Overview of the Client
Our Client is an American manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of consumer and commercial products with an extensive portfolio of brands. They employ over 30,000 people across the globe with a distribution network that caters to the world.
Business Challenges and Objectives
- The existing Container Forecasting was done separately by different business units based on historical shipping information and sales growth.
- The forecasts were erroneous, resulting in either under or over-forecasts.
- Many containers moved with more than 10% empty space resulting in an increased expenditure for the client.
- No actionable insights on materials that could be shipped together and no insights based on the material dimensions.
- All of it together eroded the competitiveness in trade while spending more than $300 Mn on shipping.
The Solution
- The TekLink Team looked to optimize the solution for accommodating multiple layers of calculations for different container combinations based on height, weight, volume, quantity, and location.
- The container forecasts are based on business-specific roles and container specifications.
- The Team created a reporting solution that allows forecasting containers’ exact number, size, and location to minimize the freight expense and adjust for inflation exposure.
- The solution can dynamically calculate the forecasts for different combinations, as mentioned previously.
- The forecasts are now tied to the known POs to get containers, requisitions, and space on the decks for better accuracy.
Business Outcomes and Benefits
- The dynamic calculation of containers allowed for the more accessible allocation of resources.
- By ensuring that the largest container is filled first and sequentially filling the rest of the containers provides optimum utilization of resources.
- The forecasting for the following six months is tied to the actual and projected PO.
- Additionally, the ability to capture weekly snapshots helps the clients to analyze the container forecasts regularly, enabling better decision-making.
