A 3PL helped Chirp—the company behind the popular Chirp Wheels for muscle pain— establish fulfillment from two locations instead of a single warehouse to speed orders to customers. company behind
And BTW, Seamless Expansion
When Suzuki Marine, an international designer, manufacturer, and distributor of outboard motors, decided to expand its warehousing and transportation services centered in the southeastern United States, it turned to supply chain solutions provider Averitt. Averitt provides warehousing and regional less-than-truckload solutions and plays a signi cant role in the total volume of shipments moving from the warehouse to dealers, says Christopher Cobb, logistics manager with Suzuki. Before bringing on new warehouse and transportation providers, Suzuki Marine enacts “a thorough and precise process,” Cobb says. These procedures
warehouse in Utah. Today, Chirp, with IDS, manages ful llment in one location in Utah and another in Indiana. Both have account managers who help oversee daily operations, and IDS helps manage direct-to-consumer orders and Ful lled by Amazon (FBA) preparation, as well as wholesale orders through integrations with big-box retailers that sell Chirp products. NO DISRUPTIONS TO ORDERS IDS helped Chirp transition all its products to the two facilities over about one month. “We were able to fully transition without any disruptions to our daily order processing,” Kelshaw says. Many companies that move to two warehouses nd about a 70/30 split— roughly 70% of their orders head to the East Coast or Midwest, and 30% to the West Coast. Operating from two locations typically reduces the average zone, or the distance from the warehouse to the end consumer, from 5.4 to around 4.7. Chirp dropped its average delivery time frame, which had been at four to ve days, to three to four days. It also lowered storage and overall shipping costs. While it’s dif cult to quantify the drop in shipping costs due to general rate increases by many carriers, “IDS has worked hard to provide us with great carrier rates,” Kelshaw says. In searching for a logistics provider, “we truly wanted to nd an extension of our own business,” Kelshaw says. IDS met that goal.
“NTG’s dedication to BODYARMOR is evident within our organization,” DeLeon says. “They’re on top of our business and bring true value.”
OMG! Lower Costs and Faster Shipping
Chirp, a company dedicated to simplifying pain relief, is behind “Chirp Wheels,” a product that helps people combat neck and back muscle pain. The company began working with IDS Ful llment with several goals in mind, including cutting storage costs and more quickly shipping to consumers—but without breaking the bank, says Carson Kelshaw, Chirp’s logistics director. Other goals included nding a partner that values communication and transparency, offers competitive pick/ pack fees without sacri cing quality, and provides access to Chirp’s goods anytime. “There’s a perceived notion that when you work with a logistics provider, you lose control over your product,” says Craig Freeman, marketing manager with IDS Ful llment. “We seek to make it more of a partnership.” To that end, clients can visit IDS warehouses whenever they like, and can gain visibility through the warehouse management system (WMS) to see where products are located within the warehouses.
Outboard motors company Suzuki Marine expanded its transportation and warehousing services through a partnership with its 3PL.
In the past, Chirp’s ful llment operation was located in a single
114 Inbound Logistics • July 2023
Powered by FlippingBook