SHREVEPORT, La. June 28, 2022 — AFS Logistics announces recognition as a recipient of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Top Supply Chain Projects Award. The third-party logistics (3PL) company earned the accolade for transportation solutions that reduced parcel spend by 14% and less-than-truckload (LTL) spend by nearly 17% for their client, a western wear retailer.
“We’d be bleeding millions of dollars in excess freight costs if we didn’t have AFS,” the retailer’s Chief Financial Officer said. “They have the expertise, knowledge and systems that our business needs, and they do everything more efficiently than we could.”
AFS drove savings and improved visibility throughout the retailer’s logistics network as a result of two key solutions. The company negotiated a contract with a new parcel carrier for outbound customer shipments and implemented a transportation management system (TMS) that enables more accurate and effective management of inbound freight from vendors.
The retailer had long depended on the same parcel carriers, but limited capacity and service issues emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic that threatened the retailer’s ability to deliver on customer service expectations and protect margins. In addition to the parcel shipping challenges, the business also needed to gain better control of LTL spend for inbound freight, which had become bloated as vendors passed along the cost of shipping to the retailer.
AFS identified a parcel carrier with competitive pricing and negotiated a new deal, leveraging long-term relationships with the carrier’s other divisions to overcome policy stipulations that would have otherwise forced the shipper to negotiate on their own behalf. The resulting contract substantially reduced the retailer’s parcel spend, allowing them to maintain fair prices for their customers.
To address the retailer’s LTL costs, AFS provided a TMS to manage 95% of inbound freight and trained approximately 400 of the retailer’s vendors to use the portal. The system helps the retailer create bids, set rates and improve visibility across their logistics network, considerably lowering their financial risk. AFS continues to use data generated by the retailer’s shipments to guide their logistics operations and set them up for future success.
“Disruptions and increased transportation costs have made it even more difficult for many businesses to effectively manage their logistics networks, control costs and deliver on customer expectations,” says Tom Nightingale, CEO, AFS. “Shippers turn to us to optimize their carrier networks and cost-effectively create resiliency through state-of-the-art technology and industry leading expertise, so that they can focus on better serving their customers.”
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About the award
Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Top Supply Chain Projects spotlights successful and innovative transformation projects that deliver bottom-line value to small, medium and large enterprises across a range of functions.
About AFS Logistics
AFS Logistics helps more than 1,800 companies across more than 35 countries drive sustained savings and operational improvements, while turning their logistics operations into competitive, customer-centric differentiators. As a non-asset based and non-asset biased 3PL, AFS provides a range of logistics services, featuring freight and parcel audit, parcel cost management, LTL cost management and transportation management, which includes freight brokerage and freight forwarding. Founded in 1982 and employing a team of more than 380 logistics teammates in eight major locations across the U.S. and Canada, AFS is regularly part of the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies. To learn more, visit www.afs.net.
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AFS contact:
Anna Claire Stevens
AFS Logistics
318.548.0413
[email protected]
Media contact:
Dan Gauss
Koroberi
336.409.5391
[email protected]
