CASE STUDIES
Businesses hire Supply Chain Edge to generate improvements in business growth, earnings per share, return on capital, margins, cash-to-cash cycle times, and service levels. We serve middle-market companies (typically with $100 million to $3 billion in revenues) as well as private equity and turnaround firms committed to improving the performance of their investments.
Hear from clients in their own words how working with SCE has helped their organizations. Read the following case studies to learn more about how we have helped clients generate significant and sustainable operational and financial benefits:
SCE Helps Advanced Materials Manufacturer Materion Boost Its Margins by Transforming Logistics
SCE Helps a Leading Cosmetics Company Use Outsourcing and S&OP to Achieve
Cost Savings and Competitive Advantage
SCE Helps Health Products Company Reduce Supply Chain Costs While Improving Customer Responsiveness
In the Fast Lane: Supply Chain Edge Helps a Laboratory Services Company Rapidly Boost the Value of its Supply Chain
Finding a Path to Value: Supply Chain Alignment and Assessment at a Heating Equipment Manufacturer
Bringing Freight Management in House to Generate Sustainable Cost Savings at a Major Medical Products Company
Adopting Strategic Transportation Management at Hayward Industries
Operational Improvement at a Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturer
Operational Costing at a Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturer
Operational Restructuring at HBC Company
Supply Chain Restructuring at an Automotive Manufacturer
SCE Helps a Supplier Boost Customer Responsiveness in a Time-Sensitive Industry
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Due to the highly seasonal nature of its end customers’ business, the client’s success is based primarily on operational flexibility and responsiveness
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SCE’s client often fell short of what its customers needed, and company executives knew they had to act to change the organization’s current trajectory
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With SCE’s help, this client now has the operational prowess to be much more responsive to its customers’ needs—and is better positioned to compete with the bigger players in its market
SCE Helps Advanced Materials Manufacturer Materion Boost Its Margins by Transforming Logistics
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A leading materials supplier sought counsel on changes that could be made to its logistics organization to reduce costs while improving service and quality.
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SCE helped Materion execute a logistics transformation effort—creating a centrally led logistics organization to gain control over logistics costs, reduce complexity, boost standardization of key processes, measure success, and create the structure required to drive continuous and sustainable improvement in cost and service.
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While SCE continues to work with Materion to fine-tune its center-led logistics organization, the company has achieved annual logistics cost savings of between 16 and 18 percent. More importantly, the company now manages logistics proactively to help secure additional savings and performance improvements for years to come.
SCE Helps a Leading Cosmetics Company Use Outsourcing and S&OP to Achieve Cost Savings and Competitive Advantage
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A leading cosmetics manufacturer sought to overcome supply chain issues including long lead times, unpredictable demand, and shrinking margins.
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Following an in-depth assessment, Supply Chain Edge identified approximately $20 million in potential annual savings.
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SCE helped the company outsource distribution to a third-party logistics provider (3PL) and implement a sales and operations planning (S&OP) process as first steps, which has put the company on track to save $4 million in the first year.
SCE Helps Health Products Company Reduce Supply Chain Costs While Improving Customer Responsiveness
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An international consumer and health products company sought to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in logistics.
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SCE helped the company assess the performance of its current 3PL, and subsequently find a new provider capable of delivering greater value.
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The company now is saving 6 percent on its logistics costs each year, and has access to world-class, scalable capabilities.
In the Fast Lane: Supply Chain Edge Helps a Laboratory Services Company Rapidly Boost the Value of its Supply Chain
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A growing provider of pathology and diagnostic laboratory services found its logistics expenses had become unsustainable.
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SCE helped the company divest its in-house fleet, consolidate its transportation providers, and reduce the costs of its distribution processes.
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The company now is saving approximately $170,000 each month on transportation and logistics while delivering excellent customer service.
Finding a Path to Value: Supply Chain Alignment and Assessment at a Heating Equipment Manufacturer
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A heating equipment manufacturer created by a merger struggled with long lead times, low quality levels, and inconsistent order fulfillment.
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SCE used its Supply Chain Alignment and Assessment process to understand the current state of the company’s supply chain and its most substantial improvement opportunities.
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The company gained detailed, concrete, and prioritized supply chain improvement programs to help it deliver greater customer value and boost its differentiation.
Bringing Freight Management in House to Generate Sustainable Cost Savings at a Major Medical Products Company
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A medical products company had outsourced responsibility for outbound freight to a third-party logistics provider for several years. As SCE evaluated the company’s freight operations, it became clear that in-house management of freight was the more profitable option.
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SCE managed the entire process, from scoping the role of the new in-house freight management function to choosing and implementing a new transportation management system (TMS), and, ultimately, negotiating contracts with freight carriers.
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At the conclusion of the six-month project, the company was on track to achieve $3.3 million of savings in the first year—a 10X return on the total investment in the project.
Adopting Strategic Transportation Management at Hayward Industries
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Hayward Industries, the largest supplier of swimming pool equipment in the U.S., sought to increase its supply chain efficiency and visibility.
