I run a paper goods company in Minnesota and was looking for a way to get my products to market faster at presses in Chicago: transportation costs for the trip were really eating into my profits, and I began to think that if I could only maintain a larger inventory around Chicago, I could stock it initially and restock it by less expensive train transportation and provide better service to my printing press customers. Plus, I figured the cost even of a warehouse in Chicago was a smart move because it would allow us to open up room in our plant that could be used to increase production capacity as we grow.
I contacted Transport Systems Inc., since a acquaintance of mine who works in the logistics business recommended them to me as a source for logistics services in and around Chicago and New York. Besides offering a full suite of services – transportation, asset management, replenishment, and delivery – they also had certain solutions tailored to the paper business, which I greatly appreciated. For an outside trying to find a warehouse, Chicago is a tough city. There are a number of different industrial areas, each with pros and cons – comparing them was not at all comparing apples to apples, even though prices are quoted in generic terms: units, cases pallets, cubic feet, etc. Since they have different specialties, different asset management offerings and different locations, the real costs of maintaining inventory for easy access to Chicago actually varied pretty widely, which I didn’t realize until TSI priced out the different aspects of storing product, getting it to market, and replenishing it. They even took my production cycle into account to calculate the price of my holding inventory before it was shipped down to Chicago.
It took a couple of weeks, but in the end the guys at TSI did find me a warehouse in Chicago that met with my approval. While it wasn’t the cheapest outright, its location shortened trips to clients’ plants, its oversized loading docks made it so that I could offer clients greater scale discounts and ship to them less often (giving them better pricing and widening my operating margins), and their policy regarding inventory minimums was very flexible, making it so that I could reduce my inventory completely without paying a premium for unused space.
My business earns its standing based on the way we serve our clients – other businesses. That’s why I am taking the time to sing praises for Transport Systems Incorporated. My margins are fatter, my production cycle is more predictable, my inventories are lower, my transport costs are lower, and I can center more on business and less on logistics. Their warehouse, Chicago solution has delighted me.
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