For a customer waiting to take delivery of a new, customized electric wheelchair, every day can be an eternity. The new chair promises users greater comfort, increased mobility, and an enhanced quality of life. It’s understandable then, that once a customer has made the investment in a customized chair, there is a high expectation for an on-time delivery, with zero tolerance for delays or damage.
For one leading manufacturer, meeting those expectations became even more challenging when it came to fulfilling orders from customers located in Canada. The chairs would be assembled at its Tennessee manufacturing center, and from there transported to the border and into Canada.
But finding the right transportation and logistics provider to manage the process proved to be no small feat. The manufacturer initially enlisted the services of an international logistics provider, and assumed the company would be top notch in offering the most efficient and cost-effective solutions. But over time, it became apparent that the carrier was providing neither the “best” solution, nor high levels of customer service.
This particular wheelchair manufacturer was founded by a physician in Sweden, who saw a need among patients for a better, more versatile wheelchair than what was currently on the market. Patients responded very favorably, and it wasn’t long before a global manufacturing and distribution network was established. For orders within the United States and Canada, the company maintains a manufacturing center in Tennessee. Canada-bound shipments all originate in this facility.
The challenge
Because the manufacturer had enlisted a high-profile, internationally recognized transportation and logistics provider to handle its shipments to Canada, managers assumed they could take “Canadian distribution process” off their worry list. Chairs were being picked up in Tennessee and traveling via air to Toronto, whereupon shipments were broken down for final delivery.
But the “travel via air” solution was the manufacturer’s first clue that its Canadian distribution route might not be as efficient as initially thought. Why, managers wondered, were shipments traveling via a costly air solution? Wasn’t there a suitable ground alternative?
This also raised questions about the carrier’s efficiency in managing the border clearance process. While the manufacturer was certainly no expert in U.S./Canada customs issues, especially since its chairs were considered “medical devices,” that triggered a highly specialized and rigorous compliance process, it just seemed that customs fees were a bit steep.
We switched the shipping method from a costly air solution to an LTL team-driven line haul. This provided the same delivery speed as air freight but at a significantly lower cost, offering the best of both worlds.
We recognized the previous provider was listing each chair as a separate shipment, incurring a $75 fee per chair. By consolidating all shipments to clear customs as a single unit, we eliminated the per-item fee and reduced clearance delays.
For these critical and expensive medical devices, we worked with the manufacturer to develop an extremely detailed packaging process. Chairs are entombed in specially designed corrugated cardboard to minimize touches and prevent damage.
We advised the company to cut back from daily pickups to a 2-3 times per week schedule. This was a more efficient approach that still allowed the manufacturer to meet all its delivery requirements with our nightly line haul service.
The results
Now that the manufacturer is confident about its Canadian distribution network, it has set its sights on finding even better ways to reach its Canadian customers, namely through the Internet! Although there are no current plans to allow customers to place chair orders online, the manufacturer sees a strong demand for easily accessible replacement parts. An aftermarket parts e-commerce site is in the works, and no doubt the manufacturer will be looking for the same degree of efficiency and customer satisfaction it has found in its regular sales processes.
“We knew pretty much right away that we could provide a better solution,” says Betty Jo Rodey, Purolator International’s Strategic Account Executive. “No one else has the access to the Canadian market that Purolator does, so we went to work to deliver the solution this company wanted in the first place.”
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