Insights Newsletter – August 2023
“Our partnership with ACS began in 2017 and since then has significantly helped our team improve communication, visibility, and decision-making between suppliers, carriers, and our various teams.
ACS has connected our ocean moves with our transloading to our intermodal movement, giving us complete end to end visibility to the final mile destination.
Kirkland’s has two main programs: an Asia – East Coast program that routes to our DC in Jackson, TN, and a transload program out of Santa Fe Springs, CA. The transload program accounts for over 80% of our business, and ACS quickly got the transload EDI program up and running without causing delays in our operational transactions. ACS has advanced reporting that allows Kirkland’s to promptly see any issues or delays that might be occurring and execute solutions, such as any volume concerns or how the Transload provider is loading the 53′ trailers. Because of this program, we can source our goods from many locations in Asia with complete visibility and have them consolidated in the United States for transportation to our distribution centers and direct to stores.
Using Infor Nexus, Kirkland’s has ability to track the entire journey of a shipment, including those having leg 1 and leg 2 journeys. This allows our users to have a complete picture of our shipments. All of our PO’s can show the details of the ocean container (Leg 1), as well as the transload (Leg 2)
ACS was also instrumental in setting up our labeling program with TradeLink One (TL1).
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ACS set up a turnkey labeling program that allows our vendors to easily create and print labels as soon as their POs are visible in Infor Nexus. The label information is passed back from TL1 into Infor Nexus using a seamless integration system that allows Kirkland’s complete visibility of the process. The origin team at ACS has also been vital with the labeling process as they work diligently with our suppliers to ensure that bookings are created timely, with no errors, and that the labels are generated within the guidelines of the SOP.
Between labeling and transload, many EDI transactions pass through Kirkland’s, ACS, and our labeling & transload partners. ACS has assisted Kirkland’s in setting up a dynamic exception management reporting that allows us to quickly take action when disruptions occur, ultimately leading to our end customer’s satisfaction with products on the shelves.”
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In addition to labeling and Transloads, visibility and consistent KPI information are vital for proper business management, and ACS has successfully delivered in those areas as well. Working with ACS and the Infor Nexus platform has enabled more informed decision-making for our business, which has, in turn, helped our internal processes and ultimately aided in reducing our overall supply chain costs.”
Brent Lancaster
Director of Supply Chain Operations
Kirkland’s Home
