An inland logistics management service launched recently by Schneider Logistics, a third-party logistics provider (3PL), offers synchronization of international and domestic supply chains. The new service was developed in collaboration with an international retailer in 2009.
According to Todd Ericksrud, vice president of inland logistics management for Schneider Logistics, the service provides a single snapshot of activity from multiple supply chain trading entities, including steamship lines, terminals, custom brokers, dray carriers and distribution centers. With this information, Schneider can couple international milestone visibility with port dray management, and in turn synchronize international and domestic supply chain events for shippers. Shippers, in turn, have actionable data, visibility and control to dramatically lower their overall transportation cost.
During development of the new service, the resulting data, visibility and control allowed the international retailer and Schneider to manage 20 milestone events and identify hidden supply chain costs. The result of the collaboration: the shipper eliminated seven days in-transit and reduced its annual dray cost by 20%. The program has reportedly yielded millions of dollars in savings, and working with other existing customers, Schneider has identified an estimated $100 million in additional near-term cost savings.