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Hayward hired Supply Chain Edge to conduct an in-depth analysis and benchmarking of its transportation function, which found several opportunities for improvement.
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Supply Chain Edge helped Hayward consolidate carriers and create more efficient transportation practices.
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After just four months, Hayward had saved nearly $1 million in transportation spending and anticipates additional annual savings. Hayward also has added efficiency and visibility to its transportation function
Del Labs Gets the Freight Out (and In)
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Del Labs, a leading manufacturer of cosmetics and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, sought to improve its bottom line and its supply chain logistics.
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Working with Del Labs’ existing employees, Supply Chain Edge assumed responsibility for Del Labs’ transportation function. Following a spend analysis, Supply Chain Edge renegotiated Del Labs’ long-term carrier contracts and helped improve critical transportation processes.
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These changes enabled Del Labs to save approximately $3 million in 18 months.
Operational Improvement at a Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturer
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A large personal care manufacturer wanted to improve order fulfillment, distribution center productivity, management of seasonality, and customer service levels.
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Supply Chain Edge assessed the company’s supply chain and implemented a distribution network reconfiguration, a physical material handling system, and a new order flow management system.
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The company improved its throughput by a factor of four, line fulfillment by 135 percent, fulfillment accuracy by 85 percent, and rate of orders filled complete by 10 percent, and it cut its internal order cycle in half — all while reducing fulfillment unit costs as a percentage of sales.
Operational Costing at a Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturer
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An office products manufacturer set out to understand its cost structure more clearly, with a particular focus on its distribution network.
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Supply Chain Edge implemented activity-based costing for the company’s warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation, and customer service functions, establishing a sophisticated cost matrix that incorporated multiple variables.
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As a result, the company was able to segment its customers more effectively and deliver more value to them.
Operational Restructuring at HBC Company
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A cosmetics, fragrance, and beauty care products company launched an initiative to reengineer its operations, reposition its brand, regain lost market share, and ultimately go public. Supply Chain Edge was hired to transform the company’s supply chain as part of this initiative.
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The Supply Chain Edge team assessed the viability of the company's supply chain and the depth of its management resources, stabilized customer service and operating costs, created processes to protect customer relationships, and restructured the supply chain to generate annual financial productivity and process improvements.
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The company subsequently increased orders filled complete by 13 percent, shrunk internal order lead time by 50 percent, cut customer lead time by 51 percent, improved on-time delivery by 8 percent, and reduced supply chain unit cost as a percentage of gross sales by 65 percent. In addition, the company achieved market share leadership and public ownership status within its desired timeframe.
Supply Chain Restructuring at an Automotive Manufacturer
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To address reduced cash flows and operating losses, a global automotive and large-truck component manufacturer set out to transform several core competency areas, including its supply chain.
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Supply Chain Edge worked with the company to restructure its supply chain and develop a long-term plan for supply chain and business success.
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The company has improved on-time delivery by 17 percent and days payable outstanding by a factor of three, and has gained several million dollars in material and transportation productivity improvements.
SCE Restructures Logistics Operations at a Frozen Foods Manufacturer and Distributor
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A top manufacturer and distributor was experiencing double digit increases in transportation costs and sought SCE's help in reversing that trend.
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SCE's analysis of the business showed a lack of understanding of logistics operations, and inefficient distribution network, unskilled personnel in critical roles, antiquated business systems, and reliance on some long-term local carriers.
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SCE took over the carrier tendering process, managed a refrigerated LTL and TL RFP, and suggested other internal changes that would save the company in excess of $2 million annually.
SCE Helps a Textile Products Company Improve Transportation Costs During a Time of High-Cost Pressure from Carriers
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A leading Textile Products Manufacturer sought help in mitigating the effect of current cost-increase pressures from their carrier base, while continuing to maintain their high level of service.
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SCE analysis identified issues with inconsistencies in current carrier agreements, poor data, and difficulties created by their business policies.
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SCE conducted a comprehensive strategic LTL RFP, which resulted in potential cost savings, instead of the increases they were anticipating
SCE Helps Leading Chemical Company Improve Their Costs
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A large Chemical company, manufacturing products for Industrial, pharmaceutical, personal care and many other industries, sought help in lowering freight costs
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SCE conducted comprehensive RFPs for three different modes of transportation as the company had not conducted a Transportation RFP in seven years--results amounted to over $1.5 Million in freight savings
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SCE also facilitated the introduction of a TMS, and replacement of the current Freight Audit and Payment system to a third party that includes best practice reporting and features
SCE Helps a Leading Land and Garden Company Improve their Warehouse Operations, Facilitating Rapid Growth and Lowering Costs
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A leading Lawn and Garden company, located in the Northeast, determined that their projected
sales growth would soon outpace their existing warehouse space -
The company enlisted the resources of SCE to assist in the identification of warehousing options for both the near and long term