Legrand + Purolator
To chat about the success of freight consolidation through our partnership with Legrand, we spoke to Graham Collins, an Operations Distribution & Site Manager for Legrand. Along with overseeing a large distribution centre, Graham leads initiatives focusing on optimizing warehouse operations of four of Legrand’s main distribution centres in North America.
The story of Legrand
Legrand transforms the spaces people live and work, through innovative products and solutions that deliver and manage power, light and data. They do this by relentlessly pursuing both sustainable business practices and the creation of exceptional experiences through the products they design and manufacture, the relationships they build and the way they work.
Legrand, a leading provider and manufacturer of electrical devices
B2B shipping
B2C shipping
Challenge
Optimize warehouse operations and simplify distribution
Legrand’s mixture of B2C and B2B offerings means they must ship via freight, less-than-truckload (LTL), courier and parcel every day. In the past, items in individual boxes versus palletized freight were handled differently, by a variety of different shipment options. While this is common practice, it meant there were a lot of trucks coming and going every day.
A few years ago, Legrand recognized one of their distribution centres was no longer able to support their growing operations sufficiently, in part due to a shortage of dock doors that are able to service the number of trailers. Graham explained that the lack of dock doors created inefficiencies that cost money. “If we didn’t have a dock door available and a retail-bound truck was waiting, we risked getting fined for not being able to load at a specific time.” While these fines were an inconvenience to Legrand, late shipments were also affecting KPIs and customer satisfaction, which were ultimately the driver for change.
Solution
Shipping consolidation services by Purolator
Instead of a costly move to a larger location, Legrand needed to optimize its warehouse operations and simplify distribution methods. Graham came to Purolator and other delivery partners with a proposition – to review the possibility of providing a freight consolidation service. This would mean Legrand could use the same trailers to ship everything, from individual parcels to palletized loads. While Purolator was willing to find the right solution, Graham shared that other delivery providers weren’t able to consolidate their pick-ups.
“Purolator now leaves an empty trailer in the morning and we can load everything together onto their trucks, so really I’m not staging anything anymore – I’m putting it right onto their truck.”
This new consolidated shipping service now takes only two trailers to ship everything each day instead of many more (across multiple delivery providers). Graham shared the convenience of freight consolidation: “I’m mixing different kinds of shipments in there – parcels, boxes and long palletized items – and they take it away at lunchtime.” Now, Purolator inducts 50 percent of Legrand’s shipments at midday, then leaves a second trailer and picks it up at 5 p.m. for the remaining shipments.
Results
Legrand + Purolator: A winning partnership
“It was a great success story for us. We reduced the footprint of our outbound shipping requirements sufficiently, and we were able to stay in the same facility,” Graham explained. Legrand was able to eliminate any business disruptions and incurred costs that inevitably come with relocating a large operation. By consolidating all shipments, Legrand significantly reduced the footprint of outbound shipping requirements and improved distribution efficiency, which, in turn, improved customer satisfaction. This shipping consolidation service was at no additional cost to Legrand, nor did it require lengthy timelines to implement. In fact, it prevented incurred costs such as fines for late deliveries and saved an abundance of time in their distribution process.
We asked Graham what advice he’d give to businesses out there that are going through a similar challenge: “I would tell them, give Purolator the opportunity and I’m very confident they’ll prove to be a strong business partner. To have somebody listen to you and come up with a solution that would be equally beneficial… it’s really worth the time to reach out to them and see what they can do for you.”
Give Purolator the opportunity and I’m very confident they’ll prove to be a strong business partner.
How Purolator’s solution helped to create an efficient distribution process for Legrand
Saved time
Simplified distribution
Reduced carbon footprint
Eliminated late penalties
Improved overall customer satisfaction
Optimized loading process
Efficient and sustainable distribution with Purolator’s eco-hybrid solution
“Purolator’s eco-hybrid pick-up offering is unique in the marketplace – and a game-changer for Legrand. We are the only carrier that can pick up their courier shipments, expedited LTL shipments and rail shipments in a consolidated load. Our solution provides Legrand with a seamless shipping experience, added floor space, less dock crowding and a significantly reduced carbon footprint.”
Account Executive, Purolator Inc.