ISSUE

73 Q4, 2016
A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY

COLUMBIAN LOGISTICS NETWORK

WAREHOUSING | TRANSPORTATION |FOOD LOGISTICS | MANUFACTURING LOGISTICS

WWW.COLUMBIANLOGISTICS.COM

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Page 2

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SEASON'S GREETINGS

As we wrap up 2016, we want to say

thank you for all of your efforts to
make Columbian the great company
that it is. We have had a great deal
of success this year as a team, and
are positioning ourselves well for
another strong year in 2017. We
are grateful for all of our customers
who continue to count on us as their
preferred service provider and our
employees who continue to provide
the Legendary Customer Service
that makes us such a successful
Company. We look forward to
the year ahead and continuing to grow with our customers and
employees. During this Holiday Season, please be safe and make
sure you spend a lot of time with family and friends.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Doug Johnson
Executive Vice President

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Values Series pg. 6

Respect
CONTENTS
LETTER FROM EVP
LOGISTICS OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON
COLUMBIAN IN THE COMMUNITY
LESSONS LEARNED FROM CSCMP
EMPLOYEE UPDATES
CORE VALUES SERIES
EVENTS CALENDAR
LEGENDARY CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD

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2
4
5
6
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7
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LOGISTICS OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON

When does Holiday Shopping Begin?
Before September
September
October
November
December 1-14
December 14-31

$935.58

WHO IS THE BUSIEST?

Average
Av
eragee amount consumers plan to spend for
gifts

*2014
2014 Holiday Sales in Millions*

Electronic Stores $83.2

Health & Personal Stores $53.9
Clothing & Accessory Stores $40.3
Jewelry Stores $26.7

13.3%

Increase in holiday
e-commerce retail
sales this year

Holiday Shipping
93% of shippers plan to take advantage of free shipping.
50% of abandoned carts online are because shipping costs made the total purchase more than expected.
50% of customers abandon a cart due to lengthy delivery times or when no delivery date is provided.
7days is the average wait time that shoppers are willing to wait for delivery.
In 2015, UPS estimated it would ship 630 million packages during the holiday season.

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BLACK
FRIDAY
44% of consumers plan to shop on
Thanksgiving Day.

In 2015, Black Friday had the highest

sales revenue for 68% of retailers.

In 2015, $3.07 billion was spent

online. That's a 16% increase
year-over-year.

Of the 75% of consumers who are

not yet nished with their holiday
shopping, nearly 50% will wait until
Christmas Eve to nish shopping.

Jobs Created from Holiday Season

Reverse Logistics
AKA "Holiday Gift Returns"
Reverse logistics is the challenging task of processing, storing, and shipping items back for repairs, deconstruction, disposal,
or redistribution. Logistics plays a vital role in making returned goods get where they need to go, and can be a source of lost
revenue without a comprehensive reverse logistics system. Logistics companies are responsible for shortening the link from
where the return originated to the time it can be resold. This includes collecting and scanning, crediting the store, and invoicing
vendors. A 3PL can also explain how to proactively monitor package delivery.
Total merchandise returns account for over

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$260,500,000,000 in lost sales for US retailers.

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COLUMBIAN IN THE COMMUNITY

Columbian Donates to the Boy Scouts of America

Columbian donated up to 12,000 square feet of warehouse space to the Boy Scouts
of America (BSA) for its annual popcorn sales. In addition to the square footage,
Columbian donated employee labor and a lift to help load and unload boxes.
There are over 1,000 Boy Scout troops and packs that sell popcorn in Michigan,
with 220-250 of those units being located in West Michigan. This year, Columbian's
Grand Rapid Distribution Center (GRDC) served all 25 Michigan counties that the Boy
Scouts cover. Loads came to Columbian, where they were picked and loaded before
being distributed to other warehouses across Michigan. According to Assistant
Scout Executive John Gower, approximately 20,000 cases of popcorn will make their
way to Columbian Logistics Network before being distributed. This volume adds
up to about $1.65 million dollars worth of popcorn. Gower commented, We need a
good company like Columbian to help us.
When a scout makes a sale, 70% of the profit goes back to the scout, his troop or pack, and his council. Gower said, We appreciate
Columbians commitment to scouting and the fact that every box that we sell goes back to scouting. Because of companies like
Columbian, we do not have to pay costs for trucks or warehousing. Columbian is proud to support an organization that supports
character development and values-based leadership training.
Columbian Vice President of Warehouse Operations, Jim Gadziemski, said As an Assistant Scoutmaster with a Boy Scout troop
in Ada, helping the BSA was an easy decision to make. The BSA is focused on developing youth in many areas of life including
leadership, high ethical standards, and providing service to others. Anything Columbian could do to serve an organization that is so
good for our youth is absolutely something we want to be a part of".

