Distribution Overhaul Helps Growing Bakery Chain Satisfy Demand | Retail
8/15/2023
RRD’s network of warehouse locations and comprehensive production support helps fast-rising bakery avoid store closings
CHALLENGE
A rapidly growing national franchise bakery with nearly 1,000 locations faced challenges receiving and maintaining an adequate stock of product boxes from its supplier. With a rising number of e-commerce orders to fill and brick-and-mortar locations to stock, the box shortage quickly became unmanageable. Eventually, the company’s stores faced potential closure due to the shortage of necessary product boxes.
Additionally, with only one warehouse servicing all east coast locations, other distribution inefficiencies ensued. The bakery needed to overcome substantial challenges in order to sustain its rate of growth and satisfy customer demand.
SOLUTION
RRD’s packaging experts worked hand-in-hand with the company to solve these challenges and provide a smooth transition to multiple solutions. Working together with the bakery’s procurement executives, RRD was able to keep the company’s stores open by producing 1.5 million boxes within a tight timeframe. The on-time, quality production eventually proved to be a primary factor in RRD replacing their existing supplier as a permanent partner.
With three strategically-located warehouses on the east coast, RRD was able to quickly take over inventory distribution and optimize freight services. As a result, transit time decreased by more than 50%, and internal warehousing expenses for these boxes were eliminated. The space formerly used for box storage became available for ingredient and product storage as needed.
As an associated technology solution, RRD set up a seamless API integration for placing box orders directly to the most conveniently-located warehouse. With sophisticated order tracking and inventory-level data, the company’s stores now have consistent, direct, and real-time access to relevant warehousing operations.
RESULTS
RRD’s packaging and distribution support provided the following benefits:
- Eliminated risk of store closings due to inadequate packaging inventory
- Extensive box cost savings
- Reduced transit time by 1.7 days on average
- Extensive freight cost savings
- 7-15 million boxes produced monthly for three different SKUs, creating a sufficient supply to sustain business operations
- Nearly 90 million boxes produced to date, keeping pace with the bakery’s rising demand