How Alpi improved their overall performance with BuyCo

Company overview

Alpi is a leader in the production of decorative composite wood surfaces. They export wood from Cameroon to both internal facilities and external customers around the world.

• Cargo: Wood
• Shipping activity: Import & Export
• Turnover: $30 Million
• Employees: 230+
• Booking process: Books directly with carrier

The Challenge

With a production site in Cameroon and other locations spread across the globe, Alpi was experiencing challenges in coordinating between members. Time was lost in constant exchanges, and they lacked the visibility they needed over information flow, task completion, and overall progress. Delays were also occurring due to documents that were missing from Cameroon. Along with these challenges, Alpi was being charged regularly for detention and demurrage from their shipping lines. They were ready for change.

Goals

Alpi was looking for a solution to optimize their operations and achieve the following goals:
■ Improve collaboration between team members and increase efficiency
■ Increase visibility over their progress and performance
■ Reduce D&D costs

The Solution

Alpi selected BuyCo to break down barriers in their supply chain. This solution allows their team and partners to easily work together on shipments, automate tasks, upload documents and manage their responsibilities from one single platform. Shipping instructions are automatically filled and sent with an API connection between their ERP and BuyCo. Instead of searching for information hidden across multiple channels, members find any information concerning shipments within seconds using BuyCo’s search power. As a result, the Alpi team has full visibility into their volumes and progress.

Results

13% reduction of detention and demurrage costs

By using D&D reporting that measures free time consumed at origin and destination, Alpi was able to significantly reduce these extra costs.

75% increase in productivity

By automating tasks, booking directly with carriers, managing the Bill of Lading, and having accessible information, Alpi drastically increased efficiency.

Improvement of overall performance

With global visibility over their operations, Alpi is able to quickly identify areas of improvement and make adjustments to optimize their supply chain.

“From our headquarters, we have an overview of all our container logistics operations. We reduced errors and improved our ability to solve crucial issues and anomalies because we are being continuously updated in real time on the status of our shipments.”

Gianluca Bissaro, Alpi Logistics Director