CN, a transportation company based in Canada, and Agri-Food Central Ltd., a supply chain management company, lately announced an agreement to improve the service delivery performance and consistency of the supply chain for specialty grains moving from Western Canada to Mexico via rail, as well as other markets, including those in Latin America through Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coast ports served by CN.

Under the agreement, CN and Agri-Food Central have agreed to exchange information that will allow the parties to jointly measure rail service and supply chain performance, to cooperate on joint supply chain planning, and to establish a process to address any rail service issues.

Doug MacDonald, CN vice-president, Corporate Marketing, said: "CN continues to sign agreements with customers who are interested in working with us to develop better supply chains that increase end-customer satisfaction."

David Nyznyk, director of supply management for Agri-Food Central, said: "We have developed a close relationship with CN, which is well positioned to serve our needs in reaching export markets for our specialty grains."

MacDonald added: "CN is signing a series of supply chain collaboration agreements that are key to encouraging all stakeholders to achieve improved service levels, as well as greater productivity and efficiency. We believe this commercial approach is the right way to move distribution services to the next level."