Frigoglass set to save over 10% of freight costs

Freight Traders has announced that it is set to save the Frigoglass Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of commercial refrigerators and packaging products, over 10% on its annual freight bill.

A combination of factors delivered not only this substantial saving, but also improved the efficiency with which Frigoglass moves its goods by land and sea around Europe:
- consistency has been introduced into the buying process by coordinating the purchasing of freight services centrally. Previously, nine production facilities had operated independently;
- more carriers have been introduced to Frigoglass, introducing more flexibility and choice into the procurement process
- time savings have been considerable compared with past methods of buying. Increased numbers of bids can now be compared more swiftly and comprehensively than before, resulting in faster decision-making.

Working together, Freight Traders and Frigoglass designed and managed full vehicle and sea freight tenders for 2004. Harry Patsos, Logistics Projects Manager at Frigoglass, said, "The time savings were significant when compared to a traditional RFQ procedure. In addition, we were introduced to many new carriers that we otherwise couldn't identify ourselves. Freight Traders provided us with a comprehensive analysis of the results a couple of days after the tender closed. We were immediately able to consider different combinations of carriers to see how the cost and service levels varied."

Before starting the tendering process, Freight Traders and Frigoglass ran a carrier meeting in Greece where carriers were trained to use Freight Traders' system. Freight Traders then worked with Frigoglass to identify which Central and Eastern European routes would benefit from being placed into a single full vehicle movement tender. Offers were collected during a two-week period, during which time Freight Traders processed bids from 112 carriers.

Freight Traders' Market Manager, Hubert-Marie Bouillet, said, "We have been working in this region for a number of years and have access to quality carriers. The fact that 112 carriers took part in the full vehicle movement tender is testament to this and shows the diversity of our carrier community. The carrier meeting was vital to the tenders' success because it gave carriers confidence in the process and made them want to take part."

The depth of Freight Traders' carrier base was demonstrated again during the second tender conducted for the movement of sea freight. This tender was carried out as a two stage process, pre-qualification and tendering. Through an online questionnaire, Frigoglass were able to identify a further 20 carriers from the Freight Traders community with the necessary skills and equipment to fulfil their needs above those they knew already.

Hubert-Marie Bouillet said, "Our work with Frigoglass highlights some of the key benefits of working with us. We allow shippers to implement a centrally planned and co-ordinated tendering process, e give shippers access to a large pool of pre-qualified carriers, we speed up the tendering process, and we reduce freight rates. It's a compelling combination."