Five partnerships have been shortlisted for Partnership of the Year, sponsored by Axis Fleet Management - Clipper Logistics and SuperDry; Eddie Stobart Logistics and Early Life Nutrition; Fowler Welch and Dairy Crest; Jigsaw and Whirlpool and Pladis UK and KP Snacks.

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The Motor Transport Awards 2018 take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 4 July.

Partnership Award (sponsored by Axis Fleet Management)

Clipper Logistics and Superdry

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Since 2013 retailer Superdry has used the services of Clipper Logistics to provide, and indeed transform, its supply chain, which incorporates fulfilment, returns and warehousing. The aim of this has been to create and implement an effective and world-class service, benefitting Superdry and its customers. Initiatives have been founded on the sharing of data, insight and schedules, allowing the pooling of the expertise of the partners.

Clipper has been instrumental in supporting Superdry’s development not just in the UK, but also across the EU and US.

One judge said: “Clipper and Superdry demonstrate clearly that this is a true partnership. Clipper has not only delivered on the original contract but has helped Superdry as the business has grown.”

 

Eddie Stobart Logistics and Early Life Nutrition

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Eddie Stobart showcased its work with Early Life Nutrition (ELN), a Danone company focused on developing and delivering nutritional products for babies, toddlers and parents to be. The operator works with ELN to transport its goods throughout the UK. To achieve this, a multi-user facility employing approximately 300 staff and operating 24/7 was set up in April 2016. Last year alone, more than 350,000 ELN pallets were handled at this site.

“This is a good example of a contract that requires a partnership approach by virtue of the product and consumer profile. There are some great nuggets of testimonial confirming the approach meets the needs of the client,” one judge said.

 

Fowler Welch and Dairy Crest

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When British dairy company Dairy Crest sold its liquid milk business to Müller, the future of its Nuneaton national DC needed to be considered. The national DC incorporates storage, cutting and a packing facility, and Dairy Crest was keen to integrate the site with a logistics supplier.

Fowler Welch was ultimately that supplier, and the partners established from the onset that with the impending departure of Müller more volume would deliver benefits for all. Prior to the partnership, Dairy Crest serviced 503,977 pallets a year, with 27% of overall volume coming from Müller and Milk & More (135,406 pallets). This was 17 million cases through the national DC a year. Following the partnership, the newly integrated sales team secured 102,514 pallets from Winterbotham Darby and Quorn to replace Müller, and today 18 million cases pass through the facility﷯ (with 40,000 additional pallets cross-docked) a year.

One of our judging panel said: “A well-constructed entry that clearly shows how teamwork benefits everyone.”

 

Jigsaw and Whirlpool

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A 10-year partnership between Whirlpool and Jigsaw has transformed the white goods manufacturer’s in-house transport operation into a highly efficient, responsive and cost-effective outsourced solution, according to the partners. The relationship has continued to flourish and develop. Highlights include: empty road miles reduced by 11.7% or 623,610 against the baseline; year-on-year volume has increased by an average of 1,678 loads each year; driver utilisation/productivity per shift increased by 13.9% versus the baseline.

“This submission is very strong; it is structured and clearly demonstrates the way in which both organisations have collaborated over a long period of time to meet and exceed the objectives,” said one judge.

 

Pladis UK and KP Snacks

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Nuts it isn’t, rather Pladis’ partnership with KP Snacks sees the businesses service a common customer base using its warehouse, tran

sport and customer service centre of excellence. While Pladis operates as an own-account operator, it also unusually operates as a 3PL and partner for KP Snacks. The story started in 2013 when United Biscuits (now Pladis) sold KP to Intersnacks. As part of the agreement, it was recognised that a distribution partnership was vital to maintain syn

ergies, as well as retaining consolidation of KP Snacks’ and Pladis’ stock on one vehicle to ensure a consistent delivery of service to the shared customer base. Today, Pladis manages the storage and distribution of more than 200 million cases a year. This equates to approximately 400 deliveries to customer per day.

“Saving 1.8 million miles is significant and the results from Tesco alone show that customer service is at a high level,” one of our panel opined.