Weber Distribution recently completed a successful crossdocking operation for Scholastic Book Fairs' peak season, which lasted from June through September of this year.
Scholastic reaches 35 million children, 40 million parents and nearly every school in the U.S. via its community-based distribution channels, including book clubs and fairs.
Weber Transportation handles all of Scholastic Book Fairs' West Coast distribution needs, which includes draying more than 1,000 containerloads from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach during their peak seasons. Once Scholastics' containers come into Weber's facility, they are crossdocked and redistributed to 22 regional distribution centers throughout the U.S.
To help improve their supply chain, Weber Distribution recently transitioned Scholastic's shipments from its Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., facility to its transportation headquarters in La Mirada where they focus exclusively on crossdocking and transloading operations.
"It was a natural fit with our other business and we are now able to better meet Scholastic's time sensitive distribution needs with our 24-hour a day, seven day a week operation and flexible labor pool," says Gordy Reimer, Weber's director of transportation. "Switching from a traditional warehouse environment to our transloading facility has allowed us to greatly improve the way we receive, consolidate and ship their product to multiple destinations. It fits their business model better."
"Moving to Weber's transload facility has brought significant value to the Scholastic organization. Quicker turn around time on product and better load utilization has allowed us to move product to market faster and much more efficiently. That is a major win with any crossdock strategy," says Brandon Strange, logistics analyst for Scholastic Book Fairs Inc.
"One of the key reasons Scholastic chose Weber is our ability to adapt to different types of EDI transmissions, along with real-time visibility to their orders through our WMS," claims Reimer. "And supporting our entire transportation operation is a customized TMS system at the heart of which is a GPS satellite tracking device linked to all the vehicles in our fleet. This allows Weber's customers to view their shipments, in real-time, as they move through the distribution cycle."
Weber opened the La Mirada facility last November to serve as a dedicated transportation hub with the space, layout and technological support to efficiently handle high volumes of freight. "In this crossdocking environment, the loads do not get stored, but instead move from one kind of trailer to another, so it's very fast paced. Some of the value-added services we provide include: tallying; sorting and segregating; splitting into multiple destinations; and consolidating with other shipments," says Bob Lilja, Weber's vice president, transportation. "The shipments are then sent out - many of which are picked up, unloaded, segregated, reloaded and delivered in as little as eight hours."
The facility is 180,000 square feet, 42,000 of which acts as Weber's transportation headquarters - providing freight hub space for consolidation, JIT delivery, deconsolidation, crossdocking, transloading, and trucking services. The facility handles loads from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles using its fleet of dry vans, temperature-controlled equipment, flatbeds and lift-gates, which are all housed in La Mirada.