Columbian Donates Trailer to Mary Free Bed for Christmas Parade

Columbian sponsored Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in the 2016 Art Van Santa
Parade. This parade is presented by the Grand Rapids Jaycees. Columbian wanted to support
the amazing work that Mary Free Bed does by giving back in some way. Columbian donated
a trailer for Mary Free Bed to use in the parade. Mary Free Bed's float theme was "Winter
Wonderland" and this was the final activity of Mary Free Bed's 125th birthday celebration in
2016.

Every year, Columbian facilities donate

to Toys for Tots.

COLUMBIAN LOGISTICS CORE VALUES

RESPECT

This series details Columbian Logistics Network's Core Values, which include
Safety, Legendary Customer Service, Respect, Performance and Agility.

Columbian treasures its family heritage of honesty and hard

work. Our behavior proves we value our associates, customers
and suppliers. We treat them with respect and integrity.

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LESSONS LEARNED FROM CSCMP

As another successful Council of Supply Chain
Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual
Conference wrapped up, we recently took some time
at Columbian to reflect on what we had learned.
CSCMP exists to provide opportunities for supply
chain professionals to communicate in order to
develop and improve their supply chain management
skills. CSCMP also identifies and conducts research
that adds to the knowledge base of supply chain
theory and practice, while creating awareness of
the significance of supply chain to business and to
the economy. This year, we had six key takeaways
from CSCMP.
1. Amazon is king.
The way supply chain professionals chased Walmart 15 years ago is the way everyone is chasing Amazon today. Amazon is known
for being faster to market than just about any other vendor of goods in the world. In effort to keep up with Amazon, some grocery
retailers are allowing curbside pickup now with a distribution model known as
click and collect. When will they take it to the next level and deliver to homes?
And when that happens, how will they remain profitable?
2. Green is good.
Think about long term-profitability: first, a company needs to get the basics down.
Think of the little things in your business that could increase sustainability. Once
your company takes a turn for the sustainable route, take time to look back and
track what is working and what is not. This will help you going forward and save you
time. This was a reoccurring theme in presentations at CSCMP, with presentations
by industry and academic speakers alike.
3. Everyone is still figuring out omnichannel strategy.
When you sell to multiple channels, how do you have one supply chain?
Omnichannel strategy focuses on creating a seamless shopping experience for
consumers whether they are shopping online, over the phone, or in a store. On
the flip-side of that coin is the business decision of how to design and align the
supply chain, especially the distribution network, to service these very different
markets. One key takeaway we had from CSCMP is that we are not alone. Brian
Gibson from Auburn University has done a lot of work in this space, and gave a
compelling case study with the help of the Retail Industry Logistics Association.
4. Sharing economy meets supply chain.
Years ago, the mobility of non-contracted freight depended on load boards. Now,
its in the hands of a mobile app user. In the consumer world, the idea of the
Sharing Economy has taken off, as individuals look for access over ownership, and
independent entrepreneurs can monetize just about any asset they have. Today,
however, we are seeing this concept creep into all areas of the supply chain. With
the development of technologies and new platforms, we are seeing companies
share resources in warehouse space, computing capacity, and a number of other
arenas.
(Continued on the next page)

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5. The rise of middle ware

Here at Columbian Logistics Network, we like to say that for every pallet of product we move, we move an equal amount of information.
As stand-alone systems like ERP, WMS, and TMS systems have become more mature, its only natural that the integrations between
those teams is now becoming more of a focus for technology companies. Were seeing a migration away from traditional Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) trading relationships and toward the use of Application Program Interface (API) technology to allow multiple
stand-alone systems to talk. That talking is becoming easier and easier through the use of external applications. Middleware
applications like Descartes Bearware or Flexe could be catalysts to major transformational change in supply chain visibility, speed,
and the value of big data.
6. Where have all the good people gone?
Lets face it: the pool of supply chain talent is not keeping up with demand. According to Deloittes third annual supply chain survey,
only 38% of supply chain executives were confident their employees have the required competencies today. One theme we are
seeing across the country is partnerships between technology providers and universities. The worlds leading ERP system, SAP,
partners with over 2,500 universities across the globe to provide students access and instruction in its platform. Even the number
of students attending the CSCMP conference demonstrates the organizations commitment to closing the talent gap, but theres
plenty of work to do.

