Imperial Managed Logistics’ partnership with Tiger Brands is founded on operational excellence and a commitment to continuously drive efficiencies and improvements throughout the FMCG giant’s network. This differentiates Imperial Managed Logistics from transactional based transport service providers, and it is enabling Tiger Brands to compete even more competitively in the consumer marketplace.
Motivation to Change
Outlining Tiger Brand’s motivation for partnering with Imperial, chief integration officer Cobus Rossouw explains that the group had embarked on a process to identify opportunities that would create value and leverage total network volumes. This led to the consolidation of Tiger’s Consumer and Grains Divisions, and to a structured approach to operations improvement aimed at ensuring business continuity and sustainability, and to achieving guaranteed service levels.
Tiger Brands’ fragmented transport service provider model was a pressing problem that had to be addressed in order for this process to pay dividends.
Benefits of a single managed logistics service provider
In partnership with Imperial Managed Logistics, Tiger Brands identified the benefits of partnering with a single logistics service provider, in order to consolidate the group’s decentralised transport model.
Imperial Managed Logistics was awarded a three year contract for primary distribution services, and is delivering close to 50 000 loads per year for the FMCG group.
The scope of this contract includes all activities associated with the planning, execution, management, reporting and information technology required for the provision of primary freight logistics management services as a consolidated solution. It includes utilising two distinct distribution networks to extract economies of scale and, at the same time, maintain operational agility and resilience.
Imperial’s proven expertise in network (IT) integration and its national order visibility linking capabilities contributed to the company securing this contract. “Our track record in operations consolidation to improve decision making, as well as our operational representation at key sites, helped us seal the deal,” Rossouw states.
Imperial Managed Logistics’ solution for Tiger Brands includes a world class central operations command centre, to meet the client’s need for centralised planning, reporting and visibility of their network.
Full visibility, flexibility and transport savings
Together, Imperial Managed Logistics and Tiger Brands have implemented a solution that provides full visibility of all operational activities and offers flexibility throughout the network, to support customer service.
The identification of continuous improvement projects, the implementation of IT and the provision of up to date and near real time operational data and financial reporting were all achieved within just one month of contract’s start. Adding to this exceptional feat is the fact that it was achieved across two divisions, seven business units and 12 manufacturing sites and multiple contract manufacturers.
Imperial Managed Logistics has successfully implemented four continuous improvement initiatives from implementation that have realised transport savings for Tiger Brands from day one. These include improved payload utilisation through the application of specialised lightweight vehicles, fixed asset utilisation in local networks and the conversion to commercial charge models that drive efficient behaviour from Tiger Brands and IML.
Reflecting Imperial Managed Logistics; operational capability, the company successfully maintained Tiger Brands’ service levels in excess of 96% throughout the peak period of October 2013 to December 2013. “The service levels were maintained despite a 55% increase in volume and highly erratic demand from the retail trade,” Rossouw notes. “Given the dynamic nature and geographical spread of Tiger Brands’ network, our performance is proof that Imperial Managed Logistics is a market leading Logistics service provider.”