Total Logistic Control finds Growth in a Challenging Business Climate
Holland, Michigan USA
February 15, 2010
By
Evan Armstrong

Key Personnel:
Pete Westermann – President and CEO
Duane Sizemore – Executive Vice President of Business Development and Marketing
John Peters – Senior Vice President of Business Operations
Paul Lomas – Vice President of Supply Chain Solutions

Total Logistic Control Overview
Total Logistic Control (TLC) has roots going back to Taylor Cold Storage founded in 1902. It has built upon those roots and today is a multifaceted domestic distribution, contract packaging and transportation provider. TLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of SUPERVALU INC., one of the largest companies in the U.S. grocery channel with annual sales of $41 billion.

TLC employs approximately 2,500 people and has a domestic network of 29 warehouses with approximately 9.1 million square feet of space. Of its warehouses, 79% are dedicated (single client) operations and 21% are multi-client. Forty percent of the operations have some temperature-controlled space: 35% have freezer/refrigerated capacity and an additional 5% have air-conditioned space. Additional opportunities for warehousing and transportation solutions are available through TLC’s relationship with its parent company.

TLC is a food and consumer product vertical industry specialist that offers significant value-added capabilities in areas such as dedicated contract manufacturing and primary/secondary packaging operations, as well as traditional distribution and transportation management. TLC’s operations are very employee and customer centric and stress building strong relationships to drive customer loyalty. Its food industry customers include: Birds Eye, Campbell’s, ConAgra Foods, Dean Foods, Diageo, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Ocean Spray, and Sara Lee. Its non-food accounts include Georgia Pacific, Hayworth, Life Time Fitness, Sherwin-Williams and Stryker.

The full range of TLC’s services is shown in the figure below.

TLC Service Offering

Like most 3PLs that started as asset-intensive operations, TLC has transitioned to an asset-light model leasing more warehouse space, or running operations out of customer-owned facilities. In addition, TLC now primarily leases its transportation equipment and in many cases uses owner/operators to support its fleet management solutions/dedicated contract carriage (DCC) customer operations. TLC now manages more than 200 contract carriers and 90,000 loads per year. Its transportation management operations are detailed in the table below.

Transportation Management Operations

TLC has Developed a Tier-One Information Technology Platform
TLC’s operations are supported by solid information technology resources. Core supply chain management systems include TLC’s proprietary TMONE™ transportation management system (TMS). It is based upon Oracle TM (previously G-Log) and has functions for daily transportation planning, management, order/shipment visibility, and exception handling. TLC’s warehouses run RedPrairie’s warehouse management system (WMS). TLC’s IT staff also has significant experience in integrating its systems with multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SAP and Oracle.

Some of TLC’s specific service capabilities are highlighted in the customer case studies below.

Customer Case Study

Dean Foods – Integrated Warehouse and DSD Solution: Dean Foods is the largest processor and distributor of dairy products in the United States. TLC has been working with Dean Foods since 1986, and recently began managing Dean Foods’ ice cream warehousing and outbound distribution in Chicago.

Dean Foods selected TLC to flexibly fulfill store-ready orders and deliver them via a custom direct store delivery (DSD) transportation operation. It also provides a 12-hour order-to-ship fulfillment rate and makes weekly store deliveries. TLC is responsible for ensuring cold chain integrity, reducing overall distribution costs, and improving customer service levels to facilitate Dean Food’s business growth.

Summary
TLC has differentiated itself in a very competitive 3PL marketplace by developing advanced skills in managing complex value-added distribution, packaging and transportation management operations. Its food and consumer packaged goods vertical industry expertise has allowed TLC to develop a competitive advantage in addressing the needs of food producers and retailers with complex supply chains. We anticipate that TLC will continue to build upon its core customer base as it leverages its skills and develops additional business.

Sources: A&A Primary Research, http://www.ryder.com/