CHALLENGE
In the heat of the Covid-19 pandemic, a government agency needed to quickly add to its distribution infrastructure so it could procure and deploy critical personal protective equipment (PPE) to the non-health entities of the broader public sector, such as our Police, Fire and Correctional Services front-line heroes.
SOLUTION
Given Supply Chain Alliance’s (SCA) experience post-SARS and pre-H1N1 in successfully establishing the PPE distribution infrastructure for the health sector, and a track record of successful start-ups and operational turnarounds, the agency quickly engaged SCA to lead the effort and we got to work immediately.
While the agency established a procurement team and commandeered internal resources to staff the project team, SCA moved rapidly to source sufficient available space and a proficient third-party logistics (3PL) service provider. Leveraging the expertise of its team and network, SCA quickly defined requirements, drafted and executed an RFP, and selected a partner within the first three days onboard.
Operations began immediately with the rerouting of inbound product and first receipts beginning on day four. The project team organized itself around a two-phased approach, with Phase 1 focused on activities enabling immediate “start-up” and Phase 2 on ensuring “stabilization and a successful transition”.
During the six weeks of Phase 1, SCA led and supported a cross-functional project team comprised of agency and 3PL resources, through:
- Negotiation and 3PL contract execution
- Project planning and project management
- 3PL WMS configuration
- Establishing a SKU master and master data set up
- 3PL web-portal set up, configuration, and training
- ASN development and implementation
- Order allocation methodology
- Order allocation methodology
- Order creation and integration with 3PL
- Developing requirements and establishing initial reporting
- Development of all policies, processes, and training related to the above
- Establishing successful receiving, inventory control, and order fulfillment to initiate operations
With operations successfully up and running, and with SCA playing a significant role in managing daily operations, efforts during Phase 2 shifted to stabilization and, ultimately, to ensuring a successful hand-off to the agency’s management team. These final six weeks focused on:
- Establishing a regular cadence of operations and IT meetings, and lines of communication between key stakeholders
- The development and approval all standard operating procedures and supporting documentation
- Enhanced reporting, establishing KPIs, and developing an operational dashboard
- Freight management and visibility tools
- Development of initial planning tools
- Implementation of customer and vendor returns processes
Prior to completing the engagement, SCA developed and executed a detailed transition plan that ensured the completion of all key deliverables and the successful hand-off of ongoing initiatives to the care and control of agency staff. In addition, SCA developed a timephased roadmap of additional recommendations to further improve operations that will guide the team over the next 12 months.
KEY RESULTS
SERVICES
ASSESSMENT & STRATEGY
Ecommerce & multichannel fulfillment, inventory management, transportation spend management
EXECUTION & PRODUCTIVITY
Transportation and distribution RFP management, third party logistics outsourcing, distribution
centre start-up, performance measurement, key performance indicator development, operational
and logistics benchmarking
RESOURCING
Project management, subject matter expertise, analytics, 3PL management