Ocean State to Maximize Inventory Allocation with Manhattan Associates' Warehouse Management System

Leading Discount Retailer to Leverage PkMS For Supply Chain Execution

Atlanta, August 21, 2001—Manhattan Associates (Nasdaq: MANH), a global leader in providing supply chain execution and collaborative commerce solutions, today announced that Ocean State Jobbers, Inc., doing business as Ocean State Job Lot, will deploy Manhattan Associates' advanced warehouse management system, PkMS®, at its 387,000 square-foot distribution center in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Using PkMS, Ocean State Job Lot will streamline the management of its supply chain, enabling the retailer to provide superior customer service by moving merchandise quickly and accurately to its stores.

Ocean State Job Lot, a regional retailer specializing in selling first-quality, brand-name goods at low prices, offers consumers a wide range of general merchandise. From its distribution center in North Kingstown, the company will receive and ship all the merchandise for its 57 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

"Right from the beginning, we were impressed with the people behind the company," said John Conforti, chief financial officer at Ocean State Jobbers. "They understood exactly what we were looking for. Equally important, when it came down to the specific functionality that we needed, Manhattan Associates was the best fit. These impressions were also confirmed by our consulting firm, Tompkins Associates, who welcomed the opportunity to work with Manhattan Associates."

Tompkins Associates, a leading global consulting, integration and implementation firm, has been assisting Ocean State with the project. "One of the primary challenges of Ocean State Job Lot was its diverse mix of product and ever-changing SKU base," said Brian Hudock, senior principal for Tompkins Associates. "PkMS, with its wide retail functionality, allowed us to adapt to the unique process Ocean State required to handle both its push and store-order processes for all SKUs."

As most of Ocean State Job Lot's merchandise is sourced from a wide variety of closeouts, historically, advanced planning has been very difficult for the stores and distribution center. With PkMS, the distribution center will have access to real-time inventory information, enabling it to provide stores with instant order availability. Additionally, the distribution center will be able to alert the stores with personalized advance ship notices (ASNs) in regard to inventory logistics such as what, when and how many. Using this information, the stores will be able to pre-determine the flow of goods, saving them time and resources.

PkMS will enable Ocean State Job Lot to streamline its order management process across all stores through prioritizing orders and assigning inventory based on geography, inventory availability and company-specific priorities. Ocean State also will benefit from having invoices and ASNs automatically sent to its billing system, increasing productivity and efficiency by eliminating paperwork. Additionally, Ocean State will optimize its order fulfillment through PkMS' inventory allocation function that automatically generates picking orders, and the company will experience decreased transportation costs through PkMS' ability to rate shop between carriers and choose the carrier with the lowest shipping charges.

"Ocean State Job Lot understands how a robust, flexible warehouse management system impacts the company's bottom line, while helping the company to meet its future business objectives," said Bruce Eicher, vice president, customers, from Manhattan Associates. "By implementing PkMS, adding over 100,000 square feet to the company's distribution center and switching to an IBM iSeries operating system, Ocean State Job Lot is turning the warehouse management system into a strong competitive advantage." Ocean State Job Lot is scheduled to go live with PkMS in early January 2002.

About Ocean State Jobbers, Inc.
Founded in 1977, Ocean State Jobbers, Inc., which does business as Ocean State Job Lot, is a regional retailer specializing in selling first-quality, brand-name goods at low prices. A privately-held company with over $200 million in sales, it operates 57 Ocean State Job Lot stores in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

About Manhattan Associates
Manhattan Associates, Inc. is a global leader in providing supply chain execution and collaborative commerce solutions. These solutions leverage state-of-the-art technologies, innovative practices and the company's domain expertise to enhance performance, profitability and competitive advantage. Manhattan Associates has licensed more than 800 customers representing 1,100 facilities worldwide, which include some of the world's leading manufacturers, suppliers and retailers. For more information about Manhattan Associates telephone 770.955.7070 or visit www.manh.com.

Media Contact:
E-mail Myra Schwartz or call 919-876-3667.

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