The Impact Streamlined operations now positively impact customer experience and employees. Operational Outcomes 70% reduction in average holding time 20% reduction of packages held 5% reduction of warehouse space Improved visibility and transparency to customers by providing real-time shipment status. Sustainability Outcomes Fewer damaged or lost goods Lower energy use due to reduction of floor space needed Improved employee morale and efficiency
A US-based logistics provider needed to re-engineer its inefficient systems at the US-Canada border. The ECG team developed a custom inventory management system that increased the average speed packages moved through the facility by 70% and decreased inventory waiting at border facilities by 20%.
Industry
Global transportation and logistics provider
Location
US-based
Scope
Supply Chain / Inventory Management / Sustainability / Process Re-engineering / Change Management
Timeline
Six months to develop this piece of a larger, several-part project
The Problem
To comply with new US Customs regulations, the client needed to reimagine and reengineer the processes and systems it used to track, organize, and distribute shipments crossing the border from Canada into the US. To address the requirements, the company concluded it was necessary to build a custom infrastructure at its four international ports at the Canada/US border.
The Challenges
The processes and systems used by the transportation company were not set up to meet government regulations. Several challenges made effective communication and efficacy impossible:
Manual system:
Shipments were tracked only by paper with no way to view where a package was in the customs process.
Lack of standardization:
Each facility had its own inventory process, making it difficult to communicate effectively between facilities.
Limited, unorganized storage space:
Packages were often stored in groups on the floor while waiting for the full shipment to arrive, resulting in damage and loss.
Fractured employee focus:
With no visibility to the status or location of a shipment, border facility employees and delivery drivers had to physically look at individual packages to locate them for customers and customs agents in the facilities and within the trucks.
The Solution
The team developed a custom inventory management application to meet the new regulatory requirements and interface with a preoperatory scanning system. At the time, sufficient commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) inventory management applications did not exist. The custom application had two key features:
Inventory management for international packages
Tracked customs clearance status.
Tracked and linked packages belonging to a single shipment.
Provided the location of packages within an inventory facility.
Electronic manifest creation
Manifests were electronically generated with all shipments scanned as they were placed on the truck.
Provided the location of packages within the truck.
The Outcomes and Impact
Operational Outcomes
70%
reduction in average holding time
20%
reduction of packages held
5%
reduction of warehouse space
Improved visibility and transparency to customers by providing real-time shipment status.
Sustainability Outcomes
Fewer damaged or lost goods
Lower energy use due to reduction of floor space needed
Improved employee morale and efficiency
The Impact Streamlined operations now positively impact customer experience and employees.