Transplace introduces its supply chain consulting practice

Non asset-based third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Transplace said this week it has officially rolled out Transplace Supply Chain Consulting, its new consulting practice, which it said will focus on improving end-to-end (e-2-e) supply chain performance through an experienced team with what it described as deep functional expertise in transportation and logistics.

Transplace Supply Chain Consulting is led by its president Brooks Bentz, whom joined the company in March. Bentz has more than four decades worth of experience, including: 21 years with Andersen Consulting/Accenture, where he was a managing director in supply chain management, responsible for supply chain transportation and as vice president of intermodal for Burlington Northern Railroad, where he developed BN America, the company’s domestic container operation, among other previous roles.

Since Bentz got on board at Transplace, he said in an interview his main duties have focused on the normal start-up activities of building the new business, with Transplace Supply Chain Consulting informally in the market prior to this formal rollout for the last six-to-eight weeks in the form of recruiting clients and also building a team.

“The main thing here is we have a very solid foundation in that we are not a division of a company that is not in supply chain,” said Bentz. “We have a strong heritage of delivery and execution excellence at Transplace and strong leadership. This is another arrow in the quiver as a new and standalone business. Transplace is a North American-based 3PL predominantly in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and will do work of a global nature is a client has a global supply chain. This is an exciting step forward, and we have a number of existing clients in our portfolio and a number of new clients we are engaging with, too, with the goal being to build and add on to a team of highly skilled transportation and logistics professionals. Our focus is pure supply chain consulting for anyone who wants it.”

Transplace Supply Chain Consulting has a wide array of service offerings, including: supply chain optimization, transportation optimization, sourcing and procurement, asset management, business intelligence and analytics, and enabling technology, among others.

Bentz noted that a lot of consulting is comprised of advisory services, which is “perfectly appropriate” and” offered by Transplace, coupled with its ability to build on and execute the work for those clients that want someone to come in and help do things they need.

When asked how big the Transplace Supply Chain Consulting will become, Bentz explained that is something the market will determine, but he noted it will never become huge, because that is not the company’s goal. The goal, he said, is to “be the best at what we do and have a good portfolio of excellent clients that really see the value in improving supply chain, with the ‘holy grail’ being true e-2-e supply chain management within that transportation management. Our goal is to connect the people to the work and grow as the market grows. There is a lot of supply chain talent out there, and we are going to be looking for people on a fairly consistent basis. I have been really delighted with the people we have.”

Transplace CEO Tom Sanderson said in a statement that the launch of the Transplace Supply Chain Consulting Practice is a “natural extension” of the company’s offerings by further offering companies access to the comprehensive solutions and first-rate specialists they need to drive operational excellence across their entire supply chain.