chain.  

"Fortna is very fortunate to have John as a leader in our organization. His business vision and deep expertise will facilitate enhanced supply chain management services for our clients," said Peter Counihan, President of Fortna, Inc. "John has the experience, strategic insight and capability to lead Fortna's supply chain management consulting services into the future."

Furthermore, Mr. White's leadership in organizations such as Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC) and The Logistics Institute (TLI) at Georgia Institute of Technology will strengthen Fortna's brand as a supply chain Thought Leader.
Mr. White graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering and holds an Accelerated Executive MBA certificate from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

NASHVILLE, TN and ORANGE, CA (October 2, 2006) - Fortna and Q4 today announce plans to formally merge operations in November 2006, a combination that will deliver higher value, focused core competencies, and expanded service offerings to their clients.  The combined company will provide the industry's most complete end-to-end supply chain service offerings encompassing supply chain strategy, business process design, systems implementation and integration.

This merger unifies two companies each experiencing significant multi-year growth and gained market share. With 140 associates in six nationwide offices, the merger also gives Fortna and Q4 even more scale and combined expertise for advanced client service.

"It is a logical next step that creates substantial value for our clients," said Peter Counihan, President of Fortna. "Our organizations have very similar values and strong reputations built on integrity, honesty, and successful project execution."

Q4 adds supply chain, transportation and warehouse systems integration expertise to Fortna's leading distribution-focused consulting, engineering and software offering. The merger developed from an established history of delivering complementary services for joint clients such as Sony (SNE), Genesco (GCO), Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV), Tessco (TESS) and The Sharper Image (SHRP).

"Our mutual clients have encouraged the merger," said Q4's Albert Avalos, who will now act as Executive Vice President of the combined operation.  "Our clients desire and deserve a partner company that is committed to their business goals and can bring the right mix of services to drive results.  Our focus on supply chain consulting, system integration and MHE integration further allows us to deliver supply chain solutions and be accountable for the results."