CaridianBCT is a leader in blood-collection technology. Up until the middle of 2008, it was part of a larger organization, relying on logistics services contracted by a sister company. When it was spun off as an independent operating entity, CaridianBCT had to obtain its own logistics support. The choice was between the hiring of internal staff or outsourcing to a lead logistics provider on a global basis. The company went for the second option, Matney says.

There were a number of possibilities in the marketplace. CaridianBCT assembled a cross-functional team, including individuals from sales, service, operations, logistics, information technology, finance and legal, to develop a formal request for proposal and interview candidates. Team members were charged with documenting the company's entire global network, including the location of warehouses, volumes within each transportation segment, and customer requirements for fill rate and order cycle time. Between June and August 2009, they reviewed seven candidates, before settling on one lead logistics provider.

The winner was given responsibility for CaridianBCT's global transportation, including ocean transport between the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific; airfreight; surface transport; and warehousing at 24 locations. The client intends to interface directly with the LLP's information system, Matney says.

CaridianBCT awarded the business in September 2009. Since then, it has turned over to the LLP warehouses in Canada, the corporate distribution center in Denver and a warehouse in Santiago, Chile. Ocean and air have also been added in stages.

CaridianBCT interviewed the LLP's references to confirm that the provider could meet the needs of the highly regulated medical-equipment industry. It set up an operations review, with detailed metrics, to ensure that all requirements for service level, cost, cycle time and inventory security will be met. In addition, it will conduct annual reviews to set targets for improvement in the coming year. Matney says the relationship isn't merely transactional in nature. "We want a partner who will help us improve our overall network, help us manage our overall cost and improve service to our customers."

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