Unilever Moves into the Logistics Fast Lane
Unilever operates in a highly competitive market complicated by dynamic consumer needs and a fluctuating economy. Maintaining its place amongst the global leaders requires that its widely diverse line of products, including well-known brands Dove, Suave, Hellmann's, Lipton and Good Humor, are delivered to retailers at the right time and in the right quantity.
So how does Unilever ensure that it meets demand and customer expectations? Hint: it all stems from a sophisticated approach to transportation that supports even the most stringent retailers' requirements.
Today, Unilever's transportation network in the United States alone supports half a million shipments per year. Therefore, it was no small feat when the company tackled the daunting task of streamlining its sprawling network and carrier partnerships to save money and improve service.
Accepting the Challenge
For Unilever, the trade-off between transportation costs and service levels was not an option -- money had to be saved and service had to be improved.
Enter BravoSolution; a company which aims to help procurement professionals achieve supply management excellence in categories where strong supplier relationships are a critical contributor to success.
The goal: Identify ways to maintain service levels while driving cost out of the supply chain. Instead of an unwieldy pool of over 500 carriers, Unilever would ultimately be managing about 150 carriers for all of its over-the-road needs.
Problem Solving
Using a combination of software, professional services and domain expertise, BravoSolution's transportation solution would ultimately benefit several modes for Unilever, including:
> Truckload
> Less-than-truckload (LTL)
> Intermodal
> Ocean
> Small Parcel
The process consisted of three phases:
> Phase I: A customized RFI to RFP process inviting selected carriers to submit their proposals, capacity and capability information
> Phase II: Optimization scenario analysis to determine total best value solutions and pinpoint the costs of various business requirements and preferences
> Phase III: Ongoing management of existing contracts and KPI reporting to maintain the expected value and drive continuous improvement
The RFP process yielded an effectively tailored combination of carriers for Unilever. But first, millions of pieces of information needed to be analyzed. Using this data, Unilever leveraged BravoSolution's optimization software to comb through the information and allocate business across the final list of carriers, based on the best use of their resources and capabilities. In the end, a streamlined carrier base was responsible for transporting inbound freight, replenishing distribution centers, and delivering products to customers.
To make sure that they actually realized the benefits of these sourcing initiatives, Unilever implemented BravoSolution's Transportation Business Center to manage contracts, feed routing guides, support supply chain planning, and monitor internal and carrier performance. This software also ensured compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other audit requirements.
How It Works
Since 2001, Unilever has managed six major consolidated RFP processes across various combinations of its three main legacy United States divisions, using web applications provided by BravoSolution that allow carriers to bid on Unilever's freight needs.
This system supports fast, effective transportation sourcing to support and realize immediate benefits from the consolidation of Unilever's United States operations:
> Carriers can submit "expressive" proposals that identify creative ways of driving economic efficiencies and ensure optimal use of available carrier capacity
> The sourcing tool analyzes hundreds of potential award scenarios based on various methods of allocating volume in order to ensure feasibility, respect stakeholder preferences, and maximizes savings
> Unilever makes the final decision of how to award the business in the sourcing event
> The award data from the bid process is loaded into an on-line carrier contract with Unilever's pre-approved legal language, and submitted to the carrier for final approval
> Upon acceptance by the carrier, the new pricing and routing guides are maintained in the BravoSolution web-based tool which can then be used to feed the latest data to SAP and the TMS system, monitor contracts, and track both carrier and Unilever performance
During each sourcing process, Unilever continued to refines its objective and strategies driving efficiencies through standardization and improving results. Requirements and preferences are quickly costed out using the BravoSolution optimization technology so that strategic decisions can be made immediately.
In addition to substantial cost savings -- the first project alone yielded more than 15 percent savings -- Unilever has reduced their carrier base to a quarter of its previous size, improved on-time performance by 10 percent, cut carrier reject rates by 71 percent, and has virtually eliminated unplanned accessorial charges. BravoSolution's Transportation Business Center plays a critical role here by ensuring that operations are aligned with strategy and making all necessary data available to the affected parties in an accurate and efficient manner.
As Unilever consolidated its businesses and operations, they continued to further consolidate carrier bases and standardize transportation strategies across their operating units. However, each project was larger with more diverse requirements than the one before it. Unilever uses the BravoSolution toolkit navigate these challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities to re-source its critical modes of transportation for organizational alignment and economic benefit.
