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Customer Case Studies

Beverage logistics
Confectionery logistics
Food logistics
Footwear logistics
HABA logistics
Paper logistics
Retail logistics

Consolidation with Single Logistics Partner Helps Wine Maker Reduce Costs, Product Damage
A global wine producer was experiencing excessive product handling and high damage rates due to its use of multiple partners for warehousing, packaging and transportation. In 2003, the manufacturer integrated these services with KANE for East Region distribution from a 350,000-square-foot, bonded distribution center in Pennsylvania. KANE now manages all distribution services, as well as required tax payments in each state in the distribution area. The integrated solution helped to reduce transportation costs and damage rates. KANE’s facility is consistently ranked among the top distribution centers in the company’s extensive DC network.

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Partners with KANE for Store-Direct Delivery
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is one of the country’s largest distributors of wines and spirits. The PLCB sought a distribution partner that could offer an integrated, closed-loop solution for warehousing and direct-to-store delivery. KANE was awarded the contract for Northeast Pennsylvania in 1990. Based on a history of service excellence, KANE continues to serve PLCB today from 250,000 square feet of temperature-controlled distribution center space in Scranton, PA. Year after year, KANE’s operation provides the state with benchmark results on on-time shipments, top shelf inventory accuracy, and reduced damage. KANE’s performance makes it the best distribution center in the PLCB’s network.

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TOPPS Leverages KANE Information Systems to Reduce Chargebacks
The Topps Company is an international marketer of entertainment products, principally collectible trading cards and candy such as the Push Pop® and Bazooka® brands. The company recognized a need to significantly reduce retailer chargebacks – fines levied for shipments that don’t meet retailer-defined shipping guidelines. Since retailers assign chargebacks 60-90 days after the alleged violation, it is difficult to track non-compliant incidents long after the fact. As Topps freight management partner, KANE was able to retroactively query its system to get the facts (e.g., ship date, delivery date, exact delivery time) on specific shipments in question. This data has provided Topps the data needed to dramatically reduce chargebacks.

KANE Helps Candy Maker, Just Born, Manage Huge Seasonal Inventory Swings
Just Born markets candy under brand names like Hot Tamales®, Peanut Chews® and Peeps®. Huge seasonal volume swings made it difficult for the company to manage warehousing and distribution from within its own plant. Just Born elected to focus on manufacturing and outsourced distribution to KANE. By locating Just Born within KANE’s 2.5 million square foot Northeast Region distribution campus, Just Born gained the storage flexibility it needed during periods of high demand, such as Easter and Halloween. Also, by leveraging KANE’s load consolidation service and combining outbound shipments with KANE’s other candy customers, freight savings have been significant and on-time delivery has improved.

Candy Manufacturer Teams With KANE to Reduce Freight Costs
To compete with larger rivals, DeMet’s Candy Company, formerly Signature Snacks, needs to get its product to customers quickly at competitive freight rates. But the growing company does not yet have the volume to ship freight in lower cost truckload (TL) moves. Enter KANE, which has many other customers in the food and confectionery markets that are shipping to the same retailers. Using its load consolidation service, KANE was able to combine DeMet’s shipments with other customers and shift a large portion of the company’s LTL shipments to TL, significantly reducing DeMet’s freight spend. Improved freight costs and delivery service helped the company increase its market share.

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PepsiCo and KANE Partner for Northeast Distribution
PepsiCo needed a logistics partner in the Northeast that could support rapid growth of its Quaker Oats®, Tropicana® and Gatorade® brands. The company turned to Kane Is Able, which now distributes PepsiCo product out of three facilities in Northeast Pennsylvania totaling 1.1 million square feet. Facilities operate 24/7. Close to 750,000 pallets of inventory were handled in 2006, with inventory accuracy of 99.98%. Value added services include 45,000 square feet of cooler room storage and an extensive packaging operation. KANE staff creates variety packs for club stores and shrink-wrap cases using advanced packaging equipment. A total of 5.1 million PepsiCo cases were processed in 2006 through KANE’s co-packing operation.

Kraft Foods & KANE Partner for Efficient Distribution of Cookie Products
With brands like Oreo® and Ritz®, Kraft Foods is the world’s second largest food manufacturer and a global leader in branded foods and beverages. For the Eastern U.S., Kraft sought an economical solution to receive and store product from multiple manufacturing sites to feed its distribution network. KANE was able to co-locate Kraft product with another KANE food industry customer in an ideal location for east region distribution. With shared overhead costs, this high-volume, high-turn 300,000-square-foot operation provides Kraft with a critical, cost-efficient link in its distribution strategy.

Wellness Seeks Premium Distribution Service for its Premium Pet Food
Wellness markets premium pet food products under the Wellness® and Old Mother Hubbard® brands. When Wellness struggled with inventory control and on-time shipping challenges, the company sought a distribution partner for the Eastern U.S. that could provide a higher level of service, while offering an advanced warehouse management system and full visibility to product via the web. KANE stepped up and now operates the business from 100,000 square feet of temperature-controlled DC space in a facility shared by other KANE clients. By giving Wellness a variable-cost solution for space and labor, and assuming some custom packaging requirements in the warehouse, KANE was able to significantly reduce the company’s logistics costs while improving service.