COLUMBIAN IN THE NEWS

Columbian was interviewed by Fox 17 in late November, regarding the
upcoming legislation to mandate Electronic Logging Devices in all
trucks. Columbian was asked to give its opinions on the legislation
and to state how it will impact our company on multiple levels. The
segment will air on TV in February. Follow us on social media to stay
up to date on the story.

EMPLOYEE
UPDATES
Employee updates, information, and events.
Columbian cares about the well-being, happiness, and health of its employees.
In order to increase participation in wellness initiatives, our Human Resources
department puts together several challenges throughout the year. These
challenges encourage employees to live a healthier, happier life. Last quarter, we
held the "Fruit for Thought Challenge" in which employees were encouraged to
increase their daily servings of fruit. Kentwood Campus had 100% participation,
and even created their own Fruit Olympics! During the month of November,
employees participated in "12 Days of Well-Giving". This challenge encouraged
employees to complete a fitness, nutrition, well-being, or community related task
each day for 12 days in November.

FRUIT FOR THOUGHT WINNERS

Ron Davison, Warehouseman
Scott Eggleston, Warehouseman
Rick Wycko, Warehouse Supervisor
Pat VanGorp, Transportation Supervisor
Juan Rosario, Warehouseman
Tom Matejovitz, Warehouseman
12 DAYS OF WELL-GIVING WINNERS
Scott Eggleston, Warehouseman
Derek Highlan, Warehouse Supervisor
Marcelino Leon, Janitor
Matt Schlientz, Warehouseman
Teresa Zarnosky, Billing Specialist
Warehousing
Janell Moss, Warehouseman

Fruit Olympics Winners: Jamichael Akins, John

Lazzarni and Tom Shear

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Events Calendar
Columbian Logistics Network will attend the highlighted events.
We look forward to the opportunity to connect, and encourage you to contact
Blair Thomas, Director of Customer Care at blatho@columbian.us or by phone
at 616-514-5977 to schedule a time to meet.
Food Safety Consortium
Midwest Supply Chain Management Conference

December 7-8
March 16

Schaumburg, IL
Grand Rapids, MI

foodsafetyconsortium.org
rightplace.org

LEGENDARY CUSTOMER SERVICE THE AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations go to the Legendary Customer Service (LCS) Award winners for the third
quarter of 2016: Kerry Sanders and Zach Hendrickson.

Chris Aldridge and Kerry Sanders

est.

1894

Custoicemer
serv

Kerry Sanders- External Nomination

Kerry Sanders, Administrative Support Lead at Kentwood
Campus, was awarded the external nomination for Legendary
Customer Service. Kerry works with a number of our valued
customers and her legendary customer service shines through with all of her customer
interacations. She was personally complimented by multiple customers. Her legendary
customer service is contagious. Warehouse Supervisor, Chris Aldridge, mentioned while
presenting Kerry's award, "She makes me want to work harder." That is the kind of work
environment we like to have here at Columbian.
Zach Hendrickson- Internal Nomination
Zach Hendrickson, Inventory Specialist, was awarded the internal nomination for
Legendary Customer Service. Dan Bottrell, Facility Manager at GRDC, nominated Zach
for "making a new customer very happy". Zach performed a very time-consuming job
that he was not obligated to do, but did so anyway with the customer's satisfaction in
mind. Dan mentioned that Zach's hard work, expertise, and knowledge saved him 30-40
hours of data entry labor. Not to mention, Zach had 100% accuracy!

Dan Bottrell and Zach Hendrickson

If you have experienced Legendary Customer Service from a Columbian Logistics employee, please take a few minutes to nominate
them! Fill out a nomination form online at 'columbianlogistics.com/legendary-customer-service'

New Faces

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PROMOTION

Chon
Lankford

Margaret
Keefer

Paul
Laidler

Transportation
Supervisor

General
Accountant

Director of
Transportation

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Q4 NEWSLETTER
CONTENTS
LETTER FROM EVP
LOGISTICS OF THE HOLIDAY SEASON
COLUMBIAN IN THE COMMUNITY
LESSONS LEARNED FROM CSCMP
EMPLOYEE UPDATES
CORE VALUES SERIES
EVENTS CALENDAR
LEGENDARY CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD

Columbian-Q4-2016-Newsletter.indd 8

A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY

COLUMBIAN LOGISTICS NETWORK

WAREHOUSING | TRANSPORTATION |FOOD LOGISTICS | MANUFACTURING LOGISTICS

WWW.COLUMBIANLOGISTICS.COM
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www.columbianlogistics.com Phone: 1-888-609-8542

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