Manugistics Group, Rockville, Md., has acquired Digital Freight
of Lexington, Ky.

Manugistics provides corporate-level, web-based optimization services including logistics management. Digital Freight offers an online, multi-mode transportation marketplace, which features a patent-pending request-for-quote module.
According to the announcement, the purchase will enable Manugistics to offer customers a simplified, online environment for logistics sourcing – the arrangement of transportation contracts.
"Transportation costs in the United States approach $600 billion annually, and nearly 80 percent of all shipments are moved under contract," said Adrian Gonzalez, senior analyst at ARC Advisory Group. "There are many companies, however, that still rely on manual processes to manage their logistics sourcing process, despite the quick ROI and benefits associated with transportation procurement solutions. This acquisition, therefore, enhances the value proposition of Manugistics' logistics management solution and allows customers to manage their procurement engagements more efficiently."
”The collaborative solutions we gain through this acquisition are designed to help reduce contract execution time from months to days, which can result in reducing transportation rates by as much as 30 percent," said Manugistics' president Rich Bergmann.
Digital Freight's clients include such companies as Crown Cork & Seal, Frito-Lay, Honeywell International, Safeway and Sonoco.
Manugistics' customers include 3Com, Amazon.com, Boeing, BP, Brown & Williamson, Caterpillar, Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola Bottling, Compaq, DuPont, Fairchild Semiconductor, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Hormel, Levi Strauss & Co., Marriott, Nestle, Staples, Texas Instruments, Unilever, and United
Airlines.