May News from Transplace: Natural Gas Fleets, Huhtamaki Case Study, Shifting Consumer Attitudes

Sunny Delight Uses Transplace to Implement Compressed Natural Gas Fleet

Sunny Delight

Leading Beverage Manufacturer Uses Clean Energy Trucks to Reduce Fuel Costs and Emissions, Employs Third Party Logistics Company to Manage Carriers, Fueling Options Within the Network

Transplace and Sunny Delight Beverages Co. announced the successful implementation of a compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet in Southern California. The CNG fleet, deployed by Glacier Transportation, has effectively lowered greenhouse gas emissions and reduced fuel costs for the beverage company.

The five-year arrangement transports Sunny Delight products to customers across the Southern California market to cities such as Los Angeles, Mira Loma, Carson and Riverside. To date, the program has met the company's goals; and long-term, Sunny Delight expects the transition from diesel power to CNG fuel for its fleet operations will result in substantially fewer greenhouse gas emissions and reduced transportation costs.

"Transplace, our strategic logistics partner, helped us find the best way to take advantage of alternative fuel source savings in our network," said Ellen Iobst, senior vice president, manufacturing and technology and chief sustainability officer at Sunny Delight. "Sunny Delight has always been a forward-thinking company in the area of sustainability, and our move into the compressed natural gas arena supports our continued efforts. Transplace has executed a transportation plan that has supported our sustainability initiatives without adding costs."

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Customer Feature: Huhtamaki

Leveraging Buying Power with Expertise, Visibility &

Strategic Information

For Huhtamaki, a Finland-based global supplier of consumer and specialty packaging, getting its retail and foodservice products to customers and from suppliers around the globe is a continuous challenge. In 2010, Huhtamaki secured Transplace to provide third party logistics for domestic shipping of its consumer goods division. Because it had proven its reputation for exceptional customer service, Transplace was the top-of-mind provider when Huhtamaki expanded the relationship with Transplace to include international shipments for all its business units in January 2011.

Thanks to its existing relationship on the domestic side, Transplace's International division was the natural choice to step in when Huhtamaki sought to simplify its international logistics business. "Consolidating our supply base to a single provider enabled Huhtamaki to leverage its spend, while improving visibility and reporting for this growing segment of our business," says Scott Stuckenschneider, Vice President of Supply Chain for Huhtamaki.

SITUATION

Vendor Overload

Maintaining Huhtamaki's low shipping rates was a priority for keeping shipping-to-product-cost ratios in balance. Like many companies, Huhtamaki had, through time, built a web of third party logistics and shipping providers that focused on multiple routes and services to Huhtamaki's fast-growing list of customers. According to Huhtamaki's Logistics Coordinator, Dave Batt, Huhtamaki grew its international shipping 141% over three years. "We started up being a small importer and a fairly decent sized exporter," he says. "We're (now) managing even more exports and we've become a larger player in the imports."

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Shifting Consumer Attitudes are Changing the Supply Chain for
CPG Companies

Mark McEntire

Transplace

The economic downturn had a significant impact on the way individuals and organizations view spending, including the mentality and purchasing habits of consumers. Tightened budgets and less discretionary income left people pinching pennies and looking for any opportunity to save, especially when shopping. Many retailers adjusted their operations to address the purchasing changes of their customers, which, consequently, impacted the consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies that supply them.

The challenge of adapting to the changing needs of consumers and retailers is compounded by the push for CPG companies to become lean and cut costs within their own operations. The effect can be noticed in numerous areas, but three major shifts have greatly impacted CPG companies and the way they operate.

More Private Label and Store Brands - As a way to save money, consumers are looking for cheaper alternatives to the products and brands they've historically purchased. While not always true, private label and store brands are often viewed as being less expensive, increasing their appeal to today's money-conscious shoppers. In order to meet changes in demand, some retailers have gradually increased inventory levels of private and house brands compared with many of the larger, more recognizable CPG brands.

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Vol. 4 Issue 5

May 2012

Shipper Symposium

Videos and Presentations

Now Available