Engine manufacturer increases productivity and inventory control EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - Amber Road (NYSE: AMBR), a leading provider of global trade management (GTM) solutions, today announced that Mercury Marine, a leading marine engine manufacturer, is using Amber Road’s Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) software to manage its FTZ operations at its new distribution center in St. Louis. Mercury Marine, founded in 1939, is a $2.2 billion division of Brunswick Corp. of Lake Forest, Ill., and the leading marine engine manufacturer in the world. Headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wis., Mercury Marine provides marine engines for private, commercial and government sales. Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) and free trade agreements (FTA) offer the most direct and significant duty and tariff reduction opportunities for importers and exporters, according to an April 2014 Aberdeen Group study. In fact, 57 percent of companies surveyed in the report have, or will build, FTZ infrastructure into their business to support global transformation and reduce total landed costs. Automating FTZ operations is the best way to ensure compliance with government regulations and save costs. “We needed an easy way to support our quick turnaround times, manage the FTZ process and provide inventory visibility and tracking,” said Melanie Rohde, FTZ manager at Mercury Marine. “Choosing software over a broker, an in-house solution or error-prone manual processes was an easy decision.” FTZs can be manually intensive, requiring complex programs to administer electronic integration with multiple government agencies, warehouse management systems, and trading partners, including customs brokers and carriers. “If there was no software solution, we would have foregone an FTZ as brokerage costs, we believe, are too high. Ultimately, using Amber Road’s solution is less expensive and more efficient than using a broker,” said Rohde. Mercury Marine selected Amber Road’s FTZ solution because of its combination of flexibility, simplicity and powerfulness. By enabling companies to take a holistic, integrated approach to their bonded warehousing and FTZ operations, Amber Road’s FTZ solution can lower importing costs, enhance inventory control and improve supply chain velocity. “We need to get inventory in-and-out quickly, and required a simple solution with a rapid implementation. Some solutions were too complex or not relevant to a distribution zone,” said Rohde. “We were looking for a robust, simple solution that can be easily used with minimal training.” Mercury Marine has already reaped benefits from using the software, including increased productivity and repeatable processes for better managing the distribution center, added Rohde. “FTZs are an excellent way for companies to add to their bottom line. Too often, however, companies don’t take advantage of this opportunity due to the complicated nature of managing the process,” said Anthony Hardenburgh, vice president, global trade content at Amber Road. “We are pleased Amber Road’s FTZ solution can help Mercury Marine maximize its profits, increase productivity and reduce the complexities associated with using an FTZ.”