How Your B2B Supply Chain Management Can Improve Your B2C Sales

You can’t sell your product if your customer can’t find it – how supply chain management can make a difference.

COVID-19 has forced companies to evaluate and revise their normal business models in order to survive. Those changes may have been in response to margin erosion, market and workforce conditions, reduced cash flow or any combination of the three. We have seen the greatest stopgap opportunities in supply chain management (SCM). Companies are recognizing that these efficient and strategic planning improvements go beyond short-term crisis management and are integrating them into their long-term business strategy.

For example, many wineries and breweries experienced a reduction in workforce, affecting procurement, production and logistics. Producers are employing transformative SCM practices to their inventory management and production planning by working more collaboratively with their supply chain partners. Moreover, many are opting for a streamlined, versatile partner that can manage their supply chain from production to consumer, port-to-port and door-to-door.

Working with a trusted partner does not infer that the producer gives up total control over their SCM. Hillebrand fosters collaboration and transparency by providing technology that enables customers to monitor their product throughout the supply chain cycle. There is open communication between all teams to ensure our execution remains aligned with your business objectives even as they shift. Our customers have benefitted from optimized forecasting, demand planning, network design and inventory control.

Lean on industry experts for guidance and support.

Right now, you need laser focus to survive and thrive through the pandemic crisis, and the time is right to outsource to trusted experts whenever possible. As an SCM partner with over 175 years of experience, Hillebrand has worked closely with beverage companies of all sizes around the world.

We have a well-established global supply chain network and extensive team of supply chain experts. We protect your product and your brand by providing 24/7 security measures and temperature-controlled areas space designed for beverages. Our team fully understands local legislation and international regulations that apply to your specific shipments and will advise you on any additional steps that you may need to take. We recognize that your product IS your brand. We are driven to protect and manage your product and brand as if it were our own.

The key to growth is the ability to adapt to dynamic market conditions.

“Pivot” may well end up being the word of the year for 2020. We are proud of our ability to tackle and resolve any logistics challenge that beverage producers, importers and distributors might face. The Hillebrand beverage pros have the flexibility to surge up or down as your supply chain volumes change. The logistics experts at Hillebrand were skilled at pivoting transportation and storage solutions for customers long before COVID-19 hit.

This expertise has served our clients well during the pandemic. We have been nimble enough to restructure our customers’ transportation and warehouse solutions based on changing supply and demand needs. Due to pantry loading and a shift in consumption habits, producers have had to rethink product location and packaging. Hillebrand was ready to respond to those needs. We avoided service disruption by executing our proven business continuity plan, all while protecting the safety and health of our teams. We have accomplished these pivots thanks to our deep logistics bench strength and an agile SCM network to address local to global needs.

Customers benefit from our well-established global supply chain and distributor networks. Recently, Hillebrand expanded its North American supply chain footprint through the acquisition of warehouse and transportation provider Royal Logistics and Royal Service Transport (Royal) out of Baltimore, MD. What does this mean for your business? It means our expanded team of experienced logistics professionals is at your service to provide warehouse space, cross docking, drayage and transportation in one of the United States’ busiest mid-Atlantic and Northeast ports.

Rely on partnership – not just contracts.

Our goal is to reduce your SCM burden so that you can focus on creating the beverages that your customers want and need. Hillebrand provides a full team dedicated to managing your products from production to the consumer – door-to-door and port-to-port.

We work to help you grow your business and adapt to ever-changing needs and conditions. Reach out to a Hillebrand beverage pro today and learn more about how we can be at your service.