LOGISTICS. SmartWay Case. SmartWay Partner: DRIVING RESULTS. Wheels Group Inc. Mississauga, Ontario. Background

Transcription

1 SmartWay Case Study LOGISTICS SmartWay Partner: Wheels Group Inc. Mississauga, Ontario DRIVING RESULTS Background Founded in 1988, Wheels is a leading North American 3PL, supply chain logistics provider. As a non-asset provider, the company develops advanced supply chain solutions delivered through its qualified partner network of over 6,000 truck, rail, air and ocean carriers. Wheels serves consumer goods, food and beverage, manufacturing and retail clients through 26 offices throughout the US and Canada. Wheels has been named one of Canada s Best Managed Companies since 1997, Platinum since Wheels has been named one of North America s Top 100 Third-Party Logistics ( 3PL ) Companies and one of the Top 100 Food 3PL s. Wheels was the first 3PL in North America to achieve ISO 9001:2008 certification. Wheels offers a full range of non-asset and asset based services and solutions that optimize their customer s supply chain and improve their business efficiency: One-stop integrated highway, rail, intermodal, Truckload (TL), Less Than Truckload and warehousing services Access to over 6,000 carriers and all Class 1 North American railroads Less than full load freight brokerage, LTL consolidation and LTL freight forwarding logistics services Global Freight Forwarding for Ocean, Air transport and Project movement Outsourced Supply Chain Solutions Advanced supply chain consulting, analysis, design and implementation Consolidated billing and customized reporting Climate Controlled Logistics (CCL) Reefer division Wheels seeks to provide innovative logistics products and services offering superior customer value focused on effective supply chain management, information systems, quality processes and continuous improvement. The company s aim is to create an environment of profitable growth and increased market share, through the development of ethical and mutually beneficial relationships with valued employees, suppliers, and customers.

2 At the Wheels Group we recognize that our work and workplace may have a direct or indirect effect on the environment. We are committed to minimizing any impact that our activities may have on the environment and as a 3rd party transportation services provider, will promote awareness and knowledge of green practices with our staff, suppliers and customers. Julian Grush Manager, Marketing, Communications & Compliance Sustainability Programs Wheels Group s green policy is to consistently seek measures that will reduce activities that negatively impact the environment, and ultimately minimize its carbon output and energy consumption. Wheels strives to improve fuel efficiency throughout its operations and looks for new ways to help its customers and carrier suppliers achieve greener supply chain solutions. Driving Results with Customers As a non asset based third party logistics provider with access to both rail and trucking transportation suppliers, Wheels was well positioned to utilize the most fuel efficient transportation alternative that met the service requirements of its customers. As an intermodal service provider, Wheels is inherently green. A freight train emits two-thirds less greenhouse gas emissions for every ton mile than a typical truck. More than 1 billion gallons of fuel would be saved each year if 10 percent of the highway freight was moved by rail. Wheels markets intermodal as an Opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint! With contractual agreements with all Class I railways and multiple asset partners in the US and Canada, Wheels leverages its volume, knowledge and rate negotiation skills to obtain rates, service and capacity that smaller volume and even large shippers cannot obtain. Wheels works to educate its shipper clients and the shipper customers, about the requirements, benefits and limitations of using intermodal transportation. An example is ensuring that shippers understand and are committed to meeting critical rail ingate times, necessary for on time movement with the railroad. When the required service requirements are met, Wheels is able to effectively migrate freight to the more sustainable and lower cost rail. Wheels is an important intermediary meeting the needs of both the shipper to find the right transportation and the carriers to find the right freight to move. Wheels constantly seeks load maximization. The company consolidates LTL freight of multiple shippers into full loads for tender to motor carriers or as full containers on rail intermodal. Wheels operates cross docks to build full loads for TL movement. Wheels mandates that DCs are prepared to stack product and carriers are requested to bring load bars and load straps. Freight is stacked as high as possible to get more products per trailer. Where freight is not conducive to stacking, Wheels will recommend the utilization of carriers that have decking systems such as logistics bars to maximize loading of non-stackable pallets. Alternatively, Wheels makes all reasonable attempts to train and educate its customers to make their pallets stackable and ensures carriers bring the proper bracing accessories to ensure safe shipment. Wheels works hard to find backhaul freight for the carriers that it contracts and when possible seeks traffic to make street turns, where a driver and drop off and pick up on the same stop. This is particularly important for the fragmented truckload industry where the majority of carriers are small and operate in the spot market. Wheels provides the valuable function of matching supply and demand to minimize unnecessary movement and trips. Wheels, with their customer s assistance takes a proactive role in reducing idle time for the carriers it contracts. Carriers alert Wheels who in turn contact the shipper for immediate attention.

