Managing your logistics environment is more challenging than ever. According to the 19th Annual State of Logistics Report given by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals' (CSCMP), June 2008, logistics costs are now more than 10% of gross domestic product – mostly due to higher inventory carrying costs and rising transportation costs. Fuel is now quadruple that of just 5 years ago, with prices up an additional 67% in 2008. This is compounded by a logistics and fulfillment environment that is more complex than ever with transportation carriers, ports of call, and warehouses – both owned and contracted – spanning the globe.

Integrating end-to-end logistics and fulfillment operations is crucial to profitably managing the movement of materials and products to execute on the promise of the perfect order – the right product, in the right place, at the right time. Visibility across all nodes in the network is key to anticipating supply chain disruptions and facilitating the best way to respond in a timely and profitable manner across the global logistics network.

In addition to providing traditional warehousing, transportation, and order fulfillment capabilities, SAP helps companies effectively and profitably source, store, move, and deliver products through integrated end-to-end logistics and fulfillment processes on a single unified platform. SAP's comprehensive vertical industry experience and deep business process expertise enables us to deliver a logistics solution that meets your unique needs regardless of the complexity or scale. Companies that have integrated logistics and fulfillment processes have been able to:

• Reduce logistics costs by reducing inventory and increased asset utilisation across the logistics network
• Manage complexity through enhanced network-wide visibility, collaboration, and compliance
• Improve customer service levels by having the right product in the right place at the right time

With the help of the SAP Business Suite and the SAP NetWeaver platform, you can improve customer service, reduce logistics costs, and manage complexity and compliance across integrated logistics and fulfillment processes. SAP's business and IT strategic consulting services can help you quickly and effectively deploy these processes across your network. With information-rich tools, services, and resources, SAP can help you manage your system environment and optimise logistics and fulfillment.

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