CASE STUDY > NISSAN FORKLIFT
Outside-the-box thinking
Lifts Entire Company
Challenge
Nissan Forklift, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., manufactures and sells forklifts and pallet
jacks. They also supply parts to dealers in the Americas.
Headquartered in Marengo, IL, Nissan Forklift was experiencing problems with their legacy 3PL. Lack of a TMS
meant deploying a manual routing guide and outbound multi-stop TL planning, a costly process with no visibility or
reporting capabilities. The management group desperately needed an experienced Transportation Management
team to provide a TMS with visibility, alleviate service failures and reduce cost. Enter OHL with a solution that
enhanced visibility and reporting capabilities that went way beyond the predictable 3PL work to which Nissan
forklift had become accustomed.
Solution
In 2009, Nissan Forklift partnered with OHL’s Transportation Management group to manage inbound and
outbound shipments as well as a true TMS solution allowing for visibility and KPI reporting. Specialty carrier
relationships are required and OHL leveraged relationships to fit this need – specifically Full Truckload carriers
capable of making multiple stops. OHL provided two dedicated transportation professionals in Marengo to
manage all transportation operations including shipping personnel and local shuttle requirements.
In addition to cost savings through routing guide compliance and shipment optimization, OHL performed a series
of studies to help identify and maximize opportunities for improvement and savings. Using the TMS, the OHL
engineering team generated a monthly savings report - including volumes, trends, fuel, etc. – that was used to
re-baseline the business and negotiate with carriers. Nissan Forklift now has access to data like never before.
OHL knew Nissan Forklift should leverage their outbound shipping potential, and converted their static Dealer
Cost Matrix to a powerful tool allowing Nissan and OHL to adjust per unit costs by modifying key drivers including
trailer utilization, markup, cost per mile, fuel surcharge, accessorials, and administrative costs. The ‘what-if’
capability enabled the team to analyze and identify the most effective Nissan Forklift customer shipping rates. In
2009 Nissan Forklift was projecting an 8% shipping cost increase by 2011. OHL’s goal was to provide a costneutral plan, where the cost to ship would equal what customers were billed.
Results
Game-changing data and a customized approach led to effective, efficient decision-making. By executing
according to data supplied by OHL, Nissan Forklift has saved 7% overall on LTL and TL shipping and continues
to drive savings and efficiencies year-over-year. The company has not seen a rate increase since 2009.
The Dealer Cost Matrix also helped Nissan Forklift better understand the value of transportation in their business.
Through the OHL management approach, efficiencies were realized through an improved outbound consolidation
program and an increase in inventory turns, from an outbound product shipped perspective. Bottom-line, by
partnering with OHL, Nissan Forklift now has the information and expertise to make well-informed decisions that
fundamentally improve their business.