Independent Quality Checks at Source
Consolidation facilities are located in major growing regions. There are many reasons for this including keeping the drive from field to facility short, so that product is brought to temperature as quickly as possible. Also where there is one grower, there are many more, so this brings our consolidation customers variety or strategic seasonal buys.
As far as a consolidation’s impact on operations, the proximity to source allows us to have eyes and ears on the product. Our quality checks are ongoing in the field and in the cooler. We are in communication and have built relationships with the growers in the area, so that we are monitoring the conditions, market, quality, and food safety of the produce.
More Frequent Inbound
Because we are already consolidating with other customers, this brings us more opportunity to create optimizations and work with LTL (less than load) shipments. This can be a great advantage because we have more frequent inbounds by aggregating customer shipments. The scale works to everyone’s advantage as we consider product, load, and route in a consolidation assessment.
Right-Sized Orders Arriving more Frequently Drive Better Utilization of Valuable Warehouse Space
With consolidation, your orders are no longer based on how much of a grower’s product can fill a truck, but allows filling a truck based on your exact produce needs. This can allow for better quality of product, less stock-outs, and less inventory shrink because you are buying to your need and not to forced load size and cadence. So not only do you see the benefit at a truck level, but also with your warehouse space and inventory management. It all depends on the assessment we work with you to create in a consolidation program.
Optimizes Truck Utilization – Fewer Trucks to Manage
Sometimes in our assessment, we find that we can save customers on trucks. This was the case for one consolidation client, where loads and lanes were optimized to save them 1-2 trucks a week. With the high cost of running a truck, this could potentially produce millions in savings over the course of a year. It really makes you realizes that taking the time to develop a holistic freight strategy that considers suppliers, stops, lanes, etc. can save a lot of money. Finally the ancillary benefit to truck utilization is the sustainability that comes from this level of efficiency.
Comprehensive reporting and tailored communication based on your needs
Finally, just as we have eyes and ears in the field and cooler to monitor product, we continuing monitoring as the product is on its way to our customer’s distribution centers. Our team is in communication with the consolidation facility, carrier, and DC to ensure all the bumps in the road are sorted out all the while maintaining the product integrity.
As you can probably see, maintaining a consolidation plan is a great efficiency strategy in the supply chain, but requires a high level of touch. Our team helps shoulder the burden of enhancing the work of your established teams if not take away the burden altogether. Our consolidation team is flexible to find the ways, routes, and strategy to make your produce successful!