Ryder Creates World-Class Knowledge Management Process by Teaming with Accenture
Employees empowered to share innovation, expertise and best practices across the enterprise
MIAMI, August 15, 2000…Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE: R), a leader in logistics and transportation solutions worldwide, today announced another in a series of Internet-related initiatives to enhance client and shareholder value. Ryder is adopting a world-class knowledge management process that makes it easier for employees to share their innovation, expertise and best practices across organizational and geographical boundaries.
By working with Accenture, a leading technology and management consultancy, to design and integrate a virtual Knowledge Management Center for Ryder’s business development, solutions, design and operations employees, Ryder is accelerating the growth of its capabilities to serve clients in the new economy. The result is increasing Company-wide capabilities to leverage knowledge for today’s logistics and transportation challenges.
This initiative represents a use of Internet technology beyond the increasingly common business-to-business applications - moving into what Accenture calls business-to-employee solutions. The new Knowledge Management Process, which is enabled by the Ryder corporate intranet, will initially provide more than 500 Ryder employees with a systematic process for acquiring, creating, synthesizing and sharing information and insights among sales, operations, solution design and implementation functions. Increased productivity and innovation, as well as enhanced client value, are all expected benefits from the new Knowledge Management Process.
"The knowledge Ryder’s employees have and the knowledge they create are the corporate assets that impact our performance more than any other form of capital," said Gene Tyndall, Ryder’s Executive Vice President of Global Markets and Solutions. "The purpose of Ryder’s knowledge management initiative is to create and sustain a leading-edge position for the Company and its stakeholders by leveraging knowledge capital across the global enterprise."
Accenture is working with Ryder to create a customized solution that accelerates employee learning, availability of information and speed to benefit Ryder’s clients. Additionally, the Knowledge Management Process will increase shareholder value by enhancing the decision-making process, improving productivity and increasing operational efficiency. For example, the Process allows a team seeking the best solution for a client’s supply chain to come together on-line and share best practices in a virtual workspace.
One of the biggest challenges to successfully implementing knowledge management is to properly address cultural change issues. The Ryder implementation program includes communications, training, policies and procedures, knowledge proficiencies, incentives, a comprehensive measurement system and the creation of an organizational team to lead and support the knowledge management effort. "Ryder has implemented a number of major changes and innovations over the last several years to make itself more competitive and to deliver greater client and shareholder value," Tyndall said. "Ryder employees have embraced changes that make them more competitive and better able to deliver value-based services to their clients."
According to Accenture research, a well-implemented knowledge management process can improve employee productivity by an average of 60 percent.
"Ryder is well positioned to harness the power of business-to-employee e-Commerce by using technology to enhance collaboration, which is often an overlooked element in today’s workplace," said Michael Naset, managing partner of Accenture’s Transportation and Travel Services practice. "The business case for knowledge management only becomes more compelling in the new economy. Due to the changing nature of client expectations, transportation and logistics service providers that are able to move products at e-Speed will quickly enhance both client satisfaction as well as their own corporate growth."
About Ryder
Ryder (www.ryder.com) provides a continuum of leading-edge logistics, supply chain and transportation management solutions worldwide. Ryder’s product offerings range from full-service leasing, commercial rental and programmed maintenance of vehicles to integrated services such as dedicated contract carriage and carrier management. Additionally, Ryder offers comprehensive supply chain solutions, lead logistics management services and e-Commerce solutions that support clients’ entire supply chains, from sourcing of inbound raw materials through distribution and delivery of finished goods. Ryder currently serves client needs throughout North America, in Latin America, Europe and Asia.
Fortune magazine ranked Ryder as the most admired company in the highway transportation industry in 1997 and 1998 and second-most admired in 1999. In 2000, Ryder received a higher overall rating than any of its competitors in the Fortune survey. For the third consecutive year, Inbound Logistics magazine recognized Ryder in 2000 as the top third-party logistics provider.
Ryder’s stock is a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. In 2000, Ryder is ranked 309th on the Fortune 500 list and 332nd on the Forbes 500.
Certain statements and information included in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements herein should be evaluated with due consideration given to the many uncertainties inherent in Ryder’s business that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, among others, the competitive pricing environment applicable to the Company’s businesses, changes in clients’ business environments and greater than expected expenses associated with the Company’s activities.
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Scott Mall
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