Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation

Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation Leverages On-Demand Labor to Eliminate Backlog, Respond in Real-Time to Demand

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Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation (GML) is a private-label food manufacturing company headquartered in Chester, Illinois. With 13 strategically located facilities across two Midwestern states, GML produces a wide variety of food products, including cereals, snacks, baking mixes, and other dry goods. These products are distributed to grocery stores and retail outlets nationwide and beyond. Many of these goods are aggregated within their distribution centers, allowing GML to efficiently offer bulk palletized shipments to their customers.

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Challenges

GML has long supported the rural communities in which it operates, providing jobs and driving local economic activity. However, operating in rural areas comes with inherent workforce challenges due to smaller surrounding populations. Two of GML’s distribution centers, located in McBride, MO and Steeleville, IL, are each more than 50 miles from any major metropolitan area, and local towns are relatively small.

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These distribution centers handle palletized products exclusively, requiring all workers to be certified forklift operators. In rural areas, certified forklift operators are far less common than in urban centers with robust warehousing industries. When GML first considered using the Veryable on-demand labor platform, there were no active operators in their region yet, presenting an additional challenge.

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Problem

GML’s seasonal demand typically surges from midsummer through late winter. By late October 2022, deep into their busy season, GML had accumulated a backlog of more than 70 loads on their lot, well above their target of under 40. This backlog created a bottleneck, leading to:

• Extended lead times

• Increased employee overtime and burnout

• Higher operating costs

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Ensuring high service levels and moving products efficiently through the distribution centers was critical to meet customer expectations.

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Strategy

Working closely with GML’s President, Vice President of Operations, and distribution center superintendents, Veryable collaborated to develop a comprehensive strategy to address these challenges.

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GML began by posting shifts on the Veryable platform, attracting local operators who downloaded the app. They further accelerated the growth of the local labor pool by leveraging their community involvement to raise awareness.

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Operators on their first assignment were offered an accelerated forklift training program, enabling them to provide immediate value while gaining new skills. GML then evaluated these operators based on their work ethic, willingness to learn, and safety practices. High-performing operators were added to GML’s labor pool, receiving priority consideration for future shifts. Supervisors tested each operator’s forklift skills and gradually opened up additional functions as they demonstrated safe and capable performance.

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Through this process, GML built a pool of 75 trained forklift operators and secured more than 9,000 hours of direct labor during the busy season. This enabled them to eliminate their backlog of 130 loads and quickly respond to customer orders in real time.

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Results

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Results included:

• A 35% reduction in overtime utilization

• Nearly $60,000 in overtime costs avoided

• The ability to flex labor down after peak season without layoffs

• Greater agility to address smaller, short-term demand surges

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Following this success, GML expanded their Veryable program to cover food production operations as well.

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“These guys really tried to understand our operation and how it works so they could actually help us”

-  T. Welge, President

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“Without Veryable, we wouldn’t have been able to return to on time delivery”

-J. Moore, D.C. Superintendent