Sustained Transportation Cost Reduction – Industrial Products Manufacturer
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Situation
- $500M manufacturer of waste collection containers – heavily reliant on specialized transportation
- Fragmented, decentralized organization that had grown through multiple acquisitions
- Operating private fleet and local carriers across 40+ plants
- Sharply limited transportation data
- Very few contracts existed and freight payment was performed at each plant
- Industry experiencing cyclical downturn and volume was off by 25%
Actions Taken
- Immediately implemented a freight audit and payment provider that captures all data
- Recruited, hired and built center-led supply chain group including a Transportation Manager and load planners
- Selected and implemented Transportation Management Software (TMS)
- Sourced all modes of transportation in use; Van and Flatbed Truckload, LTL, Small Parcel and Ocean Freight
- Selected key 3PL partners to manage fleet activity at multiple plants
Results
- Implemented a 10% cost improvement across all modes of transportation
- Operational improvements and rate selection led to over 25% small parcel savings for several plants
- Retained most local trucking companies and redefined their service area to focus on short haul
- Redeployed field resources and eliminated duplicate labor in freight accounting and dispatch
- Provided the company a “one stop shop” for all freight related support