Accellos installs 3PL system at Shamrock Cold Storage

Accellos, a provider of supply chain execution software, has issued a case study of AccellosOne Enterprise 3PL customer Shamrock Cold Storage. Battling a critical implementation window for its first customer, Shamrock contacted Accellos and got a hosted first-tier third-party logistics (3PL) system in production in two weeks.

Start-up refrigerated 3PL warehouse company Shamrock debuted January 1, 2012, in Brampton, Ontario, Canada in 60,000 square feet of freezer-cooler space leased from Omaha NE-based Millard Refrigerated Services Inc. The family-owned company is headed by John Nother, who came out of retirement, and his son Michael.

Seattle WA-based seafood company Aqua Star decided to consolidate its eastern Canada inventory from five locations to a single facility. Based on past personal and professional experience, the firm wanted the Nothers to manage it—but the Nothers had neither a company nor a facility. The challenge: create a fully functional 3PL operation from scratch in about a month.

Leasing freezer-cooler space was straightforward, but with neither time nor resources to buy, set up, and staff a 3PL management system, the Nothers turned to Accellos, which offered a hosted software system through its Colorado data center. Without the burden of an on-site system, office manager Lyn Miles was free to focus on pressing customer requirements.

Inventory from the original warehouses began to arrive February 2, followed by containers from the ocean ports. On February 7, Miles was keying-in the first receivings; billing for inbound shipments commenced February 13; the first outbound orders departed on the 15th. More customers followed and Shamrock was quickly operating near capacity.

“Small facilities are easier to control, and they tend to enable a more personal level of service. We are like a specialty shop; we can provide services that other, larger operations cannot handle,” said John Nother, owner of Shamrock.

“Shamrock’s rapid two-week implementation is a great example of how software designed for the specific needs of 3PLs can be installed quickly and with limited risk,” said Joe Couto, senior vice-president of Accellos.

Visit www.accellos.com/casestudies/shamrock-cold-storage/ to view the full case study.