Storage space is an essential part of your supply chain that can easily be consumed by packaging (both empty and filled). A finite resource, too little storage space can even prevent growth or delay regular orders as you reach warehouse capacity. Still, the decision to permanently expand your warehouse or even to move locations requires substantial resources and plenty of certainty that your business will continue at its current volume level. That’s where warehousing services through your packaging provider can help make all the difference.
At Pipeline Packaging, we provide comprehensive packaging solutions fit to your needs. Part of this commitment hinges on a robust inventory backed by a network of more than 400 global suppliers. It also includes access to our slew of value-added services, including warehousing.
Warehousing and logistics services can be a critical complement to many packaging operations. By expanding your available storage space, we can help you achieve scalable stocking solutions to keep your operation running smoothly while avoiding typical supply-chain challenges.
Warehousing Services Maximize Efficiency and Minimize Costs
Pipeline Packaging offers customers more than 1 million square feet of available warehouse space. This extra room is spread across nine facilities in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, and St. Louis, giving customers access to a variety of products across the country with just-in-time (JIT) delivery.
John Bruce has served as director of operations at Pipeline Packaging for almost five years. Having spent his career in supply-chain logistics in a range of industries, he shared how Pipeline utilizes its warehousing services to maximize efficiency and minimize costs for customers.
“With Pipeline’s warehousing services, our value proposition is being able to stock inventory when customers need it,” Bruce said. “Trying to manage lead times and juggle multiple suppliers can place a huge strain on the production line. That’s why we try to advocate for these value-added services to ease the burden for our customers.”
Our logistics and warehousing services can mitigate the risk and challenges of navigating changing lead times and housing excess inventory. Our national network of facilities ensures reasonable proximity to stored inventory. We also incorporate a suite of forecast-planning tools that allow us to coordinate accurate lead-time estimates across 3,500 active products. Pipeline even utilizes its own fleet of trucks that can carry mixed loads for reduced freight and timely deliveries.
Bruce also explained how these warehousing services aren’t bound to Pipeline’s available warehouse square footage.
“On average, our warehouses are typically operating at 80% capacity,” he said. “But as a distributor, we have a unique level of flexibility for customers and have even increased our available space by adding extra storage trailers to accommodate customer needs as they arise to the best of our ability.”
A Strategy that Offers More Space and Less Stress
Many seek warehousing services as a result of limited space. Customers are often faced with a tough balancing act between storing their packaging reserves and making room for finished products before they’re distributed. These constraints can hinder the potential for growth and sometimes stall your production line. However, the answer isn’t always as simple as leasing a bigger warehouse.
Account manager Dan McCaffrey joined Pipeline Packaging’s North Carolina team in 2008. Having spent his career working directly with customers, he understands the benefit warehousing and other value-added services bring to customers, especially those in the automotive aftermarket.
“One of my customers produces automotive fluids, lubricants, and fuels,” said McCaffrey. “The company produces at a high turnaround rate, which means production must run smoothly to avoid delays. At the same time, though, the manufacturer has very little space for storing all the necessary packaging components.”
In response to this logistical challenge, Dan and the experts at Pipeline created a warehousing services strategy to avoid operational disruptions without cramming more packaging into an already crowded facility.
“To complete its plastic bottle system, the customer would order 1 million caps,” he said. “But rather than store them all in one place, half of the order goes directly to the customer and the other half is stored in a Pipeline warehouse. After three months, we send the remaining 500,000 caps to the customer and start the cycle again with another order of 1 million bottle caps.”
Using warehousing, logistics, and inventory management services, this customer never worries about missing its packaging components. Pipeline Packaging ensures a steady stream of caps is always available to keep the operation moving without the added stress of squeezing more product into a single warehouse.
Overseas Packaging? Don’t Worry, There’s Room.
Pipeline Packaging account manager Jim Zuidema has spent more than three decades in the packaging industry. Throughout his career, he’s seen firsthand the different ways warehousing services can help customers, especially those with complex global supply chain needs.
Zuidema shared how one autobody paint manufacturer uses a specialty customized F-Style can in 2.5- and 5-liter varieties. However, this particular smaller pour-off solution could only be imported from an overseas supplier in Italy.
“Supplying packaging on a global level leaves no room for missteps,” said Zuidema. “One lead-time issue can easily spiral into late shipments and delayed production that puts our customers behind schedule. This makes just-in-time (JIT) delivery a top priority when it comes to creating an inventory management system for these situations.”
To avoid supply-chain challenges, Pipeline Packaging developed a unique strategy using warehousing services to ensure the customer always has this specialty packaging on hand and in the states at a moment’s notice. Zuidema helped the customer create a system where one container of product would arrive straight to the customer’s warehouse from Italy while another container would be delivered to a Pipeline warehouse in case of any lead-time challenges.
Using this system, the customer is no longer entirely beholden to the schedule of its global supplier. Instead, Pipeline’s warehousing services have reduced the customer’s dependence by keeping an extra supply of the preferred custom F-Style packaging solution stocked on its warehouse shelves.
Pipeline Packaging Puts the “Value” in “Value-Added”
Through our value-added services, Pipeline Packaging affirms our dedication to keeping your operation running smoothly. Our team is always going the extra mile, whether that means searching for the most innovative technology, visiting with current and prospective suppliers, walking customers through their packaging options over the phone, or storing extra stock through our warehousing services — all to ensure you never have to worry.
So, how does the Pipeline Packaging team put the “value” in these “value-added services”? The secret lies in our strong emphasis on customer relationships. It starts with our devoted approach to understanding and facilitating our customers’ needs. But fulfilling questions of what products, how many, and where they should be delivered equally depends on the strength of our customer service, sales, and warehousing teams in communicating important and timely information to provide the best in everything from inventory management to warehousing services.
Contact us today to find a packaging provider that can source and store the perfect comprehensive packaging system when and where you need it.
