Supply Chain Problems
Container and Rack Shortages
Reusable containers make a huge impact on bottom line for your supply chain, but only if they stay within the chain and move quickly enough to make them more effective than expendables.
Guardian's services bring containers back to your supply chain and keeps them from leaving your control, making sure your investment remains protected and returns are maximized.
Lost and Delayed Freight
National supply chains all suffer from issues with lost and delayed shipments- most of all with empty returnables.
With the national and international character of supply networks, finding a lost trailer might mean checking every yard within a 2000 mile range.
Guardian's tracking and investigations turn up trailers (even cross-docked loads) that have been delayed or forgotten about within a matter of days, not months or years. Guardian gets on site to identify the trailer and gets your assets back in your supply chain quickly and efficently.
Unplanned Expendables
Unplanned expendable claims make up millions of dollars of non-budgeted and avoidable expenses for manufacturers across the nation each year.
The need for expendables is just as often caused by containers being in the wrong place as not having enough in your network.
Between Guardian's recoveries, audits, and tracking, you can optimally control the movement of your assets to minimize the need the expendables at all of your suppliers and locations.
Inconsistent Supplier Reporting
Nearly inventory tracking systems rely on reporting from suppliers. However, these frequently reports numbers do not match ship quantities.
Guardian performs asset counts at suppliers anywhere in the county.
Guardian's counts let you hit the reset button with your suppliers containers with confidence, bringing back excess and obsolete assets to bolster your returnable fleet.
No Out-of-Network Visibility
It is widely believed that once containers and racks have left your supply chain that there is no getting them back.
For many this is true, but not for Guardian's clients. With Guardian's tracking and investigations, your company will be able to control its assets anywhere in the country, whether they are held as excess by a supplier, at a tier 2, or have even been stolen.
Limited Supplier, Carrier, and T2 Access
Many manufacturers have little or now on-site interaction with their suppliers when it comes to returnables, and few have inspections performed nationwide at tier 2 locations due to staffing, travel, and access concerns.
Guardian leverages access to suppliers inside and outside your network to ensure that all of your assets are being accounted for. Guardian has uncovered millions of dollars in assets at tier 2 and carriers locations that its clients were not even aware of.
Excessive Cardboard Claims
Most manufacturers have continuing issues with one or more suppliers that constantly request additional assets or reimbursement no matter how much packaging you send them.
Guardian is experienced in investigating these types of issues to determine whether shortages are consistent with requests, what determine what unreported issues are causing shortages.
Guardian's investigations have led to the proper denial of millions in unsupported cardboard claims as well as reductions in recurring costs.
Poor Container Performance
Reusable assets avoid massive expendable costs, but damaged and under-performing containers cut into projected savings.
Guardian is here to help. Guardian can help find out if suppliers or others are mishandling your assets so that corrective action can be taken.
Guardian also investigates container quality to determine whether the containers your container supplier is providing meet the physical needs of your supply chain using real-world testing.
Supply Chain Theft
Often a shushed topic, Guardian knows that all manufacturers suffer from theft in their supply chain.
Theft for reusable assets is two fold: assets are valuable both as scrap, and on the secondary market, they are often worth close to retail. This makes reusable packaging prime target for thieves.
Guardian has extensive experience identifying likely cases of theft from both resellers and scrappers alike- and in many cases has been able to provide the GPS evidence needed to secure a financial recovery where assets had been destroyed.
Unexplained Losses in New Programs
New loops and programs are a cause for concern because they frequently result in early losses to reusable packaging, especially in small-run and prototype projects.
Guardian can provide customers with high-rate tracking of sensitive and high value assets from day one. With Guardian, cyclical repurchases become a thing of the past for high-cost programs, sources of loss can be identified and closed, and assets can be recovered quickly.