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"Creativity over Capital" Series

Creativity Over Capital: Fleet Optimization for Beverage Distributors

By
Bob Einspar
September 13, 2023
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Beverage distributors operate in a landscape marked by diverse customer profiles, ranging from small retailers to big box stores, restaurants, and bustling bars. The cornerstone of success in this dynamic industry lies in exceptional customer service, a factor that not only fosters growth but also enables effective cost management, supply chain agility, and adaptation to fluctuating demands. As distributors grapple with these challenges to sustain profitability and competitiveness, a game-changing solution is emerging: the on-demand workforce, providing the much-needed flexibility.

Customer Centric Approach:

Customer service lies at the core of every thriving enterprise, and for beverage distributors, it assumes an even more pivotal role. Navigating an ever-evolving array of product offerings while adhering to strict lead-times and delivery standards is necessary to prevent out-of-stock conditions.  In a retail landscape where shelf space is limited, expanding product offerings can heighten that risk.  This challenge is further compounded by shifting consumer buying patterns, promotional cycles, competitive pressures, and even unexpected weather.

To counter these complexities, distributors must deliver more frequently; however, this solution presents an additional hurdle. With finite resources in terms of both fleet capacity and manpower, an escalated delivery schedule may require additional investments in vehicles and equipment—a financial burden that many distributors can’t afford to make. Fortunately, an alternative exists. By harnessing the power of on-demand labor, distributors can unlock instant scalability, optimizing the use of their existing fleet and workforce. This strategic maneuver not only mitigates the need for substantial capital expenditure, but also streamlines operations for enhanced efficiency.

Improving Fleet Utilization:

The key to improving fleet utilization and unlocking additional capacity for your customers is to keep moving.  By limiting the amount of time spent at the warehouse, or at a customer location, your delivery crew can service additional customers with the same trucks and staffing.  By utilizing that additional capacity, customer deliveries become more timely, and product shortages more rare.  That’s also giving your crew additional opportunities for down stocking, merchandising, and delivering promotional materials to delight your customers, and providing valuable operational intelligence on inventory levels and sales to support your forecasts. 

 

 

Unlocking Flexibility with Veryable:

Veryable was created with operational agility in mind.  Our on-demand labor model provides instant access to a labor pool of skilled operators, without the incumbrances of the typical hiring process.  This empowers distributors to shed limitations within their warehouses and at customer sites, optimizing both their fleet and workforce utilization. Furthermore, the operational specialists at Veryable are poised to offer valuable insights into the precise integration of on-demand labor into your value stream, ensuring maximal impact for both you and your customers.

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In your warehouse, Veryable operators can assist in staging orders and loading trucks. This decreases wait times and boosts road time for your fleet. Thanks to Veryable's flexibility, orders can be staged with just a few hours' notice, ensuring that staging doesn't impact order cut-off times for customers. In a driver-assist capacity, operators streamline on-site deliveries and down stocking, cutting down on the time needed to complete these tasks, allowing your team to service additional locations each day.

By harnessing Creativity Over Capital and leveraging Veryable for support, beverage distributors can heighten service levels while maintaining optimal costs. This fosters the customer relationships vital for nurturing a thriving enterprise's growth

 

Want to learn more?

Homepage: Veryable for Food & Beverage Companies
Guide: On-Demand Labor for Beverage Distributors
Case Study: Gold Coast Eagle Distributing
Make The Most of The 100 Days of Summer With Veryable
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Bob Einspar
With almost two decades of experience in manufacturing, operations, and continuous improvement roles, he brings a wealth of shop floor knowledge, as well as hands on experience leveraging Lean Six Sigma tools to drive operational improvements. Previously, Bob led a team of 12 Continuous Improvement professionals, working across 6 Food Co-Pack Plants in the Midwest, and delivered roughly $10M in cost savings initiatives annually.

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