Finished Goods Logistics: an integrated proposition for Packing, Loading & Routing

Fulfilling the Needs of the Industry…

With price pressures surging to the highest level in many decades, it is important to manage rising demand with an optimized, streamlined and integrated process. "We designed the Finished Goods Logistics proposition by considering the main challenges in the industry," explains Valerie van de Kamp. "Companies must continuously lower distribution costs per unit, considering the trade-off between their costs and the level of service they provide. And this while managing an increased number of Stock-Keeping Units (SKUs), customer locations, and carrier partners – and making sure the plans are predictable and accurate, which is needed for effective execution."

Our solution? An end-to-end integrated approach that streamlines the entire process, based on three key pillars: optimization, collaboration, and standardization. "We optimize load building, palletization and routing by automating time-consuming manual procedures. Moreover, because the vast majority of manufacturers are outsourcing the execution of routes, we want to make it easier for them to collaborate with the carriers, the drivers, and the consignees. All actions are triggered via the same User Interface, which combines on-premises Routing and cloud-native Packing and Loading, to which we also added a carrier management component. Planners have a full overview of daily operations - and easier communication with the carriers assures transparency throughout dispatch and execution. This increased supply chain visibility allows companies to standardize their processes. Besides all that, typically a cost reduction of 5 to 15 percent can be acquired due to the more effective routes, fully loaded trucks and reduction of materials needed in the process."

… And Those of the Planet

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on millions of people around the globe and impacted economies, supply chains and jobs, turning people’s lives and their livelihoods upside down.

"The Finished Goods Logistics proposition is also a great example of how we pursue the ORTEC purpose of improving the world," adds Valerie van de Kamp, Industry Lead at ORTEC. "Offering an integrated solution for Packing, Loading and Routing means we can improve our customers' impact in each of these three phases."

"Recent market studies show that over 20% of the trucks driving around Europe are empty,” Valerie continues, "and that badly planned transportation leads to over 20% of returns being due to shipping damage. On average, the cost to replace damaged products can be up to 17 times the original cost to ship.

However, with Finished Goods Logistics, we can reduce the shipping of air, provide a plan that enables safe and damage-free transportation of products, and reduce CO2 emissions by providing an accurate and optimized route plan.

By servicing this market, also wider goals are pursued: helping manufacturers build resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fostering innovation throughout the supply chain process."

First Implementations Already Underway

“As ORTEC, we have quite some experience in this industry, and we’re already implementing the complete new Finished Good Logistics package at manufacturing customers in the area of electronic equipment,” concludes Goos Kant, Managing Partner at ORTEC and Professor of Logistics Optimization. “We’re really excited about this new solution package, and we expect great things to come of it.”