The ABCs of distribution: Sorting through the alphabet to achieve maximum efficiency.

Candy Industry, February, 2000 by Rogers, Paul

It's not like any alphabet you learned in school: EDI, RF, URL -- electronic data interchange, radio frequency, uniform resource locator -- acronyms every company that distributes candy needs to know. Unfortunately, despite years of trade press coverage of EDI, and .com showing up everywhere you turn, a number of manufacturers, distributors and retailers are clinging to the old ways.

"Even though it's 2000, a lot of people are saying, `I don't know if I want to change. I like this No. 2 pencil; it works really well,' "says Ed Turner, vice president of administration, Romark Logistics Inc., which is comprised of East Coast Warehouse & Distribution Corp. and Safeway Trucking Corp.

Experts say that while some companies may have made it through the 20th...