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Rocky Brands Taps KANE for Automated Shoe Fulfillment
Manual warehouse processes led to high labor and space costs for Rocky Brands, a leading shoe manufacturer, with brands like Rocky® and Durango®. KANE designed a more automated fulfillment solution for Rocky, using pick-to-light technology coupled with Diamond Phoenix carousels that helped speed the picking process and reduce labor by 50%. The operation moved to a KANE multi-client facility where an improved layout enabled Rocky to distribute from a smaller footprint, reducing space costs. KANE’s flexible workforce at the facility also helped Rocky economically manage volume spikes. The KANE operation can efficiently handle and ship over 18,500 pairs of shoes per day.

KANE Helps Shoe Manufacturer Enter U.S. Market
Tsonga markets hand-made leather shoes from Africa. When it decided to enter the U.S. market, the company had no distribution infrastructure. Tsonga sought a partner with shoe distribution experience that could offer rapid fulfillment in an automated environment. KANE was able to accommodate Tsonga in a portion of its state-of-the-art shoe fulfillment center in Pennsylvania. Using pick-to-light technology in the DC, orders are quickly picked and shipped to consumers and retailers. KANE’s quality processes assure outbound shipments meet all retailer routing guide requirements. Partnering with KANE has enabled Tsonga to grow rapidly in the U.S., leveraging a distribution capability that rivals much larger competitors.

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KANE Leverages Packaging to Speed Products from Factory to Retail Shelf
One of KANE’s valued CPG partners was experiencing huge demand for a new feminine care product. The product launch was so huge that the manufacturer struggled to meet customer demand. The company needed a way to ship bulk product from the factory and quickly convert it to packaged, shelf-ready condition. Enter KANE, which secured the specialized equipment and the FDA approval needed to handle Pharmaceutical Class 2 medical devices, all packaged in a clean room environment. Applying its extensive packaging experience, KANE was able to receive generic brown box cases of 1000 loose-packed units and quickly transform them into shelf-ready packages. Result: the company kept pace with demand and gained market share in the competitive HABA market.

Playtex and Ascendia Drive Freight Savings from “Coopetition”
Playtex, with brands like Banana Boat® suncare products and Wet Ones® face wipes, and Ascendia, parent company of Baby Magic®, Mr. Bubble® and other popular brands, compete against much larger companies within the personal care market. Both recognized a need to drive down high freight costs. With KANE’s help, they were able leverage the significant overlap in their customer base by consolidating outbound shipments. All orders are entered into KANE’s load consolidation system to identify consolidation opportunities. Companies realized transportation savings of more than 25% by shifting LTL to multi-stop truckload shipments and shortened delivery by as much as three days.

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Consolidation with Single Logistics Partner Results in Improved Service, Operational Synergies for Paper Products Company
For paper products distribution in the Northeast, a global manufacturer had been working with multiple partners for warehousing, delivery and yard management. To drive both cost and service improvements, this company consolidated all services with KANE, which now operates more than 2 million square feet of space to support packaging and distribution. KANE makes 500 daily, direct-to-store deliveries for this valued customer and the DC has since become the highest performer in the company’s nationwide DC network. According to the manufacturer's local logistics site manager, “We’ve achieved the synergies we were hoping for by consolidating logistics suppliers. Best of all we have a true partner in KANE. We get down and dirty and resolve issues together. It’s a ‘work with’ attitude.”

KANE Team Delivers Northeast Distribution Solution for large CPG Company
This Fortune 500 consumer brands organization sought a logistics partner that could provide warehousing, packaging and store delivery for multiple brands from one facility. KANE was chosen for its ability to integrate all elements of a distribution solution for the company’s Northeast customers. Within 800,000 square feet of space in its Northeast Region campus, KANE:

• Receives product from multiple manufacturing plants and mixes SKUs to prepare store deliveries
• Does final packaging on custom units for club store customers
• Supports product build-up and distribution for high-volume store promotions
• Does direct-to-store (DSD) delivery using KANE’s large truckload fleet
• KANE’s operation is consistently ranked among the top three DCs across the manufacturer’s extensive DC network.

KANE Provides In-Factory Support for Large Paper Manufacturing Operation
For a global leader’s paper manufacturing plant on the west coast, KANE manages the flow of raw materials, packaging and components to the line. KANE staff manages raw material inventory from inside the 24/7 plant. Using specialized handling equipment, including roll clamps, KANE moves raw materials to the line, in some cases actually feeding material into machines to start the manufacturing process. With millions of dollars at stake if a line shuts down, this company relies on KANE to assure the needed materials are available to meet the production schedule. Monthly business reviews are conducted to measure the performance, quality, and safety of the Kane operation. Acting as an extension of the manufacturing operation, KANE is able to deliver the goods and enable this customer to focus entirely on production.

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Cross-docking Solution Delivers Product to Club Stores within 24 Hours
In 1990, KANE developed a cross-docking solution for a major club retailer to receive product from vendors, make it “store-ready” through consolidation and deliver it to stores -- all within 24 hours. The solution leveraged KANE’s transportation management service and effectively eliminated storage costs. By delivering excellent results, KANE was given the opportunity, in 1994, to expand its operation to the Mid-Atlantic region. The KANE-operated cross-dock facility in Pennsylvania has been named as the number one facility in this national retailer’s DC network for nine of the last 12 years and the Maryland operation is consistently ranked in the top 5.