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Four Ways 3PLs Help Retailers Keep Shelves Stocked

For retailers, keeping shelves stocked with the right products at the right time is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and maximizing sales. Disruptions in the supply chain — whether from delayed shipments, inefficient transportation or mismanaged inventory — can lead to empty shelves, missed sales and frustrated customers.

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Alternative to Less-Than-Truckload Shipments

Shared dedicated transportation networks provide shippers a unique offering that combines the benefits of dedicated contract carriage with the economic advantages of a less-than-truckload approach. Shared services also offer customized high-touch deliveries, minimal freight handling and consistent delivery times.

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Shared Dedicated Transportation Networks Boost Efficiency

Shared dedicated transportation networks offer a creative and innovative shipping solution, providing all the benefits of dedicated contract carriage, along with high-touch deliveries, customized execution based on customers' delivery requirements and specialized equipment, all at a lower cost. The solution provides high service levels with next-day delivery, minimal freight handling and consistent delivery times.

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Keep Data Secure and Deliveries on Time

Information powers today’s supply chain. That’s why your data is one of your most valuable assets. Any potential risk to your data security leaves you vulnerable to theft, missed deliveries and poor customer service.

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How Your Supply Chain Can Improve Food Safety

Food safety is a top priority for food and beverage manufacturers and their logistics providers. Federal regulations require those involved in the transportation and distribution industries to meet specific food-safety standards.

Penske Logistics not only meets those regulations but also goes above and beyond to deliver proven results that keep our customers safe.

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Managing Cross-Border Freight in Rapidly Changing Times

As various forms of uncertainty and supply chain congestion continue to disrupt trade flows, the specialized logistics skills and infrastructure required to manage cross-border freight continue to be tested as never before.

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Industrial Manufacturing

Supply Chain and Logistics for Manufacturing

Maintaining product quality and timely delivery in a global and digital marketplace, while meeting ever-changing customer expectations, is a constant challenge. With rising labor costs and unpredictable freight and fuel prices, production costs threaten to spin out of control. Penske can work with supply chain operations to address your challenges as a manufacturer.

We work with the world's leading manufacturing companies to reduce costs, drive change, and instill discipline and process excellence within their supply chains, warehouses and distribution networks.

With an expansive freight network of distribution facilities, cross-docks, manufacturing plants, remote domiciles and supplier locations throughout North America, South America and Europe, Penske Logistics can help you:

  • Control costs
  • Apply processes that drive positive change
  • Improve supply chain strategy
  • Adapt to rapid change
  • Streamline material flow
  • Work across borders with ease
  • Use technology to gain a competitive advantage
  • Elevate safety, quality and efficiency

IT Solutions for the Manufacturing Industry

In the manufacturing industry, the ability to gain visibility and keep track of inventory has never been more important. Penske Logistics can help you harness the power of your data with our ClearChain® Technology Suite. Driven by decades of industry knowledge and tier-one industry-leading platforms, ClearChain provides visibility, enhances supply chain optimization, drives business results and keeps operations moving

Manage and Monitor Your Manufacturing Supply Chain

We employ warehouse management systems, transportation management tracking, pick-up verification and point-of-pickup confirmations. Additionally, our expertise in international transportation management facilitates imports and exports of cross-border shipments

High Tech and Electronics

Supply Chains Tailored for Efficient Tech Operations

Penske understands how to manage and optimize even the most complex supply chains and multi-tier networks. As a lead logistics provider, we work with you to:

  • Manage supplier and subcontractor relationships
  • Optimize transportation
  • Operate distribution centers
  • Coordinate inbound and outbound flow

We combine technology, engineering and manufacturing expertise to design world-class logistics solutions tailored for technology and electronics industry demands. Our expansive network includes:

  • Distribution facilities
  • Cross-docks
  • Manufacturing plants
  • Remote domiciles
  • Supplier locations throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia

Reduce Time to Market

We reduce time to market by synchronizing the movement of inbound materials with the project demands. Penske consolidates points for redistribution, while minimizing transportation costs through route and network optimization.

Reduce Hedge Inventory

Penske maximizes inventory management by monitoring distribution demands and suppliers to ensure you have the right amount of inventory at the right time. Keep your inventory moving with our:

  • JIT systems
  • Facilities network
  • Logistics technology
  • Transportation services

Increase Productivity with Fewer Resources

Penske employs Six Sigma methodologies to segment and refine every action on the production floor. We work with you to eliminate inefficient processes and maximize resources to drive productivity.

Lower Production Costs

We reduce costs at every level in your supply chain by identifying and resolving inefficiencies. From the production floor to distribution, our manufacturing supply chain solutions integrate our manpower and technologies while maximizing your existing resources and capabilities.

