Ryder System, Inc., a commercial transportation, logistics, and supply chain management solutions company, has received the 2011 “Best Service Logistics Supplier” award from Cisco. This prestigious award recognizes Ryder for working hard to exceed Cisco’s customer expectations for service supply chain innovation and collaboration within the Cisco service ecosystem. The distinction was awarded during Cisco’s 20th annual Supplier Appreciation Event, which was held in September at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

“Ryder has shown remarkable collaboration and [has] consistently maintained high levels in [regards to] delivery performance,” said Rick Harris, Director of Service Supply Chain Delivery Operations, Cisco. “The Ryder team’s focus on innovation and process improvement resulted in solid cost savings, operational efficiencies, and productivity gains. In addition, their energy conservation initiative drove a substantial reduction in energy consumption, [which] support[s] our vision of a sustainable future.”

Cisco presented awards to suppliers in recognition of their contributions to Cisco’s success in fiscal year 2011. At the event, Cisco celebrated the shared successes of its global value chain with strategic suppliers and manufacturing partners and reaffirmed its commitment to a strong, continued partnership that will further accelerate innovation.

“Ryder is proud to be a part of Cisco’s tradition of innovation and operational excellence,” said John Williford, President of Global Supply Chain Solutions, Ryder. “We are honored to receive this award and look forward to building on our 12-year relationship with Cisco to continue providing innovative, flexible solutions that drive Cisco’s growth and profitability.”

Ryder first began serving Cisco in 2000 by providing reverse logistics services, including managing domestic shipments of warranty replacement components to Cisco’s customers and stock replenishments to Cisco’s rapid fulfillment depots. Today, a Ryder facility in Roanoke, Texas, has grown into a 144,000-square-foot Global Distribution Center (GDC) for Cisco. Services have also expanded to include configuration and software duplication services for top tier customers; international replenishment shipments to distribution centers abroad; compliance auditing; export documentation creation and retention; item weight/dimensions reporting and maintenance; engineering change order requests to ensure manufacture revision compliance; and a re-box/re-label program on global stock purges.