Levin Furniture Reinvents Delivery System And Creates "Unique Competitive Advantage" - December 30, 2000

The decision to close a regional warehouse and use fewer drivers to deliver furniture may sound like the actions of a retailer faced with slumping sales. Levin Furniture, of Smithton, PA, took this action in their Cleveland market to boost sales and improve on-time delivery service. This unlikely scenario was made possible with the implementation of the TruckTainer Demountable Body System.

Before this system was introduced, Levin utilized a traditional cross-dock operation at their 80,000 square-foot warehouse in Cleveland. Loaded trailers from the Smithton distribution center were unloaded and material was either warehoused or cross-docked onto local delivery trucks. Levin's realized that local warehousing and cross-dock operation costs were negatively impacting profits and service.

A decision was made to implement the TruckTainer Demountable Body System. The company now loads 26' truck bodies at their Smithton distribution center. Bodies are transported two at a time, on a specially designed trailer chassis, to four different Cleveland store locations. The loaded bodies are "demounted" off the trailers where straight trucks mount them for their delivery runs. The trailer picks up two empty bodies from the previous day and returns to the distribution center. 

According to Bob Francis, Transportation Manager at Levin, the company has realized a $5 million inventory reduction as well as the elimination of costs associated with running an 80,000 square-foot warehouse. Francis adds, "We are delivering twice the volume per experienced delivery team at an average of $20,000 and 18 stops per team per day. Teams back by mid afternoon can swap bodies and continue to deliver. This enables our capacity to be $35,000 per team". 

Francis summarizes the decision to close the Cleveland warehouse and implement the Demountable system as "having created a unique, competitive advantage unmatched by conventional approaches. It's hard to conceive of home delivery in any other way. Customers are delighted with our three-day delivery system. We have a guaranteed two-hour, two-day advance window with a 7:00 a.m. first stop, our on-time performance is 97%."

Scott Frazier, Cleveland Operations Manager, also notes "the system allows our sales staff to schedule delivery at the point of sale. The customer knows the delivery day and has a two-hour window before they leave the showroom. The confidence our sales staff has in this system has definitely helped boost sales."