After an extensive search for a third party logistics provider, Southshore was selected to develop and implement an off-site material warehouse for a tier one supplier to the automotive industry. The project goals were to reduce material inventory cost and to improve material supply chain status visibility through an internet based supply chain management information system. Savings would be realized through transportation consolidation of inbound material. Savings would also be realized through the discrete assembly of hundreds of part numbers into smaller production quantities with hourly delivery service based on demand pull signals from manufacturing.

This partnership represented an opportunity for Southshore to participate with its customer to develop a beta test vendor managed inventory warehouse, which if successful, could serve as an implementation model for other customer operated plants in North America.

Southshore successfully implemented this material warehouse in less than sixty days. The project tasks included: defining warehouse operations processes, management reporting and quality control requirements; designing, writing and obtaining customer approval of a warehouse operations manual; hiring and training of warehouse personnel; acquiring computer and office systems; and modifying and testing these systems.

Southshore’s beneficial project outcomes included significant enhancements in technological capabilities and personnel skills in the areas of collaborative inventory management systems, real-time supply chain visability, and enterprise resource planning systems integration. Southshore and its customer partner are extremely pleased with the project’s payoffs to date and we are hopeful that other customer plants will follow this material warehouse model.

Southshore looks forward to working with its existing and prospective customers seeking to gain similar warehousing logistics efficiencies. Southshore has demonstrated that it can successfully complete similar complex projects which demand an enhanced level of technical expertise delivered by a company dedicated to customer satisfaction and true collaborative logistics partnerships.