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—Blue Ridge selection based on the precision, visibility and depth of insights from their
supply chain planning solutions–

Atlanta, GA, August 10, 2020Blue Ridge, a leader in supply chain planning and pricing solutions, announces their selection as one of 2020’s “100 Great Supply Chain Partners” by highly regarded supply chain and logistics news publication SupplyChainBrain. Blue Ridge was selected due to the stellar business performance of its supply chain planning solutions for MacPherson’s, a leading North American art supply distributor, with the success story featured in SupplyChainBrain’s online issue.

Based in Emeryville, California, MacPherson’s serves 2,600 retail partners through a wide range of channels. Leveraging Blue Ridge demand planning solutions, MacPherson’s improved fill rates to meet its service goal of 95 percent — a critical factor in the company’s ability to retain customers and grow sales.

“Blue Ridge provided us with precision and visibility, thanks to the broadening of demand and supply planning projections, and the granularity of detail available in demand and supply plans,” said Tammy Kyle, manager of product development and inventory planning, MacPherson’s. “The cloud-based environment enabled us to move away from the spreadsheet method of buying, which often resulted in inaccurate forecasting, imprecise recommendations and slow reactions to shifting trends, disruptions and conditions.”

Unprecedented market disruptions due to COVID-19 have only served to amplify the value derived from Blue Ridge’s solutions; enabling MacPherson to make smarter decisions faster. “Now, our inventory analysts are using machine-learning intelligence to meet the dynamics of today’s market with precision and agility,” added Kyle.

Blue Ridge’s distribution-focused forecasting, pricing and inventory planning solutions balance customer needs with business realities like erratic consumer buying habits, seasonal demand, variable lead times, promotions and other market pressures.

“Blue Ridge’s work with MacPherson’s is a great example of our commitment to revealing uncertain demand patterns and creating a foreseeable future for our customers,” said Jim Byrnes, chief executive officer, Blue Ridge. “MacPherson’s has been a great ‘Supply Chain Partner’ for Blue Ridge just as much as we’ve been to them, and we appreciate the validation and recognition by SupplyChainBrain.”

SupplyChainBrain’s annual list highlights the top 10 factors that typically determine the readers’ choice of supply chain vendor, including value, excellence, expertise, reliability, problem solving, support, continuous improvement, positive attitude, global reach and strong leadership.

“Blue Ridge is always there for us,” said Kyle. “Whether it’s LifeLine support, the hands-on training, or just during our implementation, we always have their full support. They were instrumental in us going live on target with training, testing and implementation — on time and on track.”