Building an Optimized Transportation Solution

When you are a global leader in advanced insulation and building envelope solutions, you’re trusted by companies to have your products in the right place, at the right time. With a focus on creating better buildings for a better world, Kingspan North America (Kingspan) manufactures insulated panels that are used to construct some of the most iconic buildings in North America. From company headquarters to athletic stadiums, schools, and community centers, Kingspan is not only leading today’s building landscape, but also shaping the future of the industry.

To accomplish this feat, an optimized transportation network is paramount. Construction sites rely on Kingspan insulated panels to arrive on time and damage free. Any delivery issues will affect other teams, lead to building delays, and may result in rising costs and lost business.

For many years, Kingspan managed its transportation in house. That included a portfolio of more than 80 carriers around the United States and Canada. It was organized on a plant-by-plant basis and there was no sharing of transportation information between the plants. In 2019, the company decided it was time to outsource its transportation so it could focus on its core business, manufacturing building materials.

During an RFP process, Kingspan narrowed its search to three providers. It chose Ryder because of its ability to provide a comprehensive transportation management solution that includes carrier management, procurement, shipment planning & execution, network management, and freight bill audit & payment.

As a single-source transportation solution, Ryder was able to alleviate the issues Kingspan was having managing 80 different carriers by itself, delayed timing, and product damage. In turn, Ryder was able to standardize the movement of Kingspan’s freight, create consistencies with driver training programs, and manage a portfolio of trusted carriers.

There are many intricacies within the Kingspan network. Its product is moved on flatbed vehicles and needs to be strapped down. However, if the straps are too tight, it can damage the product and it will be unusable on the job site. This not only costs Kingspan money in producing more products, but it also adds an extra cost for another truck and driver to make the delivery.

“It was an ongoing challenge for us despite the initiatives we took for driver training,” says Rachel Kilik, Logistics Manager at Kingspan. “Our product is unique in how it is constructed, which leads to challenges when it is being transported to sites. When you add that we are never going to the same location, it is difficult to get consistency with carriers and drivers who understand our product.

“Additionally, we are a make-to-order company. If the product is damaged, we have to remake the product and reship it. It seems like a simple thing, but the chain effect is substantial.”

One-Stop Shop

Ryder’s transportation management solution for Kingspan allows the company to concentrate all its focus on its business while benefiting from a transportation solution from a single source. The company is still making about the same volume of freight movements, but it is all being funneled through the Ryder network.

Previously, the shipping managers at the Kingspan plants were on their own to meet KPIs. Additionally, transportation was never seen as a profit center—it was a service provided to its customers.

Since outsourcing to Ryder that has changed. As part of the solution, Kingspan now benefits from established rates and enhanced control of the financial aspects of its transportation network.

“The discipline is much improved with Ryder,” says Peters. “Ryder has made a big impact in cost savings and keeping us steady in the market. From the day-to-day operations, the one invoice, the visibility, and the consistency has made the most impact to our business.”

Kingspan also receives business intelligence (BI) from Ryder to improve its operations. This not only provides visibility into its own network, but also what is happening in the market.

“The BI reporting is massively advantageous to us,” Peters says. “Particularly when the market was unstable, for that period of time the BI allowed us to monitor what was going on in real time and adjust accordingly.”

Peters and Kilik agreed that some information and data was present before Ryder, but it was not easy to access or understand. Through an upgrade of its ERP system and the solution from Ryder, the information keeps Kingspan up-to-date and agile to market changes.

“It has given us the ability to correct instances before they became a problem,” says Peters. “We’re able to identify issues, challenge it, and take corrective action if we need to. We couldn’t do that in a timely fashion previously.”

Building for the Future

In the building industry, change orders happen frequently. Kingspan is not immune to this. Ryder continues to improve its solution for Kingspan to ensure when changes occur the transportation network is nimble. It is a system the teams are working with each other weekly to perfect.

Ryder and Kingspan are committed to simplifying the processes and delivering exemplary service. This includes Kingspan trusting Ryder to manage its inbound freight network as well.

“We continue to look at how we can keep making it the solution better,” Kilik says. “Working together with Ryder, we are making the movement of our building materials as easy and seamless as possible.”