Big Three Automotive OEM Significantly Reduced Packaging-Related Costs via Optimized Processes
This North American automotive OEM uses standardized and specialized returnable containers to ship parts from suppliers into assembly plants. Their privately-owned fleet of approximately half a million containers was a significant challenge to manage and they were often faced with premium expenses for freight, expendable safety stock and asset loss and damage.
CHEP managed 17 North American plant locations with a team of 35 to achieve these results:
Challenge
The OEM saw great potential for reducing container losses and cutting costs related to sub-optimized packaging management. The OEM needed a partner to identify the root-cause of container issues and provide support for route optimization, supplier training and process monitoring at 17 powertrain plant locations in the US/Canada and 7 assembly and powertrain plants in Mexico.
Solution
Partner with CHEP to identify root-cause challenges with the OEM's privately-owned returnable container fleet and implement plant-level solutions to reduce costs.
Key OEM Benefits:
Reduced one-way packaging use
Reduced container losses
Improved supply chain data and visibility
Scalability and ease adapting to changing volumes
Process quality control and assurance
Simplified asset recovery
This partnership required:
Customer service to take care of all supplier issues related to container management processes.
On-site OEM and supplier plant support.
Full supply chain asset management with the ability to back-bill for losses.
Ability to receive supplier ASNs (Advance Shipping Notices) with zero failures.
Standardized reporting enabling suppliers and plants to track progress and evaluate results.
Implementation of a scalable, repeatable solution to allow the OEM to focus on its core business rather than container management.