Leading companies discuss key issues at CPG Summit

Transplace held its fourth annual CPG Summit with key consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies to address industry issues and discuss in detail innovative strategies for dealing with industry challenges. Hosted by Sunny Delight at its Cincinnati headquarters, representatives from Del Monte, Colgate-Palmolive and Clement Pappas participated in the open forum covering key issues, including: network optimization, truck capacity, collaboration and sustainability.

Sharing focus and best practices for sustainability, specifically related to transportation, attendees discussed their efforts in trying to find ways to reduce miles and number of trucks needed on the road. As a leader in the area, Sunny Delight revealed its aggressive sustainability endeavors.

“We’ve taken an active stance when it comes to our social responsibility and sustainability efforts, and we use Transplace as a strategic partner for continuous improvement in this area,” said Jim Glendon, supply chain director for Sunny Delight. “Transplace assisted Sunny Delight in becoming a SmartWay partner, and they are also providing the necessary tools to help in meeting our sustainability goals. We continue to look for innovative ways to improve our operations and reduce our carbon footprint.”

There was also significant discussion around the issue of truck capacity and how to prepare for tightening capacity. Looking to Transplace for guidance, the customers expressed their desire to be kept abreast of when this issue will become more of a reality and how to establish efficient solutions to ensure capacity when they need it.

“We covered several options that Transplace recommends to customers for mitigating truck capacity issues such as: establishing dedicated fleet programs, pursuing continuous moves/tours, and securing 12 to 18 month or longer carrier commitments,” said Mark McEntire, vice president of operations at Transplace. “For our customers, Transplace actively sets up dedicated fleets to help remedy this issue around truck capacity. We also work with our customers on a varied mix of national, regional and niche carriers. Both of these available options make for a solid carrier strategy when approaching issues like capacity.”

Network optimization was another major topic discussed by attendees as they reviewed their own company networks to identify facilities that are in optimal locations to provide opportunities for savings. The next factor covered was total product amount, a critical component for success in allowing the management of product lines and infrastructures within existing networks.

Lastly, collaboration was brought up, and discussion focused on how attendees could work more closely together in the future such as expanding carrier bases that can be utilized across different regions of the country for collaborative moves, sharing capacity and the potential of sharing warehousing space.

SOURCE: Transplace


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