A 3PL Partner for Scalability in the Beverage Industry

A premium sports drink company experiencing significant growth with the goal of gaining market share knew it needed to strengthen its supply chain capacity & capabilities to keep up with demand in its competitive beverage category.

In the start of 2020, the sports drink company’s head of procurement was in search of a third-party logistics partner in the Southeast region of the United States to help support its bottling plant operations and scale distribution capacity.

The growth focused sports drink company needed a 3PL partner within close proximity to its 24/7 manufacturing operation in Greer, SC to provide warehousing, shuttle transportation, and packaging solutions. From a technology standpoint, they required EDI connectivity to integrate its ERP system with a robust Warehouse Management System.

Ultimately, they needed a strategic third-party logistics partner who could provide flexibility and scalable labor & space solutions to support both seasonality and aggressive growth projections. Without the right partner, their ability to keep up with demand and win market share would be at risk.

Following a conversation with their manufacturing partner about production expansion, the sports drink company was provided Sunland Logistics Solutions as a reference for a reputable 3PL with an established warehouse network in the Southeast. After meeting and collaborating with Sunland’s team to provide key information on scope details, service requirements, volume projections, etc., the solutions proposal was developed by a cross-functional team and accepted.

Prior to start-up activities beginning, members from both teams participated in an Advanced Quality Planning session to map out inbound and outbound process flows in addition to aligning on performance expectations, systems requirements, and the account relationship structure to ensure a successful transition.

The operation launched in July 2020 and within six weeks ramped up to 16 hours / 7-day support and 125,000 square feet within a multi-client distribution center. Sunland’s team ensured the facility met the food grade compliance requirements for the finished consumer goods and later provided specialized solutions for raw materials requiring temperature-controlled storage for the bottling manufacturer. Sunland’s Infor Warehouse Management System supported the batch driven and FEFO inventory management requirements by the customer.

In response to the massive supply chain disruptions occurring across the globe in the wake of the pandemic, the beverage company decided to build up a safety stock of raw materials such as bottle caps, corrugate, etc. The pandemic also caused a surge in demand for sports beverages. According to Fortune Business Insights, the sports drink market “exhibited a stellar growth of 7.7% in 2020 as compared to the average year-on-year growth during 2017-2019.”

As a strategic third-party logistics partner with an extensive network of warehouses in the Southeast, Sunland was able to remain flexible, collaborate with the local manufacturing plant, and quickly support their customer’s rapid growth in volume while simultaneously adjusting the operation to support seasonality.

In March 2021, Sunland supported their customer’s request to provide variety packs of its beverages to club stores such as Sam’s Club and Costco by designing and managing an automated co-packaging solution.

To support the initial growth in volume and the new variety packs, the operations team provided scalable labor solutions by running two shifts with a weekend shift. In February 2022 the operation expanded into an additional warehouse and a collective 700,000 SF operation.

With a focus on continuous improvement and taking the operation to the next level, Sunland’s team worked with a vendor partner to leverage computer vision technology to enhance cycle counting, inventory accuracy, and shipping accuracy. Ultimately, the solution is designed to help increase throughput while maintaining quality without needing to increase headcount.

Additionally, the beverage customer decided to integrate systems and leverage Sunland’s Customer Success Platform – providing its team with real time dashboard with visibility into KPIs, productivity, inbound / outbound accuracy, etc. The real time insights into operational parameters have helped the customer make business decisions and act proactively to avoid service risks.