Improving Management of Auto Parts Shipments at Mazda

Automakers' North America operation optimizing multi-carrier parcel and LTL shipping to cut costs with Kewill shipping solution

Automakers' North America operation optimizing multi-carrier parcel and LTL shipping to cut costs with Kewill shipping solution

Marlborough, MA — September 20, 2004 — Automaker Mazda's North American operation has gone live with an enterprise shipping solution from Kewill to manage the fulfillment of auto parts from Mazda's five U.S. distribution centers to its 700 dealerships across the United States and 200 in Canada.

Kewill said its solution will optimize the fulfillment of 724,000 parcels and 35,000 less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments annually from its five distribution facilities. Prior to working with Kewill, Mazda had multiple, fragmented, stand-alone systems at each location to manage its domestic parcel, international parcel and LTL shipments.

By deploying a centralized enterprise system, Mazda can enforce contracted carriers are used, maximizing service levels, while cutting freight costs, the solution provider said. Kewill's time-in-transit optimization selects best carrier based on costs and required delivery commitment.

"Prior to Kewill, there was no ability to enforce our carrier and shipping strategy," said Bobbie Rooney, manager for national logistics and transportation at Mazda North American Operations.

Rooney said that Mazda would sometimes ship an engine 10 miles from the warehouse via a parcel carrier because the company's terms and conditions with its customers dictated that mode, even though using an LTL carrier would have involved half the cost.

"Kewill allows us to drive best practices throughout our supply chain," Rooney said. "There is complete visibility and accountability on how we ship. Furthermore, we have increased service levels while cutting costs."

In addition to providing Mazda with the cost and time savings associated with rate shopping and shipping automation, Kewill's shipping solution integrates with Mazda's other business applications, giving visibility into order status, shipping charges and tracking information. Mazda is now able to upload all freight charges to its third-party auditor to validate carrier shipment detail (bill matching) while the company also benefits from complete shipping activity reports that provide comprehensive information to better manage costs.

"Mazda is a first-class example of how important shipping is within the supply chain," said Bill Owen, chief operating officer of Kewill. "Getting spare parts to the dealers on time is a key customer satisfaction issue. Mazda has done a great job in restructuring their supply chain to increase on time deliveries, cut costs, reduce stocking points, lower inventories and move to a demand driven supply network for the spare parts fulfillment."

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