Case Study: Major Product Manufacturer

A major product manufacturer lost visibility of dozens of containers at the Port of Los Angeles arriving from their manufacturers in Asia due to a tremendous backlog of ocean containers during unprecedented congestion levels. To meet the stock level needs of multiple big-box retailers, they needed to act fast. The customer reached out to Omni to find the containers. The Omni team found each container quickly and facilitated the container drayage to distribution centers (DCs), resulting in the prevention of big-box retailer late fees, and maintenance of shelf space and brand loyalty.

 

Challenges

Due to the Port of Los Angeles being extremely congested during pandemic-related shortages,
a major product manufacturer’s ocean imports from Asia were received in chaotic conditions. Port containers would arrive and go missing, there were major delays arranging ground transportation due to truck driver shortages, and steamship lines were backed up. Consequently, it was nearly impossible to get freight out of the port and to its destination on schedule. In all this chaos, dozens of the customer’s containers showed an “unknown” status at the port – each holding about half a million dollars’ worth of product per container. The missing containers had the potential to negativity impact the customer in multiple ways:

• Inability to fulfill big-box retailers’ time sensitive in-stock levels and performance requirements
• At risk for heavy fines of big-box partners
• Loss of shelf space at stores
• Disappointing end customer and a decrease in brand loyalty

Millions of dollars were at stake and the clock was ticking. That’s when Omni was asked to step in.

 

Solution

The Omni team was able to craft a solution around the customer’s needs and communicate effectively on various shipping updates due to our team’s ability to maintain consistent visibility. The Omni team was able to solve the customer’s challenge by:

• Compiling thousands of data points from multiple sources to locate containers
• Finding all lost containers in a matter of hours
• Securing containers with chassis
• Procuring truck drivers to move containers from port to DCs
• Coordinating with customer team on appointments, merges, charges, and arrival notices
• Communicating milestones multiple times a day

 

Result

The Omni team was able to meet this major product manufacturer’s expectations and is now their go-to team for problem solving. They can count on Omni to deliver their goods on time and within the end customers’ expectations. With the solutions implemented, the customer stayed in good standing with big box retailers and resulted in the following:

• Avoided falling under required percentage criteria
• No loss of shelf space
• Maintained brand loyalty
• Sustained in-stock performance
• Fulfilled end customer expectations

The customer now comes to Omni for drayage of hundreds of containers on a regular basis due to the level of trust they have when Omni handles their freight.