DAL-TILE PICKS EXEL FOR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHEAST

DAL-TILE PICKS EXEL FOR WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHEAST    Dal-Tile, a Dallas-based manufacturer of ceramic tile, has signed a three-year deal with Exel, a logistics provider based in the United Kingdom, for warehouse management.
   Exel has been providing intermodal services for Dal-Tile since 1996, adding international air and ocean freight transportation in the late 1990s, and domestic air transportation in 2001. The warehouse contract is the first time Dal-Tile has outsourced a supply chain management operation to a third-party provider.
   Under terms of the contract, Exel will coordinate next-day order fulfillment from residential customers in a four-state region, using Dal-Tide’s distribution center in Orlando, Fla.
   “The national demand for tile is highest among consumers in the southeastern U.S.,” said John C. Turner Jr., vice president for distribution and customer service at Dal-Tile. The manufacturer hopes to achieve “a 30 percent increase in unit sales” to homeowners during the run of Exel’s contract, he explained.