Sears names APL as “Partner in Progress”

APL, the global container operator, has been named a "Sears Partner in Progress for 2000" by Sears, Roebuck and Co., in recognition of outstanding international ocean transportation services.

This prestigious award is presented annually to a select group of vendor companies that supply Sears with quality products and services, from apparel, appliances and tools to marketing, transportation services and technology. More than 10,000 providers competed for this award in 2000.

APL, which is part of the NOL Group, Singapore, was honored on April 10 at an event hosted by Sears Chairman and CEO Alan J. Lacy at Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

The carrier, which transports inbound shipments from Asia to various Sears distribution points in the United States, provided 98 percent on-time delivery reliability to Sears during 2000. "APL was recognized for not only service excellence and outstanding sales and customer service, but also for its ability to provide user-friendly and accurate information on a timely basis," according to Ed Aldridge, president of the Americas for APL, domiciled in Oakland, California.

Aldridge accepted the award on behalf of APL and was accompanied by Phil Reichert, APL's area sales manager, and Deana Dais, one of APL's customer service representatives on the Sears team, domiciled in Denver, Colorado.

"The Partners in Progress Award is very well named since Sears truly understands the meaning and value of partnership with their service providers," said Aldridge. "All of us at APL around the world look forward to taking our partnership to new levels of cooperation, innovation, and prosperity."

Begun almost 20 years ago, the Partners in Progress program recognizes sources that make significant contributions to the growth of Sears businesses and the creation of new ways to better serve Sears customers. The winners were selected from nominations submitted by Sears store support organization.

APL has won several other major awards in recent months, including the first Global Carrier Award from Philips Electronics, the Best Carrier Award from the Journal of Commerce, the Best Intra-Asia Carrier Award from Cargo News Asia, in addition to being recognized for one of the best business-to-business web sites by BtoB Magazine and named to InformationWeek's list of the 500 most innovative users of information technology.