3 Our green policy is to consistently seek measures that will reduce our activities that negatively impact our environment and that will minimize our carbon output. We will look for partnerships with likeminded organizations that will assist and support Wheels in its greening initiatives. This will all be achieved by forming a Green Team with executive sponsorship that will oversee a variety of projects that support our aim towards carbon neutrality. Julian Grush Manager, Marketing, Communications & Compliance Wheels recommends and implements equipment changes that reduced heat and fuel surcharges. For example for one client, equipment was converted to Quad Axles in Quebec resulting in a payload increase of 18% and net carbon footprint reduction of over 12%. Wheels also works with its customers strategically through its advanced supply chain consulting which provides analysis, design and implementation of supply chain design. For one customer, it performed a network optimization that reduced the client s network from 3 warehouses to 2 and shifted Manitoba source point from West to East, to reduce transportation costs. Driving Results with Carrier Partners Wheels is also the catalyst for productivity, fuel and emission improvement by its carrier suppliers. Wheel s Less than full load ( LTL ) freight brokerage service assists TL carriers to consolidate LTL freight, increasing load factors and the Wheels TL brokerage fills empty backhauls and minimize empty miles. Wheels benchmarks best practices and takes notice of the latest equipment and operating innovations across its carrier base and in leading edge industry articles. Wheels then shares this information / insight with many of its carrier partners so they too may run greener fleets. As an example, once Wheels witnessed broader government approval on the use of Long Combination Vehicles (LCV s) it encouraged other carriers to get on this proven safe, more economical and greener equipment where at all viable. Wheels encouraged carriers to use trailer skirts after observing the effectiveness of this equipment on a major Western carrier. Wheels encouraged its refrigerated carriers to invest in the latest reefer equipment which switched on and off rather than remain on constantly to reduce fuel use. The company helped carriers of confectionary products adjust their trailer temperatures to avoid unnecessarily low temperatures, again saving fuel. This information dissemination was especially valuable to smaller carriers who are less likely to have dedicated resources to search and evaluate new equipment options. Wheels thus play an important role in facilitating early adoption of new, often green technologies. Perhaps the most important role of Wheels is that the company constantly raises the bar, driving its carrier suppliers to be more efficient and consequently more sustainable. All of these actions ultimately reduce the number of trips in the transport system or make each trip more efficient, and result in fuel savings and emission reduction. For Wheels, operating excellence means more sustainable transportation for Wheels, for its customers and its carrier suppliers. Driving Results with SmartWay In 2009 the Wheels Group became a Smartway Transport Partner in recognition of its commitment to improve the environmental performance of their freight delivery operations. Wheels recognized the growing trend of shippers to include in their RFPs a statement of their desire to migrate to a more sustainable environment. Wheels does ask

4 The Smartway program is another example of the work being done at Wheels to ensure that we are doing our part to reduce our environmental footprint and aid our customers in achieving greener supply chain solutions. Peter Jamieson Wheels Group COO its contracted carriers whether they are SmartWay certified and if not, it is suggested that they pursue membership. Similarly, each Wheels branch is requested to attempt to utilize carriers who are approved in the SmartWay and Canadian FleetSmart programs. Branches should request that carriers become approved and work towards meeting these program initiatives and that the carriers must advise the branches as to their status in these programs. The Wheels sales force mentions the ability to choose SmartWay partner carriers when selling service. Wheels can track, report and manage key performance indicators (KPIs) that are important to its customers. With SmartWay, Wheels is able to include performance metrics such as freight shipped on SmartWay carriers or the CO 2 footprint of the freight moved for the customer. Wheels customers gain a powerful tool for both compliance and management of their own sustainability programs. Driving Results Internally Internally, Wheels has made a concerted effort to reduce the consumption of energy, reduce waste and raise awareness amongst staff to change consumption patterns. The company formed a Green Team with executive sponsorship to oversee a variety of projects that support its aim toward carbon neutrality. Wheel Group s strategy focuses specifically on waste reduction, recycling, re-use of materials, reducing energy consumption, migrating to renewable energy purchases, and working as an organization to achieve carbon neutrality. In 2011 and early 2012, Wheels undertook a large scale lighting retrofit project at its head office and at its warehouse in Mississauga, Ontario to significantly reduce its power consumption. Between the 2 projects, power consumption for lighting dropped by 40%. Wheels turned its attention to paper consumption as the next major undertaking. Through more extensive use of imaging technology, duplex printing and choosing paper with higher recycled content, a significant impact on overall use occurred at the company. Employees were encouraged to utilize public transit and carpooling. In addition Wheels planned to source its energy from renewable sources to further reduce its carbon footprint. The Wheels Group success in achieving sustainability has not gone unrecognized. Wheels was named one of Inbound Logistics G75 Green supply chain partners for 2012, an award earned from measurable green results, sustainability innovation, continuous improvement and industry recognition.

5 With SmartWay tools, Wheels can better meet the needs of its clients for sustainable sourcing and carbon footprint reporting. SmartWay provides Wheels with actionable data and, in turn, Wheels can use that information to help further educate its shipper customers and its carrier suppliers on how to improve freight sustainability. Martin Kelly Director Strategic Sourcing Moving Forward Wheels has experienced significant double digit annual growth since inception in 1988 and expects to continue growing at the same rate. The growth in turn increases the opportunities for Wheels to effectively match supply and demand, allowing Wheels to drive sustainability by doing what it does best. Wheels simultaneously reduces costs for its customers and reduces fuel use and emissions by converting shipments from road to rail and by making road hauls more efficient. As a SmartWay partner, Wheels is the means by which shippers can have their sustainability goals implemented. With the establishment of SmartWay in Canada, Wheels will have more opportunities to utilize SmartWay carriers for traffic in Canada and bring that opportunity to Canadian shippers. For more information on Wheels, contact: Wheels Group Inc. Martin Kelly, Director Strategic Sourcing mkelly@wheelsgroup.com Tel: (905) For more information on the SmartWay program and energy-saving opportunities, contact us at: SmartWay Canada Phone: Website: smartway.canada@nrcan-rncan-rncan.gc.ca SCMA Phone: Website: info@scmanational.ca This document, prepared through a case analysis provides insight on how shippers and logistics service providers can be more sustainable and how participation in the SmartWay Partner Program can support that goal. This case study is made possible with financial support from Natural Resources Canada. Created: Feb Copyright 2014 by Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA).