Vector (acquired by GM)

Note: This company is no longer trading as a separate enterprise.

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2006

June - General Motors Corp. notified Con-way Inc. of its intent to exercise its call right under the Vector SCM agreements. The call right entitled GM to purchase from Con-way the membership interest in Vector SCM held by Menlo Worldwide, LLC. Menlo Worldwide, LLC is Con-way's global contract logistics subsidiary.

The transaction was completed on January 5, 2007, and the functions and responsibilities handled by Vector SCM were assumed by GM.

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History

Vector was a joint venture between the US logistics company CNF (Conway) and General Motors. Established in 2001 it was designed as a fast and cost effective way to improve GMs transport procurement and planning.  

In some respects Vector was a difficult company to categorise. It was important to realise that as well as being part owned by General Motors and therefore part of the procurement structure of a Vehicle Manufacturer ('VM'), Vector was an LSP in its own right. Not only was Vector designed to satisfy the requirements of GM, but it was also designed to exploit any market opportunities that GM's logistics operations might offer. This made Vector a multi-faceted potential player in the market for logistics services as both a buyer and a provider. In this sense it had some similarities to Volkswagen Transport.

Established in 2001 in Germany, Vector SCM GmbH was a subsidiary of its parent in the US and the same ownership rules apply in terms of equity and management control.

Although established at roughly the same time as its larger North American parent, Vector in Europe took longer to take-off. Only in 2004, did it begin to handle the bulk of the US$1bn of GM Europe's annual transport spend. In 2005 it handled more than 90% of that spend.