Partners eliminate third party, streamline process

As a worldwide leader in water treatment and process chemicals, Nalco Company strives to enhance its competitiveness by eliminating supply-chain inefficiencies. When the supply chain stretches offshore, however, that’s not always easy to do.

To get its products to Hawaii, for example, Nalco was using one carrier for transportation from Carson, California, to Honolulu, and another carrier for distribution to customer sites throughout the islands. It was a functional, if not entirely efficient, procedure.

So, working as partners, Nalco and ABF sought to streamline the process. Together, they decided that ABF, which already handled transportation to Honolulu, would take over warehousing and distribution of the product as well.

The result is an efficiently seamless and transparent supply chain.  

“Warehousing in Hawaii improved both our productivity and customer service,” said Eunice Turnbaugh, logistics supervisor at Nalco’s North American headquarters in Naperville, Ill. “Plus, the change was a cost-effective move. ABF’s handling of everything from transporting to warehousing and distributing makes our operations timely and efficient.”

In fact, Ed Davis, ABF’s Honolulu branch manager, says ABF has become a virtual extension of Nalco’s operation.

“Nalco installed a computer system in my office so I could continually transmit inventory levels to them. Then Nalco transmits product distribution information back to me,” says Davis. He says Nalco views the inventory level and places orders online. “We get daily orders to deliver the product to locations on the Hawaiian Islands based on the inventory levels,” Davis says.

Once an order is received, the product is pulled out of inventory. Then ABF arranges for delivery by barge to the outer islands.  In some locations, ABF not only delivers the chemicals, they also transfer them from barrels into the cooling tower units.

Because the chemicals are considered a hazardous material, Nalco and ABF also collaborate on safety training. Dennis Cullen, ABF national account representative, said safety is extremely important to the partners. “Nalco is sensitive to safety issues, and with the additional training Nalco has provided ABF employees, the process has worked flawlessly. We’ve had no spills and no safety issues,” he said. 

ABF continuously delivers full totes of chemicals to a Nalco refinery on the island. It retrieves the empty totes and stores them in the warehouse before shipping them back to California for replenishment.

“Nalco is a special customer and a true business partner,” says Davis. “The Nalco-ABF relationship has not only increased business for ABF, it has also streamlined operations for Nalco by putting everything under one roof for them.”

When customers expect more^sm than just another vendor, they call ABF. 

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