On Wednesday May 12, the CCFC's Transportation Committee concluded its search for a Third Party Logistics (3PL) firm. Total Logistic Control (TLC) was recommended for selection by a unanimous vote of the committee to implement the "New Model" concept developed and presented by Tom French of the Supply Chain Coach and approved by the Board of Commissioners at their meeting last December. The Transportation Committee's recommendation to select Total Logistic Control was then approved by unanimous vote of the Board of Commissioners the following day.
"In order to ensure any real future success and opportunity for growth for our California flower farms, this decision was an easy one," explains CCFC's Transportation Committee Chair, Rene Van Wingerden. "Driving out costs, increasing efficiencies and doing everything we can to be a sustainable business is something we each strive for as independent farms. Now it is time that we take that same approach to address how we collectively transport our flowers to our customers."
Total Logistic Control's selection concludes a 20-month process of research on the current model, development of the "new model" and interviews of qualified firms that could work with California's cut flower farmers to implement that "new model."
"We've come a long way and have done a lot of work to get to this point," shared Lane DeVries of The Sun Valley Group. "Our company stands squarely behind this concept and we look forward to implementing this 'new model' to improve the value proposition of California grown flowers."
The "New Model" concept, as presented by Tom French, proposes to reduce the delivered cost of California flowers anywhere from 13-58% due to the efficiencies gained in freight volume consolidation. The program will be developed and executed as a competitive alternative to the current transportation model to help California flower farms deliver a lower landed cost for their flowers to their customers. The model will address these costs by optimizing the interstate and intrastate freight movement.
"Working together as California flower growers through Total Logistic Control to negotiate these kind of freight rates for our customers and our future customers only makes sense," says Wilja Happé of Farmers' West. "We will now have the kind of tools, resources and stability of service to our customers that we can all build a real business plan on."
The Commission was also recently awarded a USDA Rural Business Development Grant for $150,000 to assist in the education and outreach effort to help explain how this "new model" proposes to drive down costs, increase efficiencies and eliminate unnecessary truck traffic and operational duplicition.
Endorsed by the California Cut Flower Commission, Total Logistic Control will now begin the start-up phase of the process by finalizing the roll-out plan for September's launch. The Commission will be organizing workshops with growers in each of the Commission's districts to introduce TLC and the concept to those who would like to commit their shipping volume to this new program.
“We are very excited to get started,” shared Tim Alderink, Vice President of Business Development for Total Logistic Control. “This is a great opportunity for our company to help improve the competitive position of California flowers in the marketplace.”
If you would like more information about TLC or the "New Model" project, please contact CCFC's Executive Director/Ambassador Kasey Cronquist at 916.441.1701 or kcronquist@ccfc.org.
Source: California Cut Flower Commission