Streamline Material Flow

To keep inbound materials moving efficiently, we'll synchronize their movement with the demands of your production floor. We consolidate points for redistribution, while minimizing transportation costs through route and network optimization.

Keep Your Production Lines Moving

Your production line goes down. Workers stand idle. The clock ticks. The stress builds. Every minute means more revenue lost, never to be found again.

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Omnichannel Fulfillment for Food Logistics

E-commerce, growth in the omnichannel and a proliferation of products mean that today's consumers are more demanding than ever. Not only are they looking for a wider variety of product choices, but they also expect those products to be in stock, whether they're shopping online or at their local grocery store.

What's more, technology means consumers have an increased number of purchasing options and can take advantage of an always-on shopping experience for items ranging from socks to macaroni and cheese.

All of this is placing added pressure on shippers and their supply chain partners. Logistics providers are working to ensure success by utilizing route optimization, incentivized scheduling, and real-time electronic tracking and communication. As a result, the $1.45 trillion logistics industry is experiencing growth.

Omnichannel Fulfillment

Within the omnichannel sector, Penske helps customers plan, design and run fulfillment centers.

We use sophisticated supply chain modeling tools and our engineering know-how to design complex transportation networks. We're able to optimize routing to reduce cycle times and improve customer service so that, ultimately, we can drive down costs for our customers.

Managing the Warehouse

Today's supply chain partners are moving products from the manufacturer to the end user faster than ever. What happens within the walls of a warehouse is a crucial component of speeding deliveries, managing inventories and controlling costs.

Because consumers have more choices than ever, logistics and warehouse providers need to deal with an increasing number of SKUs while also being able to pick and pack them quickly and track where they are going.

Dave Bushee, senior vice president of logistics technology for Penske Logistics, said the key to success can be communicating with customers to understand when and how SKUs are changing and how to best manage them. "We work with our customers to manage SKUs, and it is one of the most difficult tasks that many manufacturers and retailers have," he said.

Bushee said Penske works diligently with customers to identify new SKUs, which ideally will be done well ahead of when the new merchandise arrives in the warehouse. "We try to work with our customer to identify SKUs, capture the relevant information and make recommendations. Then we do the necessary work to receive it, slot it, pick it and ship it in the appropriate manner."

Slotting Product Properly

Once Penske knows new SKUs are coming, the warehouse team works to determine the best way to store the product. "You want to use the least amount of labor to move that product from receipt to the pick," Bushee said. "You're constantly trying to be efficient and maximize the number of picks that an associate can do within a facility."

Penske engineers assess how much the warehouse will hold and how the product will be picked — either by the case or individually. The process can sometimes be done in as little as a day.

Examining the Velocity

For all products within the warehouse, particularly perishable grocery items, Bushee said velocity matters, as do packaging dimensions. Once the product is in the warehouse, Penske examines data on how often the SKUs are moving. "You're constantly looking at the velocity of the SKUs and then re-engineering your warehouse to match that," Bushee said.

Tracking Each SKU

Warehouse management systems provide the opportunity to track a product from receipt to pick, which is becoming increasingly important, particularly to grocers, Bushee said. Through its warehouse management systems, Penske can track products down to the SKU, which can be useful in the event of a recall.

"It is a configuration within the WMS, and you can determine how you want to track it," Bushee said. "The parameters are dictated by our customer."

Adjusting on the Fly

The proliferation of SKUs and the rapid pace at which they can change also adds to the need for warehouses to be nimble. Bushee said it is common to adjust the slotting location within the warehouse based on the season, upcoming promotions or ahead of supply chain disruptions. "We work with our customers to ensure we can handle the volume and to make sure product gets where it needs to go," Bushee said.

Fill Your Empty Miles

You have set routes you run regularly. But if you have empty return loads, you could be losing valuable revenue. Even more, empty return loads hinder your efforts to provide the highest level of customer service and the most dependable deliveries.

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How Quality Data Shapes the Future of the Supply Chain

Data, analytics and intelligence are now at the forefront of supply chain operations, and companies that are deriving operational value out of supply chain data are gaining a competitive advantage.

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It Takes Multiple Roads to Reach Trucking’s Safety Destination

At Penske Logistics, safety is not characterized solely as a priority; it is one of the company's core values. This philosophy reflects the importance of safety, a small word for a vast area of responsibility that has become more challenging in line with the growing complexity of the logistics business.

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Truck Safety Joins the Supply Chain Tech Revolution

Just as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), remote sensing, and predictive analytics are transforming supply chain operations, they are also bringing huge changes to safety programs.

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Multi-Client Warehousing: Share the Cost, Minimize the Risk

In uncertain times, a multi-client option provides flexibility among other benefits.

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Emissions in the Supply Chain: Tracking Scopes 1, 2 and 3

The supply chain provides significant opportunities to improve a company’s sustainability efforts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more than 75% of an organization’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stem from its supply chains, underscoring the significant opportunities for improvement.

