Tag Archives: Supply Chain

Keystone Foods Improves Supply Chain Visibility with SaaS TMS

Keystone Foods is a multi-national, multi-protein processor for the world’s leading brands, providing fresh and frozen protein products to customers worldwide. Keystone processes poultry, beef, fish and pork and is dedicated to food safety as well as quality. The company runs 50 facilities that serve about 6,400 restaurants around the world. The Keystone Food Logistics Services Group is part of the Keystone U.S. distribution business, which has four distribution centers servicing the quick serve restaurant industry. Keystone Food Logistics Services stores and ships every item customers require using a private fleet while handling inbound through contract carriers. Keystone typically handles 500-700 loads per week.

Keystone ran several business case scenarios in search of opportunities to grow business while reducing supply chain costs. The company determined that centralizing its internal freight and launching a new logistics service would be the most profitable route. Historically at Keystone, freight was managed in a decentralized manner, so each individual manufacturing facility managed transportation. The company used both asset-based carriers and brokers to handle freight. Lanes consisted of transfers of raw materials between facilities, fresh and frozen products to customers, cold storage facilities as well as inbound ingredients from suppliers.

Keystone created a wishlist for a revamped transportation management system that included:

  • Visibility into real-time supply chain information
  • Collaboration with everyone involved in the freight network
  • Centralized data on common platform
  • Ability to benchmark and establish KPIs
  • Reduced overall transportation costs

Keystone selected a true software-as-a-service (SaaS) TMS to improve overall supply chain management in a collaborative environment. The collaborative platform enables Keystone to manage the entire freight process, from optimizing mode to routing shipments to managing carrier selection while ensuring capacity commitments are met. Additional benefits include:

  • Real-time monitoring of the entire freight process – everyone is in the loop so plants can continue producing and meeting customer demands
  • Orders received automatically and loads tendered to carriers directly through the system
  • Automated processes and reporting, providing access to data that was not available previously
  • Visibility to all carriers and rates in the system, so Keystone knows it is selecting the best possible rate for a particular lane
  • Electronic scheduling gives total control of appointments for each facility while being configurable to a specific schedule and dock
  • Easy to use system for carriers and other users who are not traditionally computer savvy

By leveraging transportation technology, Keystone is now able to:

Improve Visibility: A central data repository enables visibility for analysis of costs and performance measurement to uncover areas for improvement.

Reduce Costs: Keystone saved 5% of overall freight spend and received quick payback of four months.

Increase Collaboration: With all parties in the transportation process having access to the system, Keystone gained insight into how freight impacts operations.

This entry was originally posted on Logistics Viewpoints, read the full article here >>

Aberdeen Group Research: Integrated Transportation

Aberdeen Group Transportation Benchmark Study

Aberdeen Group recently released complimentary integrated transportation benchmark studies. The research shows how Best-in-Class companies gain more visibility while transforming supply-demand networks and technology.

These companies have looked beyond their internal capabilities and systems by:

  • Partnering with a solutions provider
  • Enhancing cost & service dynamically
  • Collaborating across their global supply chain

BENCHMARK STUDY #1: Global Trade and Supply Chain Management
Aberdeen Group’s research benchmark study reveals that trade compliance teams are actively revamping and augmenting their Global Trade Management (GTM) and their Global Trade Compliance (GTC) programs to stay current with supply and demand fluctuations, growing global operations, increasing operational complexity and risk, and trade lane changes. ACCESS THE STUDY NOW >>

BENCHMARK STUDY #2: International Transportation
Aberdeen Group’s research benchmark study shares that dynamic supply chain optimization capabilities and near real-time visibility to detailed supply chain events are key requirements to thriving within the complex and shifting international transportation and global trade environment. ACCESS THE STUDY NOW >>

[WEBINAR] Supply Chain Visibility | Nov. 8

Supply Chain Visibility Webinar Banner

Thursday, November 8th | 2:00pm – 3:00pm EST | REGISTER NOW

Lack of visibility and standardization across business units combined with manual processes create increasingly difficult business practices. These business issues create frustration inside the company and with outside supply chain partners, while translating to business inefficiencies and additional costs.

Northwest Pipe Company, a leading manufacturer of welded steel pipe, went from a decentralized transportation process to a centrally managed operation by leveraging technology. On this webinar, Max Beach, Corporate Logistics Manager, will share how Northwest Pipe Company utilizes a SaaS-based TMS to increase visibility, improve collaboration, and reduce transportation costs.

