Proactive collaboration yields superior performance

The legacy of Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&CO.) has been built on successful collaboration with responsive business partners who uphold the highest standards of customer service. After all, when you represent a 150-year-old brand that’s an authentic American icon known around the world, you’re more than a little particular about whom you choose as a service partner. 

 

“We must have a carrier that is flexible and sensitive to meet the different requirements for different retailers,” says Ken Batchelor, Canton, Miss.-based LS&CO. transportation and customer service manager.

 

Their carrier is ABF Freight System.

 

ABF collaborates with LS&CO.’s intra-company routing center to facilitate ongoing deliveries of sundries, such as raw materials, zippers, and thread from vendors to LS&CO. manufacturing locations. Then, ABF ships LS&CO. products to retail customers throughout North America, including Puerto Rico. ABF even “packs and holds” freight to ensure LS&CO. products get to retailers on the exact dates the stores want them.

 

“Retail is not an easy business because all customers don’t have the same requirements. We depend heavily on ABF to meet our customer requirements,” Batchelor says.

 

“LTL carriers are much like banks: they all offer the same types of services. What makes the difference to Levi Strauss & Co. is ABF’s willingness to work with us to extend those services to our customers,” he says.

 

Collaborating directly with Batchelor is Fred DeSota, ABF’s executive director of national accounts. “We work together to make sure we do it right today, and we look for ways to do it even better tomorrow,” DeSota says.

 

“It’s mandatory that Fred and I stay in contact with each other and become familiar with each other’s company and business. That way we have insight into future needs. The better the two of us work together, the better service Levi Strauss & Co. will be able to give our customers.”

 

To better distribute shipping volumes, for example, trend changes are communicated as early as possible. Sometimes this requires product lines to be relocated from one customer service center to another. Freight-handling procedures were also refined. “We developed a complete-order loading system that calls for headloading shipments of 200 pieces of more. All other shipments are palletized,” says DeSota.

 

“Through proactive collaboration, we’re achieving superior supply-chain performance,” he adds. “Together, we’ve minimized handling, reduced claims, and improved transit times. It’s a classic win/win situation.”

 

Customers expect more from Levi Strauss & Co. And with support from ABF, they get it.

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