Corporate responsibility, customer expectations and regulatory requirements have shippers examining their direct and indirect emissions, especially as they relate to logistics and transportation.

Types of Scope Emissions

There are three categories of GHG emissions: Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3. Each scope represents a different source of emissions, ranging from emissions created as part of a direct operation to emissions from services and suppliers.

Scope 1 Emissions: Direct Emissions From Controlled Operations

Scope 1 emissions are direct GHG emissions from sources that a company owns or controls. For shippers, this includes emissions from company-owned vehicles and equipment. Emissions from warehouse operations, such as gas-powered forklifts, are also part of Scope 1.

Scope 2 Emissions: Indirect Emissions From Purchased Energy

Scope 2 emissions are indirect, deriving from an organization’s purchase of electricity. While these emissions happen at the energy provider’s site, they are tied to the company’s operations because they depend on the energy.

Scope 3 Emissions: Indirect Emissions From Upstream and Downstream Activities

Scope 3 emissions encompass all other indirect emissions in the company’s upstream and downstream value chain. This includes emissions associated with suppliers, transportation providers and end users. Scope 3 is often the largest and most complex to manage. However, because Scope 3 sources may represent most of an organization’s GHG emissions, they often provide the strongest emissions reduction opportunities.

Emissions Reporting

Many companies are proactively providing information about their emissions even without government requirements. The Governance and Accountability Institute found that in 2023, sustainability reporting hit record levels as U.S. public companies prepared for mandated disclosure. In 2023, 99% of the S&P 500 companies published sustainability reports or disclosures, up from 20% in 2011.

The EPA has created a GHG inventory development process to help companies quantify and track emissions. The four steps include:

  1. Reviewing accounting standards and methods, determining organizational and operational boundaries, and choosing a base year
  2. Collecting data and quantifying GHG emissions
  3. Developing a GHG Inventory Management Plan to formalize data collection procedures
  4. Setting a GHG emission reduction target and tracking and reporting progress

The demand for increased transparency around emissions is expected to create new responsibilities for a company’s chief financial officer. As companies quantify their carbon output, CFOs, sitting at the intersection of strategy, reporting and resource allocation, are in an ideal position to ensure that carbon management initiatives align with their company’s strategic and compliance needs.

According to McKinsey and Company, businesses can reduce costs associated with decarbonization by zeroing in on their most important emissions drivers and investing in more accurate and granular data to inform discussions with suppliers.

Opportunities To Reduce Scope 3 GHG Emissions

Shippers are increasingly adjusting their supply chains to better align with their environmental goals, and a survey from EY found that eight of 10 supply chain executives are investigating sustainable transportation practices.

There are several strategies companies can use to reduce supply chain emissions, which include the following:

Improve Routing

Optimizing transportation routes can reduce fuel use, but optimization goes beyond finding the most direct route between two points. There may be opportunities to reduce mileage by adjusting delivery windows, consolidating orders across days of the week, determining the optimal sequence of stops on multi-stop routes or changing the trailer size.

Optimize the Network

Focusing on the entire network, including the planning and design of manufacturing, warehousing or distribution facilities, as well as transportation routes, can create significant sustainability gains. Network design should consider site selection, mode selection, routing, utilization and more to shrink the carbon footprint of freight operations and reduce waste.

Utilize Backhauls

Eliminating empty miles by utilizing backhauls ensures all miles are productive, which maximizes fuel use and capacity and ultimately results in fewer trucks on the road.

Increase Visibility

Having visibility into inventory and transportation can help companies make tactical, data-driven decisions quickly, increasing efficiency. Examples include sourcing inventory from the ideal location to eliminate unnecessary miles or getting ahead of supply chain disruptions before they become more significant issues that lead to increased miles or expedited air freight.

Consolidate Shipments

A shared network provides an alternative to less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments coupled with dedicated transportation that combines freight loads from multiple shippers going to a shared geographic area. Shared dedicated transportation networks can boost efficiency and sustainability by reducing miles and minimizing freight handling.

Use Energy-Efficient Warehouses

An energy-efficient warehouse can cut operational costs while improving sustainability. Using LED lighting, motion-activated lights and temperature controls can all decrease energy consumption and emissions. There may also be opportunities to use renewable energy within a warehouse.

Choose Suppliers Wisely

The EPA’s Supply Chain Guidance advises companies to strategically choose which suppliers to engage. The EPA has also developed several voluntary programs that companies can use when selecting partners. For example, SmartWay assists companies in advancing supply chain sustainability by measuring, benchmarking and improving freight transportation efficiency, empowering companies to make strategic and sustainable choices.

Contact us to learn more about how Penske can help you track, quantify and reduce emissions in your supply chain.

