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Clarks® Shoes’ story began almost 200 years ago, when Cyrus and James Clark made a slipper from sheepskin off-cuts. Groundbreaking at the time, this combination of invention and craftsmanship has remained at the heart of the company’s mission ever since.
Even today, every pair of Clarks’ shoes begins with advanced construction techniques, technologies and contemporary materials that come together to help the company deliver perfection tailor-made for the modern world.
A Customized Program, Made Easy
Knowing how important it is for Clarks to get its products to the right place in the right condition and at the right time, DB Schenker developed a customized logistics program that significantly reduced the distribution and fulfillment processing time, getting end product to customers faster.
In particular, Clarks needed support with consolidated entry of goods from the US, simplified clearance, and then deconsolidation and distribution of the freight across the country. Operating in both the B2C and B2B markets, the shoe manufacturer leverages DB Schenker’s
domestic courier and less-than-truckload (LTL) network for final-mile delivery.
DB Schenker’s Canada Made Easy (CME) service gives Clarks a streamlined solution to the traditional challenges when shipping to Canada from the US. At its core, CME provides freight consolidation at origin, line haul to a destination terminal, deconsolidation at that terminal, and then shipment to final destination. Also known as a hub-and-spoke or pooled distribution approach, CME leverages multi-customer fulfillment in a simple, consolidated line-haul network.
According to Karen P. Humphrey, Operations Key Account Manager for DB Schenker of Canada, the logistics provider scans each carton for Clarks and then routes the order in accordance with the shoe manufacturer’s own routing guide. “Prior to this program, orders took one to two days to process,” said Humphrey. “With the program, loads are completed within two hours and most orders are shipped out on the day that they are received.”
The Right Partner
Colleen Olsen, VP of operations at Clarks, says the new system was implemented just over a year ago, and after the manufacturer discussed its present and future needs with several different third-party logistics providers (3PLs).
“Based on the conclusion of this project, it was clear that DB Schenker was the best partner for us, given all the requirements needed,” said Olsen. “From systems to service to logistics and an overall interest in working with Clarks, DB Schenker aligned with our needs.”
For Clarks, DB Schenker provides a cross-dock function that finds a trailer arriving at the logistics provider’s location. The goods are sorted and a carrier label is applied. Then, the shipments are either sent to a final destination or to one of the manufacturer’s wholesale customers.
Preparing for the Future
Olsen said Clarks has also been able to quickly stand up smaller volume shipment routing with its ecommerce site and future store base by combining these cartons in with the current larger wholesale volume. “This has resulted in faster shipments to customers,” she said, “with reliable tracking and consistency.”
Always looking to grow its business in Canada, Clarks is now looking forward to expanding its relationship with DB Schenker. “We have a number of distribution channels, our wholesale business continues to grow, our ecommerce channel is growing along with the increased retail business we’re planning for the future,” said Olsen. “All of these channels of distribution will mean a higher volume that will flow through the DB Schenker partnership.”
