A Sophisticated Third Party Logistics Provider Can Prepare You For a Shock to Your Supply Chain

With devastating natural disasters such as the recent hurricanes affecting broad, regional areas, manufacturers are increasingly aware that their logistical supply chains, and ultimately their brands, must be safeguarded against whatever “shocks” may come if they want to avoid costly business disruptions.

Although the likelihood of any single disaster wiping out manufacturing capacity is slim, a disaster can seriously disrupt the supply chain. Other potential disruptions include labor strikes, blackouts, or the absence of key employees.

To handle this problem, manufacturers are turning to a new breed of sophisticated third party logistics provider to ensure the prompt delivery of finished goods to customers at the end of the supply chain.

“Recent disasters show how such threats can cause missed deadlines, stock outs, botched delivery, or other brand-damaging mistakes,” says Kathy Krueger, COO of Kenakore Solutions, a sophisticated third party logistics provider that devises supply chain management solutions for manufacturers. That’s why shock-proofing the supply chain and optimizing inventory to protect your brand is so important.”

A sophisticated 3PL such as Kenakore does much more than just offload, store, and ship product - the routine functions of a standard third party logistics provider. Instead, they literally partner with the company to protect the performance of the brand.

To safeguard customer commitments and optimize inventory levels, a sophisticated 3PL will transparently coordinate supply line variations from global, domestic, and regional sources to ensure on-time production and shipment.

“When a company orders from us in today’s competitive JIT environment, it’s critical they get what they need on time, the first time - not late or in multiple shipments due to unexpected disruptions or problematic logistics,” says Terry Holcomb, General Manager of Betts Spring Company’s vehicle component manufacturing division.

“With Kenakore we’ve achieved a 98% first time order fill rate in one day even though we’re based on the West Coast,” adds Holcomb. “Operation is seamless.”

Dana Corporation, a partner to automotive, commercial, and off-highway vehicle customers, understands the importance of optimizing the supply chain to better service its customers, who made $9.1 billion in purchases in 2004.

“To succeed in the future, companies will have to master their supply chains,” said Vicky Black, Vice President of Dana Corporation’s Service Parts Division. “It’s not just a matter of being efficient, but of satisfying the customer at the two main points of contact - at the point of sale and point of delivery. Since so many products are becoming commodities with global competition, product availability and on-time, error-free deliveries are becoming essential differentiating factors in making the sale.”

Recently, Dana Corporation relied on its sophisticated third party logistics provider for warehouse management, product consolidation, kitting, and packaging. In analyzing order patterns and product in/outflow, Kenakore was able to identify Dana Corporation’s fastest selling items at a distribution center.

“Acting on inventory analysis, we improved the product availability of our fastest selling products by 30%,” continues Black. “Further analysis of our order and product in/out flow patterns also helped us to automate order entry, allowing us to cut the lead time on thousands of products.”

###

For more information:
Kathy Krueger
Perrysburg, Ohio 43551
E-mail: sales@kenakoresolutions.com
Phone: (419) 661-1233
Web: www.kenakoresolutions.com