Register for this webinar to learn how to:

  • Gain complete visibility with supply chain partners
  • Make better decisions by utilizing real-world data for business intelligence
  • Integrate business processes to improve efficiencies & centralize control
  • Reduce overall transportation spend & improve carrier relationships

Space is limited. Reserve your webinar seat today >>

Global Logistics: A View From Above

World Trade Magazine | A View From Above

Global Trade Magazine featured an article in the November/December 2012 issue about cloud-based supply chain software and how exporters are enabled with the latest technology to track shipments. This is an excerpt of the article, read the full story here >>

There are places in Africa where it is generally expected that up to 20 percent of shipments could go missing. A ship arrives at port, cargo gets unloaded onto one of several trucks which then motors off and never arrives at its destination, yet presumably comes back for more. The trucks operate in a round-the-clock continuous loop from port to factory in an effort to clear the ship and have it on its way as fast as possible, though no one knows when one of those trucks goes off route and goods are stolen. Consider this the extreme example of why tracking cargo is so important in today’s supply-chains, but knowing where your cargo is—whether it be a supplier’s inbound shipment or your own product en route to a distributor or end user—isn’t just a valuable tool, it’s a necessity for any company committed to being competitive.

In today’s world of collaborating in the cloud, there are many options for end-to-end supply-chain management software that will handle everything but spending your profits. Massive networks of suppliers, warehousers, 3PLs and transportation companies, buyers, brokers, distributors and more all converge in a hub—or in some cases, a “platform”—each adding to the tens of thousands of data points which create a visualization of the supply-chain. Variations on the software abound, but the gist remains the same: Cut down lead times by giving shippers a visualization of each link of their supply-chain, enabling them to react in real time to exception events.

And yet, at what point do you know when your latest shipment to Africa has been appropriated by undesirables? As powerful as most of the existing supply-chain management software is in providing just about every necessary service from one end to the other, widespread, true real-time tracking in-context that can actually be pinpointed on a map still represents the future…[FULL ARTICLE]

SaaS-Based TMS Empowers Global Freight Management

Jon Kuerschner oversees sales, marketing and partner channels at LeanLogistics and provides valuable insights for companies interested in implementing differentiated logistics solutions.

 

Jon Kuerschner, SVP Sales & Marketing, featured in the July 2012 Inbound Logistics Thought Leaders section.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing shippers in today’s economic environment?

A: In today’s volatile market, managing transportation domestically and globally is a key factor for a more efficient and cohesive supply chain. Many businesses still use manual methods to manage freight, with no way to measure service or performance. Other companies are bound to installed/hosted legacy transportation management systems (TMS), which limit the flexibility and visibility necessary for end-to-end supply chain management. With limited metrics and no best practices, companies struggle to improve services and reduce transportation costs.

Additionally, as more companies expand overseas and offshore, multi-country compliance is quickly becoming a challenging factor of transportation management.

Q: How can today’s shippers effectively manage domestic and global freight?

A: To support global initiatives, shippers should consider leveraging a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) TMS with domestic and global functionality. True global logistics technology enables companies to successfully manage all modes of transportation—domestic and global—under a common umbrella while providing complete visibility and direct collaboration between shippers and carriers.

By leveraging a global TMS, shippers are empowered with a comprehensive solution for managing domestic and cross-border freight that directly impacts the bottom line. Automated communications, processes, and workflow between supply chain partners allow companies to improve efficiencies while gaining visibility into freight payment and discrepancies before they impact the company’s finances.

Global transportation technology bridges the gap for multi-divisional enterprises, enabling domestic and global logistics management in a centralized system that delivers significant value for shippers and carriers.

Q: How can companies looking to expand internationally leverage a TMS?

A: A TMS with both domestic and global functionality provides scalability for those companies that are currently handling domestic freight while looking to expand into international territories, or even those companies that are currently managing international freight outside of their domestic processes but need one flexible platform for domestic and global transportation.

Furthermore, with a true SaaS TMS solution, companies have visibility to true total landed costs and lead-times to make better sourcing decisions while monitoring and managing supplier performance all over the globe.

A true SaaS solution for stransportation management enables companies to reduce overall transportation spend; gain visibility into domestic and global transportation processes; improve collaboration between all global partners of the supply chain; and scale and quickly adapt technology based on domestic and global needs.