01
Challenge
A plastics manufacturer in Surabaya supplies 12 distributors in Sulawesi. Shipments were often 5–7 days late, waiting for full loads and for vessel schedules that kept changing.
Distributors had started holding back their next orders until the previous stock arrived.
- 12 different destinationsMakassar, Kendari, Palu, Manado and other cities, each with its own sailing schedule.
- Unpredictable volumesOrders of 2–9 m³ per distributor per week.
- TranshipmentSome destinations needed a vessel change in Makassar.
02
Solution
-
1
Consolidation in Surabaya
All orders are collected at our warehouse every Thursday and loaded per destination port.
-
2
Fixed sailing schedule
Vessel space is booked on the same departure every week.
-
3
Last-mile delivery
Partner trucks in Makassar and Bitung deliver to each distributor's warehouse.
-
4
Daily status report
One WhatsApp message every morning with the position of every shipment.
03
Results
- of shipments late, down from 31%
- 4%
- shipments a month tracked in a single report
- 40
- months for the late rate to stabilise
- 3
Three months of arrival records per distributor are available for review if your procurement team needs them.
Project photos
-
Weekly consolidation in Surabaya. -
PHOTO: container loaded onto a vessel at Tanjung Perak
The weekly sailing. -
PHOTO: partner truck unloading cartons at a Makassar distributor
Last-mile delivery in Makassar. -
PHOTO: shipment status report on a phone screen
The morning status report.
“We used to call three vendors every morning. Now we check the status of 40 shipments a month from a single WhatsApp message.”