A Global Cleaning Product Manufacturer Optimizes the Efficiency of their Transportation RFP

In today's freight market, efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness are paramount. A global manufacturer and marketer of cleaning and disinfecting products partnered with Breakthrough to enhance their transportation RFP strategy. Through this partnership, they leveraged Breakthrough’s market expertise and clean and comprehensive dataset to optimize their dry van and intermodal shipments across North America for five business units.

This collaboration aimed to achieve a couple key goals from the procurement and operations teams. The procurement team prioritized long-term relationships with strategic carriers, demonstrating a steadfast commitment to fostering these connections. Meanwhile, the operations team focused on optimizing carrier footprints by being highly selective based on service performance, ensuring that top-performing carriers are rewarded with more volume. The bid went live on April 15, achieving both goals set by the procurement and operations teams.

Transitioning to a Strategic Procurement Model

The global manufacturer previously relied heavily on transactional freight procurement for their transportation strategy. This approach often left the operations team with limited options, leading to a high frequency of spot market transactions and minimal carrier performance data. Additionally, the process for evaluating carriers' service levels and negotiating rates was inefficient. Consequently, this approach resulted in missed opportunities for cost savings and efficiency improvements.

Enhancing Transportation Network Strategy Through Data Analytics

To address these challenges, Breakthrough worked collaboratively with the client's procurement and operations teams to develop an optimized RFP strategy that aligned with their goals. This included implementing a standardized evaluation system for carrier performance based on key metrics such as service reliability, capacity availability, and cost-effectiveness. The new process also incorporated long-term contract agreements with strategic carriers, ensuring a more stable and reliable transportation network.

Furthermore, Breakthrough utilized its advanced data analytics capabilities to analyze the client's historical shipment data and identify opportunities for improvement:

• Intermodal Conversion Analysis: Assessed opportunities for both inbound and outbound shipments to identify potential savings and efficiency improvements by converting to intermodal.

• Strategic Carrier Analysis: Conducted data-driven evaluations of top-performing carriers to ensure alignment with service level expectations.

• New Carrier Opportunity Analysis: Identified potential new carrier partnerships aligned with network priorities to enhance the carrier base, leveraging Breakthrough's visibility into over 23 million annual shipments.

Key Outcomes of the New Transportation RFP Process

The partnership between the global cleaning product manufacturer and Breakthrough yielded significant results in optimizing their transportation strategy. This collaborative effort led to substantial benefits for both procurement and operations. Specifically, the new process resulted in:

• Cost Savings: Contrary to the initial projection of a 2% increase in transportation costs, they achieved 7.2% savings and are trending higher than this percentage on a week-over-week basis two months post-RFP.

• Service Level Improvement: By awarding more volume to top-performing carriers, the client enhanced their overall service levels. Approximately 22% of the invited carriers were awarded volume, a strategic move as shippers anticipate a shift in the freight market.

• Strategic Relationship Reinforcement: The focus on maintaining and strengthening relationships with strategic carriers was well-received, as evidenced by feedback from the Director of Procurement “We have received numerous positive feedback communications from carriers on the great work.”

Continued Innovation for Global Cleaning Product Manufacturer

The partnership between the client and Breakthrough exemplifies the transformative power of a well-executed transportation RFP strategy. By leveraging Breakthrough's extensive data analytics capabilities and industry expertise, the client transitioned from a transactional freight procurement model to a more strategic and efficient approach. This shift not only resulted in significant cost savings but also enhanced service levels and strengthened relationships with strategic carriers. Breakthrough’s tailored and data-driven methodology offered the stability and reliability needed to navigate the complexities of the freight market, ultimately positioning the client for continued success in their transportation operations. Through this collaboration, the client established a robust and agile transportation network that supports their broader business objectives, demonstrating the undeniable value of integrating advanced transportation RFP services into their supply chain strategy.