Regal Logistics

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of operations and logistics at Humble Crew. We make furniture — especially kids furniture — and sell it to many trading partners, such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Wayfair.

We’ve been very tech-focused this year. We’re implementing a new ERP across the company, and we’ve been exploring and onboarding several new logistics companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Regal Logistics?

Strategically, it made sense to get an additional warehouse location to maintain two-day shipping.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Regal Logistics is a third-party logistics company. They handle all of our shipments to customers and receive orders via electronic data interchange (EDI) or API transmission. Then, they fulfill the order from our inventory in their warehouse.

Initially, we had a primary warehouse operating on the West Coast in Southern California. Regal Logistics had a location in Charleston, South Carolina, which we first started to use. We’re going to use a second Regal Logistics warehouse starting next month.

What is the team composition?

I’ve had the most contact with Dennis (VP of Sales & Marketing). He was instrumental in onboarding us as partners earlier this year.

How did you come to work with Regal Logistics?

Our VP of sales found them. I think it was a referral, but it may have been a search.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve probably spent between $5,000–$10,000 per month, and that’ll be increasing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in October 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We track a few things. First, we compare the rate of shipments outgoing from the Regal Logistics warehouse to our primary warehouse, which we use as a gauge to see how much volume is going out from either location.

When we first onboarded with Regal Logistics, they didn’t have the full breadth of our inventory available, so we’ve scaled that up. Since then, we’ve been aware of how the split occurs between the two locations, which is interesting to us from the use case.

We can see if one location is more popular than the other to fulfill the two-day window for receipt. Also, there’s a significant price difference when sending freight to either the East or West Coast location, so it changes our logistics. Therefore, that decision has to happen ahead of the actual execution, which gives an interesting balance between the two warehouses.

Additionally, we track the inbound container price for receiving, the volume against our other locations, and the volume cost as sold goods.

How did Regal Logistics perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t do frequent meetings, but they do happen. We schedule them over email and are usually specific to EDI transmissions and the technical aspect of our partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In stark comparison to some of the other places we’ve worked with, they’re willing to get on a meeting, discuss challenges, and figure out solutions. I also think it’s pretty unique that they run their proprietary warehouse management software. However, their customer service is their highlight. They’re quick to get on the phone and solve issues.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything to say about this at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Since they have 3–4 locations under their umbrella and their own management software, it’s pretty easy to start with one location and then scale into 2–4 if you require it, which is definitely a plus.