The pandemic was a heightened challenge for all sectors, but supply chains were significantly impaired by these unexpected and long-standing changes. Often considered the backbone of modern commerce, supply chains are vital for ensuring consumers have access to essential products at low costs. When disrupted, this can raise prices, which causes customers to choose different retailers who can provide them with greater cost-efficiencies and availability. When these effects are prolonged, like they were during the pandemic, key organizations in the supply chain are at risk of going bankrupt.
Some of the biggest issues suppliers, distributors, and fulfillment companies faced revolved around restricted domestic and international supply, as well as a 19% surge in commodities prices from 2020 to 2021. These items listed on the producer price index saw the highest year-after-year increase since 1974 and made sourcing products harder than ever before.
Thankfully, a portion of supply chain companies quickly adapted to the obstacles of the pandemic and produced innovative solutions to stay profitable. California-based fulfillment, assembly, and procurement company, Accu-Logistics was one of these agile organizations.
By thinking outside the box when faced with COVID and supply chain delays, Accu-Logistics was able to retain clients and grow despite economic difficulties. The two decade old company believes this was mainly due to its ability to pivot existing offerings into short and long-term solutions that were tailored to current market conditions before many other competitors.
Some of the steps Accu-Logistics took to pivot its supply chain during the pandemic include things like daily logistics coordination with couriers to handle the increase in volume of packages, making pickups multiple times a day, and coordinating after hours pickup for volume spikes.
Accu-Logistics also increased packaging and shipping supply inventory to 50% higher than pre-pandemic levels. This helped them accommodate clients’ immediate needs and prepare them for the eventual shortage in supply chain replenishment. Lead-times for shipping cartons, labels, and other supplies became an issue further into the pandemic, causing Accu-Logistics to learn that it’s better to have more than less.
Accu-Logistics first realized that changes were imminent once assembly and fulfillment clients replaced their bulk purchases of event-based assembled corporate branded kits with new virtual at-home experiences that could have similar effects despite lockdowns.
Prior to the pandemic, Accu-Logistics shipped 100,000 kits in bulk to over 50 event destinations regularly. Once the pandemic progressed in late 2020 to 2021, they were shipping nearly 150,000 kits to remote working employees. The company’s clients were eager to send these kits to keep their employees engaged with virtual events that had the feeling of an in-person event.
To keep the company’s assembly queue full, Accu-Logistics prioritized rapidly responding to incoming client requests. This along with frequent inventory spikes influenced the company to increase its warehouse space by 50% to match the increase in inbound receipts. Accu-Logistics was proactive in making this change ahead of competitors who were convinced the pandemic would dissipate prior to any major supply chain constraints, which enabled them to secure a larger footprint of space before availability shrank and the industry’s fears became a reality.
Accu-Logistics was able to work with its client base on multiple occasions to rework existing inventory items into saleable goods. The pandemic forced Accu-Logistics’ clients to work through on-hand inventory shortages and repurpose existing products for the marketplace. Co-packing 300k units of beauty items into new products was one of many rework projects that fit the changing needs of our clients and their retail customers. This type of work normally occurred overseas prior to receipt but was brought in house to minimize shipping delays.
Accu-Logistics’ team recalls that one of the main challenges during COVID was speed to market constraints, particularly in the receipt of customers' goods. Without on hand inventories, the company would not have been able to assemble and ship orders on time. However, Accu-Logistics excelled with this issue by reducing assembly and fulfillment time by ensuring that the projects were managed, packaged, and handled by carriers in a specific way each time. Even once the world re-emerged after the pandemic, the company has not forgotten these lessons in resilience and adaptability. For Accu-Logistics, pandemic strategies have become a new normal for its team to incorporate in every project they complete.
General Manager Trevor Jaeckels states that, “a silver lining of the post covid supply chain issues is our continued improvement in communication with our clients. We have never been more in sync in understanding all aspects of our customers business which has resulted in increased efficiency and reduced cost‘’.
Accu-Logistics is committed to filling the gaps of the supply chain by honoring clients’ desires and leveraging long-standing connections to execute projects perfectly. The company will continue serving its wide customer base while strengthening its service lines and seeking out valuable partnerships.
‘’while there is no magic solution to dealing with supply chain disruptions, the pandemic taught us a great deal about adapting to change and finding creative ways to outperform our clients. But the greatest takeaway is the importance of transparency and clear communication with our clients and vendor partners. Much of our success can be attributed to the relationships we’ve built over the years, and we are reminded of this especially during times of uncertainty’’ says Jaeckels.
Media Contact:
Name: Blake White
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