A decade is quite a bit of time, but when you are trying to create a new paradigm it can seem like an instant. That’s my perspective these days as I consider our first 10 years in business and plan for the next 10 ahead. ArrowStream was founded in 2000 with the goal of transforming a transactional supply chain model into a collaborative network of trading partners that allows businesses to help each other succeed and share in the benefits.

I realized that greater transparency and widespread information sharing could redefine success for businesses all across the foodservice supply chain-manufacturers, distributors and restaurant chains and operators. By working together and increasing visibility into the supply chain operations, trading partners would all see substantial gains in profits, efficiency and agility to make informed, strategic decisions. Certain that increased supply chain information sharing would yield greater trust and partnership, ArrowStream set out to build the first collaborative network for supply chain trading partners-with our primary focus on the foodservice industry.

During the last 10 years, we have put forth great effort to make a dent in this ambitious undertaking. Because of our remarkable team of supply chain and logistics experts who are passionate about their work and customers who trusted us with the systems and data at the heart of their businesses, ArrowStream’s 10-year history boasts numerous milestones and achievements for which I am grateful. Here are 10 of ArrowStream’s accomplishments from the last 10 years that I am celebrating this month:

1. Extraordinary customers who share savings and foster strong relationships through trust and collaboration with other business partners.
2. A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39% in the last three years (2007-2009).
3. Crain’s Chicago Business named ArrowStream Chicago’s fourth fastest growing company of 2009.
4. Inc. Magazine ranked ArrowStream # 867 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.
5. $41 million in rebates are generated across the ArrowStream Network.
6. The ArrowStream Network represents almost 10 percent of the foodservice industry today.
7. The ArrowStream Network provides visibility into more than $15 billion of product.
8. The ArrowStream Network today includes 4,000+ restaurant chains, distributors and manufacturers and reaches over 19,000 restaurants nationwide.
9. ArrowStream customers represent nearly 25% of the top 50 brands listed in the Nation’s Restaurant New’s 2009 Top 200 chains by sales and includes some of the nation’s most successful, innovative and expansive foodservice businesses, including Wendy’s, Panda Express, P.F. Chang’s, and Popeye’s.
10. A team of talented people who have dedicated themselves to fulfilling our vision: building the world’s most efficient supply chains.

I am proud of the work ArrowStream does, the hardworking team we have built and our customers and partners whose success and achievements fuel ArrowStream with ambition to accomplish more. While there are hundreds of feats to celebrate from the past decade, I think this list of 10 is an excellent representation of how ArrowStream’s daily focus-to provide customers with superior supply chain operations, higher profits and a much stronger competitive position-yields industry-changing results. And we have only just begun to scratch the surface.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 5:43 pm and is filed under About ArrowStream, Supply Chain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.