Retaining strategic relationships with carriers while outsourcing was key factor in selection of LeanLogistics solution
Holland, MI — March 24, 2006 — Rich Products Corp. (Rich's) this week said it selected on-demand transportation management systems (TMS) provider LeanLogistics' Managed Transportation Services (LLMTS) to consolidate daily transportation operations. Rich's is a leading supplier and solutions provider to food service, in-store bakery and retail marketplaces.
With annual sales over $2 billion, Rich's manufactures and markets an extensive variety of products, including seafood, toppings and icings, breads and rolls, and finished desserts and cakes.
Rich's said LMTS was selected from over 200 vendor offerings after being evaluated on functionality, transportation operations experience, track record, ease of transition, carrier-friendliness, metrics, best practices and collaborative visibility.
LeanLogistics integrated our entire network of plants, other production locations, distribution centers and carriers with its Managed Services offering in a seamless organization and business process through on-demand TMS, said Gary MacNew, vice president, Customer Service & Logistics at Rich's. Our corporate transportation now has visibility to monitor customer service and business intelligence to measure performance. We outsourced day-to-day transportation management and retained control of our strategic carrier relationships.
LeanLogistics employs its on-demand TMS to manage daily operations for all Rich's locations, performing: planning and optimization; tendering of freight to carriers; monitoring carrier performance to plan and to contract (reporting exceptions and managing tactical issues); obtaining additional carrier and capacity options; and reviewing unanticipated accessorials and payment anomalies in LeanLogistics' WebSettle. Rich's said the solution freed more than 100 people at 60 locations from daily, part-time tasks of transportation operations, allowing them to concentrate on other service functions.
Rich's Corporate oversees LeanLogistics operations; maintains the strategic carrier relationships (rates, routes, usage, and contract negotiation); monitors the network (both through visibility transactions and the dashboard) and then adjudicates issues; and manages accrual and actual payment. Rich's network locations use on-demand TMS to monitor the daily ship schedule and also to set pick-up and delivery appointments.
Additional Articles of Interest
- — For more information on transportation management systems, see the article "The Analyst Corner: Fulfillment & Logistics" in the October/November 2004 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