"BravoSolution's ability to deliver sophisticated transportation spend management solutions has enabled Unilever's transportation team to drive excellence throughout our business," says Ann Deming, transportation manager at Unilever U.S.
So how does Unilever ensure that it meets demand and customer expectations? Hint: it all stems from a sophisticated approach to transportation that supports even the most stringent retailers' requirements.
Today, Unilever's transportation network in the United States alone supports half a million shipments per year. Therefore, it was no small feat when the company tackled the daunting task of streamlining its sprawling network and carrier partnerships to save money and improve service.
Accepting the Challenge
For Unilever, the trade-off between transportation costs and service levels was not an option -- money had to be saved and service had to be improved.
Enter BravoSolution; a company which aims to help procurement professionals achieve supply management excellence in categories where strong supplier relationships are a critical contributor to success.
The goal: Identify ways to maintain service levels while driving cost out of the supply chain. Instead of an unwieldy pool of over 500 carriers, Unilever would ultimately be managing about 150 carriers for all of its over-the-road needs.
Problem Solving
Using a combination of software, professional services and domain expertise, BravoSolution's transportation solution would ultimately benefit several modes for Unilever, including:
> Truckload
> Less-than-truckload (LTL)
> Intermodal
> Ocean
> Small Parcel
The process consisted of three phases:
> Phase I: A customized RFI to RFP process inviting selected carriers to submit their proposals, capacity and capability information
> Phase II: Optimization scenario analysis to determine total best value solutions and pinpoint the costs of various business requirements and preferences
> Phase III: Ongoing management of existing contracts and KPI reporting to maintain the expected value and drive continuous improvement
The RFP process yielded an effectively tailored combination of carriers for Unilever. But first, millions of pieces of information needed to be analyzed. Using this data, Unilever leveraged BravoSolution's optimization software to comb through the information and allocate business across the final list of carriers, based on the best use of their resources and capabilities. In the end, a streamlined carrier base was responsible for transporting inbound freight, replenishing distribution centers, and delivering products to customers.
To make sure that they actually realized the benefits of these sourcing initiatives, Unilever implemented BravoSolution's Transportation Business Center to manage contracts, feed routing guides, support supply chain planning, and monitor internal and carrier performance. This software also ensured compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other audit requirements.
How It Works
Since 2001, Unilever has managed six major consolidated RFP processes across various combinations of its three main legacy United States divisions, using web applications provided by BravoSolution that allow carriers to bid on Unilever's freight needs.
This system supports fast, effective transportation sourcing to support and realize immediate benefits from the consolidation of Unilever's United States operations:
> Carriers can submit "expressive" proposals that identify creative ways of driving economic efficiencies and ensure optimal use of available carrier capacity
> The sourcing tool analyzes hundreds of potential award scenarios based on various methods of allocating volume in order to ensure feasibility, respect stakeholder preferences, and maximizes savings
> Unilever makes the final decision of how to award the business in the sourcing event
> The award data from the bid process is loaded into an on-line carrier contract with Unilever's pre-approved legal language, and submitted to the carrier for final approval
> Upon acceptance by the carrier, the new pricing and routing guides are maintained in the BravoSolution web-based tool which can then be used to feed the latest data to SAP and the TMS system, monitor contracts, and track both carrier and Unilever performance
During each sourcing process, Unilever continued to refines its objective and strategies driving efficiencies through standardization and improving results. Requirements and preferences are quickly costed out using the BravoSolution optimization technology so that strategic decisions can be made immediately.
In addition to substantial cost savings -- the first project alone yielded more than 15 percent savings -- Unilever has reduced their carrier base to a quarter of its previous size, improved on-time performance by 10 percent, cut carrier reject rates by 71 percent, and has virtually eliminated unplanned accessorial charges. BravoSolution's Transportation Business Center plays a critical role here by ensuring that operations are aligned with strategy and making all necessary data available to the affected parties in an accurate and efficient manner.
As Unilever consolidated its businesses and operations, they continued to further consolidate carrier bases and standardize transportation strategies across their operating units. However, each project was larger with more diverse requirements than the one before it. Unilever uses the BravoSolution toolkit navigate these challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities to re-source its critical modes of transportation for organizational alignment and economic benefit.
"BravoSolution's ability to deliver sophisticated transportation spend management solutions has enabled Unilever's transportation team to drive excellence throughout our business," says Ann Deming, transportation manager at Unilever U.S.