Global Manufacturer Realizes Over $20M in Supply Chain Savings

For a multi-billion-dollar global equipment manufacturer, supply chain excellence is a key factor in operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The company’s supply chain stretches across four continents, but despite its reach, the company’s distribution network lacked cohesion, cost efficiency, and consistency. When rising distribution and transportation costs began to chip away at margins, they needed to take action. 

Leaders across the organization voiced a common frustration: their systems felt sluggish and outdated. Inbound container utilization was below targets, visibility into shipments was incomplete, and regional teams operated in silos.

Recognizing the need for transformation, the company turned to Catalant for help. With hands-on assistance from Catalant consultant Dirk Stammnitz and his boutique consulting firm, Marblehead Consulting Group (MCG), the company identified more than $20 million in potential savings, with additional savings opportunities provided by a long-term roadmap for modernization and efficiency.

A fragmented network in need of optimization

Years of rapid expansion and heavy reliance on third-party logistics (3PL) providers contributed to a fragmented, opaque supply chain. Each region had its own processes, technologies, and vendor relationships, making global coordination nearly impossible.

The metrics showed a number of opportunities for optimization. On-time, in-full delivery rates trailed top performers. Limited visibility into inbound shipments forced planners to add up to 1.5 weeks of buffer time to offset unpredictable documentation and customs delays. Urgent “must ship” orders frequently led to last-minute deliveries that inflated costs and undercut efficiency. Plus, inventory was turning over at a fraction of best-in-class rates, reflecting sluggish flow and inefficiency.

The leadership team knew they needed an external visionary who could bring a fresh perspective and practical solutions while operating with minimal guidance and at maximum speed.

A deep dive assessment reveals six strategic levers

The global manufacturer came to Catalant, seeking a fit-to-purpose consulting engagement with a boutique firm with deep supply chain expertise. Through Catalant, the company partnered with Dirk Stammnitz, founder and managing director of Marblehead Consulting Group (MCG). Stammnitz has spent decades optimizing supply chains for complex global organizations and brought the skills necessary to drive short- and long-term operational improvements and adapt to stakeholder constraints and local nuances across regions for the company’s global supply chain. MCG’s approach combined deep technical expertise with hands-on execution, a rare mix that immediately resonated with the manufacturer’s lean global transportation team.

MCG’s first step was to listen. They embedded with regional logistics leaders to understand not only how goods flowed but why they operated that way. MCG conducted a comprehensive end-to-end assessment of the company’s transportation network — from manufacturing through to distribution centers and customer delivery points.

What they uncovered confirmed leadership’s suspicions: the company’s logistics ecosystem had evolved organically and left room for optimization. There were opportunities to improve freight rates, optimize deliveries, and consolidate shipments to achieve economies of scale. In some cases, simply holding freight for 24 additional hours could enable multi-stop truckloads, dramatically improving utilization and reducing cost.

But the real challenge lay in the data. Information lived in dozens of systems, reports, and spreadsheets across 3PL partners and internal teams, and nothing reconciled cleanly. Even establishing a baseline of total transportation spend required painstaking reconciliation across mismatched invoices and inconsistent reports.

MCG took a strategic, hands-on approach, working closely with regional teams to harmonize data, verify spend, and pinpoint the largest inefficiencies. The analysis revealed six high-impact levers for transformation:

1. Freight procurement optimization (transport mode-level and lane-level)
2. Network redesign (distribution center rationalization and footprint realignment)
3. Order, shipment, and route planning optimization
4. Freight cost management, including audit and settlement
5. Advanced transportation management system (TMS) deployment for global control tower visibility
6. WMS improvements, encompassing both owned and outsourced facilities

The TMS, in particular, would be transformative. By consolidating data from disparate systems into a single source of truth, it would give the company real-time visibility into global operations, creating the foundation for what MCG called a “control tower” model. With harmonized data and consistent processes, the company could finally manage its logistics proactively rather than reactively.

A clear path to operational excellence

The roadmap that emerged from MCG’s assessment was both ambitious and actionable. It identified nearly 30% in potential supply chain savings — over $20 million in cost reduction opportunities across modes and regions.

The improvements came from every angle. By redesigning transportation plans and adjusting shipment frequency, the company achieved a reduction of over 30% in freight costs across a region including North America and portions of Europe and Latin America. A competitive sourcing RFP — the company’s first in years — yielded around 25% savings on contracted freight rates. The company implemented new auditing and invoice control processes, identifying savings opportunities and reducing administrative burden.

Operational performance also improved dramatically. Utilization climbed 10% for a critical container category, cutting import transportation costs and reducing the need for high-priced spot rates. These tangible results built credibility across the organization, paving the way for deeper transformation to support an end-to-end vision for high-performance supply chain management.

Impressed by both the speed and the quality of the work, the company extended its engagement with MCG. During that time, the firm oversaw the integration of logistics operations for a new acquisition, led the design and launch of a new distribution center, and conducted a cost-benefit analysis to offset tariffs.

Each initiative reinforced the same lesson: with the right expertise, even the most complex supply chain can become a strategic advantage.

From cost reduction to a strategic transformation

What began as a cost-reduction project evolved into a catalyst for large-scale supply chain transformation. By connecting with MCG through Catalant, the global manufacturer gained not just a consultant but a true partner — one capable of balancing strategic vision with hands-on execution.

The manufacturer is now looking to leverage the roadmap developed by MCG to guide similar optimization efforts across other global regions. The impact continues to grow, proving that meaningful change doesn’t take years — it takes focus, experience, collaboration, and a drive to move fast.

Marblehead Consulting Group (MCG) has deep expertise in supporting global shippers in managing their freight procurement, planning, and execution across all transportation modes, including ocean and air freight, road freight (truckload and less-than-truckload), as well as parcel and rail freight. MCG works with leading companies across manufacturing and industrial, automotive, retail, FMCG, and food and beverage industries, among others. In addition, this boutique consultancy supports private equity firms following recent M&A activity or strategic carve-outs by performing a thorough analysis of their new network and revised freight spend. Other examples of MCG providing consulting support include executing annual/bi-annual freight tenders (RFPs) during favorable or less-than-favorable market conditions and supporting shippers with a heavy reliance on a “managed transportation” model to consider insourcing certain critical “value-added” activities in order to develop more of a “hybrid” model by leveraging the best of both.