Keeping seasoning spicy

The phrase “variety is the spice of life” implies that varying daily routines can keep life exciting. However, the most literal items that add spice are the myriad of seasonings that people use on food daily. To keep these products fresh, grocery store staple seasoning manufacturers require efficient operations in their spice warehouses.

TA Services assisted an American food company that markets, manufactures and distributes spices, seasonings, condiments and other products around the globe to streamline its warehousing operations. Despite substantial company growth, with manufacturing and R&D locations across the globe, the manufacturer prefers to keep new warehousing and milling operations local in the US.

The manufacturer’s operations include three locations, all with specialised purposes:

• A 1858 m² warehouse for storing garlic blends to prevent the smell of garlic leeching into other products.
• A 5759 m² warehouse that stores raw and unprocessed materials before they are prepared and packed for consumption.
• A 14,994 m² location that houses other commodities for the distribution network, including specialty services for large spice shipments, like relabelling, shrouding and palletising.

These warehouses total nearly 23,000 m² and house hundreds of tonnes of spices and seasonings, all destined for a customer base that generates nearly $6 billion in revenue annually.

The company distributes worldwide and sources its products from across the globe, often storing products for months in its US distribution centre. Its shipments contain large quantities of potentially perishable spices and seasonings, all with different storage requirements and oversight considerations.

During the pandemic, the supply chain experienced significant delays in receiving vital goods from across the globe, ranging from microchips to car parts.

With many restaurants and dining establishments mandated to close operations to comply with social distancing measures, consumers were forced to prepare more meals at home, shifting demand.

The manufacturer recognised that increased demand could cause shortages, and in response, placed large orders for the most popular herbs, spices and seasonings to avoid delays and keep products on hand for packaging and shipping.

The increased volume of the products raised concerns about storage and shipping. Some products kept in the US warehouses required strict temperature control and other storage requirements to preserve freshness and quality. Some of the commodities and pre-packaged goods sent through the warehouse require special SAP labelling and need to be repalletised and sealed for shipment.

Capacity management challenges were also brought about by the pandemic, leading to concerns about where to store extra inventory with the global economy shutdown. With demand increasing, the manufacturer needed to work with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to keep pace across its warehouses. The provider needed to be flexible enough to work out of any of the three facilities, provide the same level of quality as the manufacturer’s staff members and ensure positive brand reputation.

The manufacturer chose to partner with TA Services, a familiar resource it had worked with in other US locations.

TA Services has worked across a variety of industries ranging from construction equipment to fresh produce. It has implemented measures to align with the manufacturer’s current operations to ensure that processes are executed efficiently and correctly.

For example, TA Services pulls daily reports from the manufacturer’s SAP system, allowing it to track operations and address urgent shipping needs. This includes extra services such as the shrouding and relabelling of containers, in addition to repalletising products for distribution. TA is tied to the manufacturer’s SAP system, giving TA real-time actionable data on areas like inventory wastage and swift spikes in demand.

With experience in freight and warehousing operations, TA Services is able to maintain ambient temperature and humidity across all areas in the US locations, maintaining product quality and freshness.

The manufacturer was able to operate efficiently during the pandemic with TA’s help, even with supply chain disruptions.

TA was able to:

• help manage nearly 3.6 million kg of dry, raw, and pre-cleaned spices and seasonings across three different warehouses
• improve visibility across the manufacturer’s Baltimore warehouses for real-time product traceability
• enable efficient shrouding and labelling operations to move any volume of material at a moment’s notice
• upgrade warehouse monitoring technology for improved accuracy on product inventory during demand peaks.

TA Services’ solutions streamlined warehousing operations and have allowed the household staple seasoning manufacturer to fulfil orders quicker while keeping quality high.

“We are in the logistics industry to make a difference in shippers’ supply chain. Being able to help this company with the flexibility of their warehouses as well as being a full-service provider at all of their locations is a reminder of why we do what we do,” said David Bowers, VP of Warehouse Operations at TA Services.

Image credit: iStock.com/monticelllo