Carie Seymour Receives 2024 Women in Supply Chain Award

Carie Seymour, vice president of human resources for Penske Logistics, has received the 2024 Women in Supply Chain Award from Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. The award honors female supply chain leaders who set a strong foundation for women at all levels of a company’s supply chain.

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How To React When You Have the Hot Item

Expectations can run high during the holidays and parents are often expected to deliver the must-have toy of the season. Panic sets in if shoppers find the shelves empty, and a misalignment of supply and demand can cause even the most rational gift giver to lose perspective. What’s more, manufacturers and retailers can miss out on huge revenues due to supply shortages.

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How AI Is Transforming Supply Chain Management

The power of artificial intelligence is advancing at a rapid pace, and the technology is transforming industries, including the supply chain. With its ability to process vast amounts of data, identify and learn from patterns, and improve decision-making, AI, along with machine learning, optimizes processes, increases efficiency and mitigates risk.

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Case Study: Streamline Transportation Management

Amid a significant merger, a food and beverage ingredients manufacturer faced the challenge of centralizing transportation management processes across business units to control costs and improve efficiency.

With over 30,000 employees and 340 locations across 60 countries, the manufacturer outgrew their previous logistics partner and sought a new partner capable of managing their diverse supply chain needs while also accommodating growth.

Process discipline was a critical component from the very beginning due to the complexities of the merger and the manufacturer’s business model. This included a thorough assessment by Penske Logistics of all trucking carrier sourcing and management needs and a comprehensive rate audit and negotiation to identify potential savings opportunities.

The manufacturer welcomes challenges posed its by customers, but they don’t take chances on their business operations. Meticulous attention to detail is vital for efficient operations, cost-effectiveness and optimal performance in logistics and supply chain management. Penske stepped up to provide the necessary expertise and support to launch the first business unit on an expedited timeline of 90 days.

Navigating a Lot of Supply Chain Change All at Once

Transitioning to a new freight management and supply chain partner presented significant exposure and risk to continuity of service for their customers, especially when it came to establishing new processes regarding contracting and compliance with their previous carrier base. It was critical that there was no lapse in service to their customers or current operations. With this level of expectation, Penske had to demonstrate its ability to add value and earn trust through communication, planning, discipline and project execution.

To ensure a smooth and timely transition without disruption, the right approach was vital. Penske first conducted a thorough Value Stream Mapping exercise to fully understand the business intricacies and discover opportunities to standardize key processes. This approach unveiled specific improvement areas related to carrier management, centralization of systems across business units and overall process management.

Carrier Management

Through disciplined planning and procurement, Penske optimized freight movement, synchronized lead times and managed all carrier interactions, enhancing the manufacturer’s network reliability and reducing costs.

As a customer, the manufacturer benefited from Penske’s carrier management expertise and vast network of qualified carriers. The client requested to transition their existing carrier base, so Penske qualified them, established contracts and negotiated rates on their behalf.

Making an impact from the start, Penske introduced a $1.1M estimated annual savings within the first 90 days through a combination of rate reductions, routing improvements and better carrier selection.

A strategic partnership with Penske Logistics added value to the customer’s operations. With Penske assuming responsibility for carrier management, the client was able to shift focus to core business activities.

Centralized Systems and Increased Visibility

Historically, the manufacturer grew through acquisitions but did not merge systems. Recognizing the client’s need for a centralized solution across business units, Penske consolidated multiple operating systems into one for enhanced efficiency. Each location had been operating differently and independently of each other, leading to inefficiencies. Despite the challenge of merging organizations with disparate systems, combining these technologies brought everything under a single, unified framework.

Penske facilitated a seamless integration under one umbrella, streamlining access to comprehensive metrics, reporting and data analysis tools. To eliminate excessive work for the client, Penske even extracted all the manufacturer’s existing files and fully integrated them into a single platform.

Process Improvement

What differentiated Penske from the competition was the process approach to delivering solutions. Along with disparate systems, the client also had disparate logistics processes across business lines from acquisitions. Given the need to streamline processes, establishing process discipline along with effective communication was paramount.

Penske Logistics established a dedicated operating team and presented a cohesive vision to lay the foundation for future transformation. This collaborative team dynamic is essential as new business lines are launched.

Clear Path Going Forward

As a result of these efforts, cost savings have already been realized and the leadership and support of the operating team earned the trust of the manufacturer.

Penske Logistics built the infrastructure to enable growth and efficiency and set the stage to deploy these solutions within additional business lines. As this partnership evolves, Penske remains dedicated to providing unparalleled support and experience.

Why Penske?

A ripple effect can turn a business upside down with poor attention to detail and lack of expertise. Penske views itself as an extension of our customers’ organizations, and we have what it takes to keep your business moving forward.