One of the world's premier consumer foods and beverage product companies was looking to consolidate several buildings in the Midwest into one operation in order to reduce costs, drive efficiencies and streamline the supply chain process. They needed a provider that was well versed in facility start ups, familiar with the Red Prairie WMS system and could help implement SAP in the location. TLC had a proven track record in all three and was ultimately chosen to be the provider.
This new 1.1 million square feet service center is located in Indianapolis, IN. This geographic location was chosen due to its proximity to their Midwest manufacturing facility for their sports drink division. The facility also handles other non-carbonated beverages and dry foods products such as granola bars, rices, and cereals. This facility also produces stores and distributes secondary packaged products through a “state of the art” packaging line operation that was developed and implemented by TLC.
The packaging lines take up approximately 60,000 square feet of space at the facility and consist of automated conveyors, heat shrink tunnels, in line pallets shrink wrappers, and automated palletizing equipment. TLC produces approximately 13 million cases each year through the packaging lines. These products are destined for wholesale clubs and grocery retailers throughout the Midwest.
TLC works hand-in-hand with the client's onsite employees determining production schedules, managing inventory levels of up to 5.9 million cases, receiving and storage of all inbound products, determining shipping schedules and picking and loading of all outbound orders. TLC also plans and staffs the production lines for maximum efficiency and to ensure all production schedules are met or exceeded. The Service Center has been in operation since January 2008. Operating the facility 24 hours a day 7 days a week, TLC processes approximately 225 loads per day and handles 50 million cases annually.
The successful startup and efficient operation of this service center and secondary packaging operation, has enabled the client to leverage more volumes in the Midwest, streamline supply chain operations, and has opened up new opportunities to bring more business to the facility that was previously done at other co-pack facilities.
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