Case Study: Food & Beverage – Frozen Food Products
INNOVATION
“
... we are able to give
carriers more visibility
into our processes ...
”
Supply Chain Manager
Business Challenge
With a complex distribution process and
requirements for on-time delivery to ensure
product freshness, the client needed real
time visibility into the transportation process,
including interactions between manufacturing
plants, distribution centers, customer service
locations and third-party carriers.
LEANLOGISTICS TECHNOLOGY
& SERVICES INCREASE
VISIBILITY AND IMPROVE
BUSINESS PROCESS
Client Profile
True SaaS Solution
LeanLogistics Managed Transportation Services
leverages LeanTMS®, the SaaS technology
powering the LeanLogistics Transportation
Network and Strategic Support Services to
improve services, reduce costs and gain
complete visibility into transportation processes.
Company’s Results
With the combination of LeanLogistics’
technologies and services, the client continues to
scale for growth, cut costs, enable visibility and
enhance customer service.
The fourth largest, company-owned DSD system in the US food industry, and by far the largest in frozen
foods, is faced with a complex distribution scenario. The entity operates out of seven manufacturing
plants and 14 distribution centers with more than 200 cross dock facilities and inventory locations. For
transportation, the company relies mostly on truckload carriers with temperature-controlled equipment.
Business Process and Problem Definition
The existing transportation management system was no longer sufficient to cope with the increasing
complexity of operation. The call went out for a more sophisticated solution that could manage dayto-day costs while reducing time in transit. The prior system required manual processes to support the
lack of system flexibility and was time-consuming. The company needed optimization, automation and
load planning as well as a streamlined process for better collaboration with carriers. Furthermore, the
company lacked visibility of critical elements in the supply chain, such as accessorial management.
Lastly, manual processes were used to monitor internal compliance with purchasing directives.
Process Improvement – SaaS Solution
The company turned to LeanLogistics LeanTMS®, a SaaS-based solution which handles order planning,
appointment and dock scheduling, carrier payment and performance reporting that was needed in a
transportation solution. In addition, the company engaged with LeanLogistics’ Strategic Support Services
to optimize the overall use of transportation technology and enhanced reporting to indicate how carrier
performance was trending over time.
After moving to LeanTMS, a new series of scorecards delivered a better sense of carrier performance.
This enabled data-driven discussions and the development of more robust relationships with carriers.
Additionally, increased visibility provides carriers a more accurate picture of service quality while
streamlining basic processes. Now, the company documents key performance indicators online, which
serve as primary benchmarks for developing carrier relationships.
LeanLogistics
1351 S. Waverly Road
Holland, MI 49423
www.leanlogistics.com
P 866.584.7280
A Brambles Company
Case Study: Food & Beverage – Frozen Food Products
With automatic routing guides, the company is able to improve the execution of its request for proposal
(RFP) strategy. Automated processes lead to less time spent on tactical load planning and more time for
optimizing the current transportation strategy. The company also gained better visibility to the behavior of
the transportation staff. With customized dashboards and reporting, transportation planners have the data
to drive ownership to create value for the business. The scalable and flexible nature of the LeanLogistics’
SaaS-based TMS solution enables them to gain efficiencies and reduce costs.
Supply Chain Manager
Value Delivered
The client leverages technologies, such as LeanTMS®,
through a common platform shared with a community
of supply chain professionals – the LeanLogistics
Transportation Network. The SaaS platform behind
LeanTMS, combined with LeanLogistics’ Strategic
Support Services, enables the company to collaborate
with multiple parties in the supply chain, scale
infrastructure and efficiently adapt technology based
on changing business needs, as well as provides
visibility to manage the entire transportation process.
LeanTMS® enables the client to:
• Reduce costs, save time and conserve resources
• Improve services, enhance customer service and
boost on-time deliveries
“With the help of LeanLogistics, we’ve been
able to automate routing guides, which helps
us execute our RFP strategy. Additionally, we
are able to give carriers more visibility into our
processes which makes us a more attractive
shipper to do business with.”
LeanTMS GAVE INNOVATION
THROUGH AUTOMATION,
GIVING THE CLIENT
CONTROL AND VISIBILITY
THROUGHOUT A VERY
COMPLEX SUPPLY CHAIN
®
• Gain complete visibility into supply chain data
• Automate routing guides, dock scheduling, freight payment, accessorial processes
• Improve performance of the internal transportation team
LeanLogistics’ Strategic Support Services maximizes the value of LeanTMS by utilizing best practices and
developing KPIs and enhanced reports. Carrier performance is seen on a trending scale with the help
of carrier scorecards while improvements in internal and external compliance allow for a more robust
shipper-carrier relationship. With the combination of this project-based service and LeanTMS, the company
continues to scale for growth, cut costs, enable visibility and enhance customer service.
LeanLogistics
1351 S. Waverly Road
Holland, MI 49423
www.leanlogistics.com
P 866.584.7280
A Brambles Company
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