CASE STUDY 1

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Challenge

Our customer had a complex supply chain which, based on their customer capacities and order frequencies, dictated shipping all orders as LTL shipments. With increasing regional sales, Banks was forced to ship with common carriers, an expensive and sometimes unreliable solution. There was little predictability in pricing, delivery, and an increased potential for damage. Banks discovered that, through the use of common carriers, their pallets were being unloaded and reloaded multiple times at various terminals around the country. This led to frequent damage, forced replacement of the unusable product at further expense, and loss of sales for their customers. A consistent delay in delivery of shipments, with many of the items pre-sold, became another factor that was very difficult to control given their use of LTL common carriers.

Solution

Tumalo Creek started working with Banks Outdoors in 2010. We started by evaluating their supply chain and customer base. Once we fully understood their production process and customer requirements, we were able to suggest and implement many streamlining and cost saving changes that allow Banks to more accurately predict production schedules, freight cost, and delivery windows. We started by consolidating their regional shipments into full truckloads with multiple stops. This greatly reduced shipping cost, nearly eliminated the potential for damage from excessive handling, and allowed us to better predict delivery windows for their customers. Through consolidation, we were also able to minimize capacity issues at the busiest times of the year. The growth Banks Outdoors has experienced since we began working with them is exciting to watch, and we look forward to being their primary logistics solution as they continue to expand.