Operating a Successful Business from a Small Town. Why A Good Logistics Partner is Key

What Is Logistics?

Logistics is essentially the processes that are involved in transporting physical goods from seller to buyer or supplier to business. Poorly planned and executed logistics can be costly and inefficient for a company’s bottom line and can also end up resulting in a poor customer experience. While at its core, logistics is based on the movement of goods, it has a much broader impact. Successful logistics will ultimately translate into lower costs, more efficient inventory control, better use of warehouse space, increased customer satisfaction and better overall user experience.

Why Operate from a Small Town?

We are often asked this question. It would take longer and cost more to get goods shipped to our warehouse from our suppliers. On the flip side, the cost of renting warehouse space is significantly less than in a large city, which helps balance this out.

We’ll let you in on a little secret; there is only one stop light in town, a ski hill, lots of golf, hiking, biking, paddling, outdoor activities, arts, culture, a great variety of food and drink and a friendly international community. What more could you want?

Our biggest challenge was whether we could cost effectively ship trikes from Kimberley across Canada and internationally.

Turns out we could.

Finding a Good Logistics Partner

When big businesses need to ship goods, they can easily call on global resources to quickly move their products at the lowest possible price. For smaller businesses this can be much more challenging, so finding the right logistics partner is key to avoid the risk of logistics costs becoming unmanageable.

For eTrikes Canada our biggest challenge is the size and weight of an electric trike when crated for delivery. Our e-trikes ship fully assembled, directly to the customer so that no further assembly is required. This means that each carton is nearly the size of a refrigerator box and weighs in at about 50kgs. Being able to move our trikes quickly, cost effectively, efficiently, and most importantly in one piece to our customers is our goal.

To help us achieve this goal, eTrikes Canada has partnered with Manitoulin Transport, part of the Manitoulin Group of Companies, a Canadian based logistics provider with global reach to be our Canadian logistics supplier.

Before working with Manitoulin Transport, we tried a few large, well-known national freight companies but we were just a small blip on their radar. There was no customer service, costs were high because we were starting out with small volumes and unless we were delivering to large cities, they didn’t want to work with us.

Enter Manitoulin Transport, who were completely opposite from what we had experienced previously. Before we even made our first shipment with them it was apparent that they understood the importance of customer service and that they cared about potential customers. They were keen to better understand our business and see if they could offer a solution that worked instead of just tossing us into the too hard, too small basket.

We ship our e-trikes across the country to a wide range of geographically dispersed businesses and customers. This means that every shipment is different, but we always wanted to offer a flat rate fee to our customers no matter where they lived in Canada. So, whether it’s a quick call to their support centre or through their online booking system, we can get a quote and estimated delivery dates in minutes, giving us full visibility on what it will cost for each shipment before they go out the door.

Let The Experts Do What They Do Best

Since teaming up with Manitoulin Transport, our warehouse operations system has become more streamlined, resulting in lower overall operational costs and more efficient inventory management. We are now able to fulfill our customer orders within 2 days of order placement and in most cases our electric trikes make it to our customers across Canada within 7-10 days of shipping, giving us an edge over competitors that have longer shipping times.

Having an experienced partner handling our key logistics means we can focus on more important things like growing our business. Manitoulin has given us the peace of mind that our trikes will end up in our customer’s hands in a timely fashion and in the same condition as when they leave our warehouse, without us having to give it a second thought.

Manitoulin Transport has the most extensive transportation network in North America making it an obvious choice for eTrikes Canada. With over 60 years of experience, Manitoulin can be trusted and relied on for your shipping needs no matter what business you are in.

When it comes to international shipments, another member of the Manitoulin Group of Companies that serves as the international freight arm, Manitoulin Global Forwarding, is there to handle the even more complex logistics of international shipping and import, customs brokerage, and end-to-end supply chain solutions for us. Manitoulin is truly a one stop shop for eTrikes Canada.

Links

• Manitoulin Transport: https://manitoulintransport.com/
• Manitoulin Global Forwarding: https://mgfgroup.com/