Hampton Affiliates Selects Transentric to Enhance Customer Service and Fulfillment for the Lumber Industry

Business Wire, Dec 18, 2000

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2000

E-Commerce tools and XML a part of solution for customers to view

and track orders for a full range of products

Transentric, a leading supply chain and electronic message management company, announced an agreement with Hampton Affiliates, the sixth largest lumber company in the United States, to deliver new shipment management solutions (SMS) to enhance Hampton's customer service and fulfillment to customers throughout the country.

Transentric's products and services enhance Hampton Affiliates' customer service. Transentric fills this need by providing Hampton's customers and customer service representatives with a customized web interface that uses XML technology to deliver shipment data to their desktop. This extends Transentric's robust Shipment Management Solutions (SMS) tracking and problem solving capabilities into representatives and customer systems. This "SMS Inside" solution will also increase Hampton's quality of customer service by providing more accurate reporting of the status of rail shipments. The system allows Hampton to adhere to these goals by automating a previously manual process, providing a single source for transit information, delivering immediate answers for customers and specifying user defined exception reports.

Transentric's "SMS-Inside" lends seamless integration for e-commerce and Web-based customer service support, process support tools, historical reporting products as well as shipment management services.

As Hampton Affiliates continues to grow, the company is in pursuit of a more effective method to provide rail shipment visibility for fulfillment of building products to customers throughout the United States while enhancing the capabilities of its e-commerce business.

"Preserving the look and feel of a company's Web site is essential to protecting a brand," said Chris Walton, E-Commerce Manager of Hampton Affiliates. "Hampton's overriding decision to engage Transentric's solutions was based on the fact that not only would these solutions surpass our e-commerce requirements, but they also ensure that the brand equity of our site will be maintained."

"Customers are the key factor in any business," said George Gagen, executive vice president of Transentric. "Our solutions are designed to provide customers with a speedy and effective supply chain management process paired with the highest degree of customer support. Through implementation of our products, Hampton Affiliates will offer its customers the utmost in support and service."

About Hampton Affiliates

Hampton Affiliates is the United State's sixth largest lumber company with five sawmills located in the Pacific Northwest that service the United States and Asia. In addition, Hampton Affiliates also provides building products distribution to its West Coast customers with 9 distribution centers located between Seattle and San Diego. Hampton has more than 50 years of building products experience. Hampton has been recognized as a Forbes Private 500 Company with revenues exceeding $700 million.

About Transentric

Formed in 1987 and located in St. Louis, Transentric enables supply chain improvement for a variety of companies. With 13 years of profitability and revenue growth, Transentric is building on its development of carrier software products and shipment management solutions to expand its customer base into the e-commerce arena. In addition to providing carrier solutions in the U.S. and Mexico, Transentric serves clients in trucking, paper, agriculture, chemicals, beverage and other industries such as Bowater, Lamb Weston, Quaker Oats, Weyerhaeuser, Entergy and Wisconsin Central Transportation Company. Transentric is a part of Fenix, a technology holding company formed by Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP). For more information, go to www.transentric.com.