ATC ramps up at Fort Worth Alliance Airport with three new contracts
Dallas Business Journal - by Margaret Allen and Bill Hethcock The fast-growing third-party logistics firm, which provides everything from warehousing and distribution services to the handling of returns and repairs for its electronics customers, now has more than 1 million square feet of operating space and about 3,000 employees, almost all of whom are in North Texas. Driving the company’s current spate of hiring are three new contracts, including two with existing customers. While the identity of two of ATC’s new customers is confidential, one is with portable global positioning devices provider TomTom Inc. ATC Logistics and TomTom just signed a multiyear contract that puts TomTom among the logistics provider’s largest customers. ATC will be responsible for managing the purchase of packing materials and accessories for TomTom products before they are distributed to national retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City. Expansion is likely to continue throughout the year if ATC Logistics secures even more business, said President William "Bill" Conley Jr. While ATC Logistics has just signed a contract with Hillwood to lease more space at Alliance, the logistics provider will likely need another 200,000 square feet of space in Dallas-Fort Worth and could hire as many as another 400 employees in 2008, he said. ‘A good problem to have’
February 15, 2008
ATC Logistics and Electronics LP is in the midst of hiring 800 employees and has added 190,000 square feet of space to its Fort Worth Alliance Airport location as it ramps up to handle three new contracts.
ATC is looking for a variety of warehouse employees, where jobs in this region are typically paying $11 to $15 an hour, say industry sources. A limited number of supervisory positions will also be added.
"We’re in a situation where if we sell one more piece of business we need another building," Conley said. "It’s a good problem to have."
Dallas-Fort Worth consistently ranks in the top four U.S. locations when Fortune 500 companies look at where to put their distribution centers, said Jon Cross, director of marketing for The Allen Group, which is developing the 6,000-acre Dallas Logistics Hub in southern Dallas.
"You can reach 70% to 85% of the U.S. population within two legal trucking days," he said. "That is huge."
Because of rising fuel costs, increasing environmental concerns and other factors, logistics plays an increasingly important role for companies, allowing Dallas-Fort Worth to benefit because of its central position in the United States, Cross said. That’s one reason The Allen Group believes the Metroplex can support two major logistics centers.
Transportation infrastructure, labor and land costs, the availability of the foreign trade zone and Hillwood’s flexibility to work with expanding companies all factor into companies such as ATC Logistics expanding, said Steve Boecking, vice president of international business development for Hillwood.
"It’s all of these things put together in a package," he said.
ATC Logistics is also looking at adding as much as 100,000 square feet on the West Coast as its customers request regional logistics and distribution services there, Conley said.
Founded in 1996, ATC Logistics is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Aftermarket Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: ATAC). The parent company remanufactures and distributes car and truck transmissions and related parts.
The logistics subsidiary supplies a full-range of logistics and distribution services to 15 manufacturers and telecommunications carriers, many of them Fortune 100 companies. Earlier this week, ATC Logistics reported 2007 sales of $293.9 million, a 12% increase compared to 2006. Net income last year reached $45 million, Conley said.
In mid-2007, the trade magazine Logistics Management named ATC among the most cutting-edge third-party logistics providers, saying it was a "standout" among the industry’s smaller, niche players.
ATC Logistics currently operates from five separate facilities in Texas and Oklahoma.
At Alliance, where it has three buildings and about 2,870 employees, it now occupies 375,000 square feet in one building, 180,000 square feet in a second, and 415,000 square feet in a third. In that building, it initially leased 225,000 square feet but just recently added 190,000 square feet.
ATC Logistics also has 50,000 square feet of space and 80 employees in Carrollton, and 100,000 square feet of space and 50 employees in Oklahoma City.
Focusing on electronics
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the perfect location for nationwide logistics and distribution, Conley said, due to the central location and transportation infrastructure.
ATC Logistics receives its customers’ shipments of high-value electronic devices by air, rail or truck, and breaks them into shipments sent to national retailers and company-owned stores. ATC Logistics also handles its customers’ returns, any testing and repair, remanufacturing to original equipment manufacturer’s specifications, repackaging and proper electronic waste disposal.
mallen@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7119 ,
bhethcock@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7125
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