Synchro’s client, a division of a billion-dollar food distributor, acquired another company and merged operations. During the transition, the acquired company’s logistics team experienced 100% turnover, causing the client to lose critical freight operation details, including consignee requirements, vendor contacts, and essential “tribal knowledge”. As a result, freight costs exceeded the budget, and management grew concerned about service levels like on-time deliveries and rejections. 

The client engaged Synchro to implement our managed transportation solution with the acquired business. The client asked Synchro to address all issues on an expedited basis. Our solution to the problem entailed the following actions: 

• • Dispatched a team to interview staff, observe operations, and work on-site for two weeks. 

• • Arranged a warehouse move through Synchro’s warehouse move team. Synchro ran an RFP to find the best rigging company for handling food-grade equipment and managed the entire move process over seven weeks, including several weeks of on-site presence. 

• • Conducted a refrigerated LTL RFP process, identifying new vendors to provide competition to the current vendor base. 

• • Evaluated rejection issues. Ultimately, we had no rejection data from the acquired company’s previous freight provider, so we had to establish a new baseline. While our goal is to achieve zero rejections, having insight into the prior experience would have helped set expectations. We categorized each rejection, conducted a root cause analysis, and identified areas where Synchro or the client could take action to prevent future occurrences.

Results 

• • Managed Transportation Startup – Synchro’s managed transportation services were implemented on the first day the team arrived on-site. They identified the proper contacts for all consignees, along with transit temperature requirements, delivery windows, and special instructions. This information was integrated into Synchro’s TMS, enabling the client to easily arrange shipping. 

• • Warehouse Move / Rigging Move – Synchro conducted an RFP process with three reputable rigging companies. The winning bid was over $75,000 less than the next lowest offer. The chosen vendor provided better insurance coverage, allocated more labor and equipment for the move, and was flexible with schedule adjustments due to weather and production line demands. 

• • Refrigerated LTL RFP – The majority of the acquired company’s freight was shipped refrigerated LTL. Synchro’s RFP lowered prices by double digits and improved service levels by consolidating more shipments with vendors. This allowed them to provide volume discounts and to devote more attention to our account. Synchro identified a truckload vendor who consolidated multiple shipments onto their full truck. This resulted in lower costs and a better claims experience, as the freight never translated through an LTL network’s warehouses. 

• • Rejection Issues – Synchro put GPS and temperature tracking devices on client loads where rejections had occurred recently. During transit, Synchro could see when temperatures moved in the wrong direction. For example, when a carrier trailer switches from continuous to cycle, Synchro could contact the carrier to get the trailer back on continuously and avoid a temperature rejection. Synchro worked with the client warehouse to identify other best practices to improve performance. Another example was arranging drop trailers with refrigerated LTL carriers, allowing them to avoid loading delays and allowing the client to move inventory off their floor to clear up more space. Rejections dropped precipitously after Synchro took over the business. 
    
    

Synchro’s managed transportation solution team customized a solution for our client, who was dealing with multiple freight issues on top of the typical problems when one company buys another. Our team saved the client hundreds of thousands in freight costs and helped the client avoid losing customers.