ASW GLOBAL – BACKGROUNDER

• ASW Global is a leading supply chain management company in Northeast Ohio, providing clients with virtually all logistical, warehouse, distribution and outsourcing needs.
• With more than one million square feet of facility space and more than 200 industry employees, ASW Global is committed to its Northeast Ohio headquarters.

 Future for ASW Global

• Having recently merged with GPI Procurement Services, the supply chain management company remains committed to its capabilities in the Midwestern and Eastern United States while expanding to accommodate a greater range of global commerce.
• ASW Global plans to build through strategic acquisitions.

 ASW Global Capabilities

• Logistics Management
  • Using appropriate solutions for products that are sourced offshore and transported to the United States for distribution, ASW Global implements strategic processes to manage client accounts through cost-effective methods.
• Inventory Management
  • Being a process-centered organization, ASW Global is able to offer its clients efficient and financially sound solutions.
  • The company can store and manage both bulk and packaged inventories and has an excellent track record in helping clients cut inventory losses due to spoilage and/or poor record-keeping.
• Quality Control Services
  • ASW Global tracks inventory, clerical and warehouse accuracy.
  • The company is certified to ISO 9001:2000 without design.
• Procurement Services
  • ASW Global offers procurement services that implement the newest technology to create effective, user-friendly and creative e-commerce solutions for its clients.  This technology enables ASW Global to actualize real-time inventory and replenishment dates.
  • ASW Global is adept in developing an exceptional range of promotional merchandise, creating customized, online ordering platforms and customizing workplace apparel through its GPI Procurement Services business unit.
• Project Solutions
  • The company offers a broad range of expert solutions associated with:
    • New construction
    • Remodeling
    • Expansion
    • Reuse of facility space

 Foreign Trade Zone Benefits

• ASW Global is located within a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ #181), which enables it to help its global clients by providing an inland port for goods before they enter U.S. commerce territory, providing for substantially reduced duties and tariffs.
• Benefits of storing and/or assembling merchandise within this zone include:
  • Customs duties deferred on goods destined for domestic consumption.
  • Customs duties eliminated on re-exported and scrap merchandise.
  • Customs duties reduced for privileged or non-privileged merchandise that is assembled or manipulated within this zone.
  • Limiting nonvalue-added costs while manipulating or processing merchandise.
  • Logistical flexibility – merchandise can be transferred from the port to the zone without incurring formal customs entry or duty charges.
  • The transfer of merchandise from heavy ocean or bulk containers into lightweight containers.
  • Elimination of quote restrictions on merchandise admitted to the zone.
  • Expedient shipments with quick-response value.
  • Weekly entry to help reduce the merchandise processing fee.
  • Reduced insurance rates.

 About the Majority Owner

• André Thornton, chairman & CEO, is a well-known and highly successful Cleveland entrepreneur and former Cleveland Indians baseball star. 
• His experience includes having been the president and CEO of GPI Procurement Services and having been one of the founding principals of Apple Partners, a highly successful restaurant management group that was sold to Applebee’s International.
• Thornton was twice featured in McGraw-Hill/Irwin national educational videos for his entrepreneurial and marketing leadership success at GPI. 
• In 1979, Thornton received the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award.  This award is given to one Major League Baseball player per year in recognition of his character and charitable contributions to his community.

 Minority Owned and Operated

• With Thornton, an African-American, as the majority owner and operator of ASW Global, the company is now one of the largest minority-owned businesses in Ohio, offering valuable benefits to its clients.
• Leading world-class procurement organizations that adopt supplier diversity programs at a higher rate than typical organizations are able to generate 133 percent greater return on the cost of procurement operations than average organizations.  This drives an additional $3.6 million to the bottom line for every $1 million in procurement operations costs, according to recent research from The Hackett Group.*

Economic Development Opportunities

• ASW Global, along with the International Warehouse Logistics Association (IWLA) and the city of Akron, Ohio, through Mayor Don Plusquellic, is planning an initiative to strengthen the Northeast Ohio economy by developing work-force training that can lead to upwardly mobile jobs in urban areas.
• Once tested in Northeast Ohio, this pilot program has the potential to expand nationally.

Some of ASW Global’s Clients

• Wal-Mart®/Sam’s Club®
• The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
• Honda
• KeyBank
• Diebold Incorporated
• The Davey Tree Expert Company
• Cleveland Clinic
• The Lubrizol Corporation
• National City Corporation®

About ASW Global

Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, ASW Global is a supply chain management company that services logistical and warehousing needs worldwide.  Focused on providing exceptional customer service and logistical capabilities, ASW Global serves such clients as Wal-Mart®, Honda and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.  Led by Chairman & CEO André Thornton, a successful, award-winning, African-American businessman and former Major League Baseball star, ASW Global is one of the leading diversity suppliers in Ohio. 

The company operates in Foreign Trade Zone #181, which provides tax and duty benefits for its clients, giving them a competitive advantage.  With strategic locations in Ohio and Michigan, ASW Global has direct one-day access to more than 50 percent of the population throughout America and Canada, and boasts more than one million square feet of storage space.  ASW Global can be contacted at www.aswservices.com or 888.363.8492.

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Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club are registered trademarks of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  National City Corporation is a registered trademark of National City Corporation.

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*The Hackett Group is a strategic advisory firm and an Answerthink company, and a world leader in best practice research.  This information was taken from its August 17, 2006, news release:  “The Hackett Group:  Supplier Diversity Does Not Drive Increased Costs – World-Class Procurement Organizations That Turn to Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses Don’t Sacrifice Savings; Some Leaders Even See Role of Supplier Diversity in Driving Revenue Growth.”