OAKLAND, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jun 4, 2008 -- GT Nexus today announced that Connell Bros. Company (CBC) is live on the GT Nexus global trade and logistics portal, using a comprehensive set of ocean transportation management services to improve the way it manages freight spend. The portal supports the full spectrum of activities associated with the movement of containerized freight -- beginning with the bid and continuing through strategic spend optimization, contract management, electronic bookings, shipment visibility, and freight audit.

CBC, a division of Wilbur-Ellis Company, is among the largest and most highly respected international marketers and distributors of industrial chemicals, minerals and food ingredients in the Pacific Rim.

The initial level of service, which provides shipment tracking and contract management services, was activated in 2007. Within six-weeks, CBC had all of their container status messages flowing into a centralized database and all of their ocean contracts digitized online, in a common format, across all carriers. That foundation has now been expanded to freight procurement and advanced spend management capabilities.

CBC's business can be exposed to unpredictable demand swings based on changes in regional economies. Additionally, transportation costs represent a significant part of operational budgets. For these reasons, CBC required a flexible solution that could support constant change and also deliver industry-leading strategic spend management capabilities.

"GT Nexus has a proven track record of success with the world's biggest shippers," said John Figura at CBC. "We now have a fully integrated suite of tools that allow us to transform the way we run our transportation network. And since it's an industry platform, our carriers were already connected to it and familiar with the applications based on their experience supporting other customers on GT Nexus."

"It's great to see how Connell Bros. is taking full advantage of our end-to-end, procure to audit capability footprint," said John Urban, president of GT Nexus. "Customers, like Connell Bros., that have a large network of carriers stand to gain tremendous operational and competitive advantage through the smart use of technology."

The spend management capabilities of the platform focus on two primary areas. Strategic optimization supports the procurement cycle and allows CBC to identify the best service-price combinations before making final allocation decisions. The freight audit capability compares the data inside final digitized service contracts with electronic bills of lading and then presents a real-time view of discrepancies.

The entire platform is provided as an on-demand service that is hosted and managed by GT Nexus. CBC shares the network, data translation services, and infrastructure with all other GT Nexus customers, but uses a secure private environment to use applications and collaborate with partners.

About Connell Bros. Company

Connell Bros. Company (CBC) is among the largest and most highly respected international marketers and distributors of industrial chemicals, minerals and food ingredients in the Pacific Rim. With a keen focus on customer support and quality control, CBC supplies specialty chemicals and ingredients for food and consumer products. They also provide complete supply chain management, from transportation and documentation to warehousing, sales and distribution through locations strategically located throughout Asia.

CBC is proud to be a part of Wilbur-Ellis Company. With a history of more than 100 years, CBC is a leading international marketer and distributor of specialty ingredients and industrial products. For more information, visit www.connellbrothers.com.

About GT Nexus

GT Nexus runs the world's only industry-backed, on-demand global trade and logistics portal. Today, more than 40,000 registered users from over 15,000 organizations use a range of capabilities on the portal to optimize the global flow of goods and trade information from order point to final payment. GT Nexus connects the physical and financial supply chains. This allows buyers, sellers, banks and logistics providers to work over a common platform with a core set of information that supports multiple trade and logistics functions. Customers include Xerox, American Eagle Outfitters, Procter & Gamble, Del Monte and Weyerhaeuser and The Home Depot. For information, visit www.gtnexus.com.

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