Logistics firm to provide multi-country consolidation services, boosting speed-to-market for children's apparel company
Oakland CA — June 10, 2004 — Children's apparel company OshKosh B'Gosh has awarded nearly all of its Asia origin logistics work to global supply-chain service provider APL Logistics, including consolidation of vendor shipments in nine countries in Asia as well as a multi-country consolidation program at APL's Asia hub.
Founded more than 100 years ago, OshKosh is best known as a marketer of children's apparel and accessories, available in more than 50 countries around the world. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis.
"APL Logistics has earned the lion's share of our business because they give us top-notch service and because they save us substantial time and expense," said Dennis Defnet, OshKosh's manager of corporate transportation, based in Oshkosh.
Using other providers, OshKosh was experiencing delays in consolidating shipments and shipping them and began turning increasingly to APL, which had been a secondary provider for about three years. By January 2003, APL had been awarded a third of the Asia business.
"In the third quarter of 2003, it became clear that APL Logistics, along with our ocean carrier and other partners, were helping us shave ten days off our transit times from most origin points to our North American distribution centers," said Defnet.
Given the high value of OshKosh's merchandise, Defnet said the company developed a cost model for goods in transit and found that the transit reductions are helping to significantly reduce logistics costs. "APL Logistics provides a competitive advantage in terms of speed-to-market for our product and is improving our service to internal customers and to retail outlets," he said.
"Upon analyzing OshKosh's international sourcing patterns, we determined that APL Logistics could help shorten the company's order and distribution cycles by consolidating shipments from more than 40 separate vendors in Asia and managing the transportation of full container loads to the United States and other destinations," said Hans Hickler, CEO of APL Logistics.
The time and cost benefits result from APL Logistics' ability to engineer and effectively integrate all the elements of a complex international supply chain, including the export logistics and transportation management, Hickler said.
"Currently, APL Logistics is performing OshKosh's consolidation work in nine Asian markets where OshKosh sources," said Tom Hickey, head of APL's international sales function in the Americas. "Multi-country consolidation (MCC) of OshKosh B'Gosh merchandise from other sources into full container loads for shipment to the United States is handled through our MCC hub in Singapore," he added.
Hickey said APL Logistics works with all major carriers to meet the transportation needs of its clients.
"OshKosh values APL Logistics for its on-the-ground presence in all key markets, responsive staff, excellent communication, advanced documentation-handling technologies and problem-solving skills," added OshKosh's Defnet. "Overall, they are providing the high level of integrated logistics service we value, while allowing us to operate more cost-efficiently."
According to Bob Bodee, APL's director of sales for the Central Region, based in Chicago, OshKosh is a forward-thinking leader in its industry. "OshKosh takes a strategic, integrated view of the overall supply chain rather than focusing just on a single component. For this reason, our relationship with them has grown steadily."
