Commodity Forwarders Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of logistics for a mid-market food processor and distributor headquartered in LA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Commodity Forwarders Inc.?

We needed someone to assist us in shipping and consolidating our cargo.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Commodity Forwarders Inc. provides us with third-party logistics solutions and value by picking up shipments from various airlines and various flights. In addition, they also do some quality assurance for us, so if a shipment is not up to our quality standards, it never has to hit our dock. They’ll alert us and we’ll let our supplier know about the problems with the shipment.

What is the team composition?

We work with two operations managers from Commodity Forwarders Inc.

How did you come to work with Commodity Forwarders Inc.?

There are a limited number of companies that can help to import perishables around any airport. It’s kind of well-known who’s out there in the marketplace, and Commodity Forwarders Inc. is one of the largest, if not the largest vendor for this type of service.

What is the status of this engagement?

My company started working with them before I joined. Our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

In terms of general performance, we don’t really know how to measure how quickly we think we should get products shipped and delivered. I would say that one of my concerns with Commodity Forwarders Inc. is the lack of technical sophistication.

There are a lot of back and forth emails a day where they’re just copying and pasting pieces of a spreadsheet that changes all the time — it’s hard to understand if you’re looking at the latest information or not. Personally, it detracts from the overall work because I have higher expectations as an outsider to the food industry.

How did Commodity Forwarders Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Commodity Forwarders Inc. is good with communication. Their rates are high, and I think they leveraged their market position to make as much money as they can. I think when we decided to take our transportations in-house and started picking up with our own trucks, they lost that business and made up for it by raising rates everywhere else the next month — which is a little disappointing.

They have fairly high minimum charges, so even if we have specified rates, oftentimes we’re hitting the minimum anyway, so the effective rate is much higher. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about them is they’re consistent. However, most of these companies are consistent, so that’s sort of an expectation. I don’t really think they go above and beyond, so to speak.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Commodity Forwarders Inc. should improve on their technology platform, with up-to-date information on shipments. That way, these back and forth emails can stop, and we can have one point of reference that we can look at that’s up to date.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say, the more business you give to Commodity Forwarders Inc., the more they’ll pay attention. And if you’re looking for a logistics company like them, look for their velocity and how quickly they’re getting shipments from the airlines to our facility. Also consider their quality, prices, and technology.