When True Value joined the Freight Logistics Optimization Works platform as a founding member, the company sought to increase visibility in its supply chain — especially after negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company believed any tool that could provide better forward-looking supply chain visibility and further its ability to plan better would be extremely valuable, Jennifer McNeill, SVP of supply chain operations at True Value, told Supply Chain Dive in a May interview.
“It's not a project to tell you what's already occurred, but it's a project that tells you where the bottlenecks are going to occur,” she said.
McNeill, who also serves on FLOW’s executive board, spoke to Supply Chain Dive about how the hardware retailer is leveraging the data from the federal platform and how it can help with future disruptions.
True Value’s role and day-to-day operations with FLOW
True Value shares its anonymized data along with several other retailers that are members of the program, including Home Depot, PetSmart and GE Appliances.
McNeill said the data True Value contributes as a shipper and beneficial cargo owner is just the starting point, as the data gets further refined as the company moves through its supply chain.
“The ability for the tool to provide some forward-looking forecasts is really why it's so unique and so novel,” she said.
Anonymized data addresses competition concerns, McNeill added, noting that True Value only discloses how many containers it expects to ship, when it expects to ship them and their port of origin.
Members of the program don’t disclose whom purchase orders are from or the factories from which they ship. The portal just collects data around volume and the timing of cargo moving out of specific ports of origin.
True Value also uses FLOW data on a weekly basis to validate internal projects and trends identified by its analytical teams.
“As that data gets richer, and as that data gets better, I think it's got a lot more applicability, and there will be higher levels of confidence on making decisions strictly on the FLOW data,” McNeill said.
How FLOW can be leveraged during disruptions
True Value uses data from FLOW in real time and can see if cargo shifts are occurring, especially during times of disruption.
For example, True Value saw very little impact, if any, during the bridge collapse near Baltimore because it does not operate in ports within close proximity to the tragedy. However, the company still leveraged FLOW to check for any spikes in the ports it does use, as some shipments were diverted during the crisis.
As the expiration of the International Longshoremen’s Association contract with East and Gulf Coast ports approaches, True Value is also using FLOW as one of its sources of data to monitor the situation and plan for any cargo shifts, if any occur. “We still have a few months to go. So we will continue to keep an eye on it and adjust our strategy based on anything that develops,” McNeill said.
The data also helps answer questions shippers tend to have when delayed cargo becomes a possibility. “We've got a very timely example going on right now as we see capacity becoming a little tighter coming out of Asia and spot rates going up out of Asia,” McNeill said.
Using FLOW as a tool is “seeing in advance [if a] port is going to be congested, or that there won't be sufficient chassis or whatever the situation may be,” McNeill said. Once the situation is clear, future cargo can be rerouted to another port or it can be expedited.
McNeill added that if there are no viable options for cargo shipments, then at least the company can know what to expect and provide customers with advance notice of product being out of stock or delayed.
True Value is also looking to leverage real-world scenarios available in the FLOW data, and lobby for continued additional data to make these events more clear as they as they occur, McNeill said.
“Part of the future vision is not only observing the supply chain, but impacting the supply chain, by having this broader scope to everything that's going on,” she said.
