Taking control

GTE Supply embarked on a campaign to reduce its transporation costs by consolidating its freight handling processes. GTE Supply is the logistics arm of the $27 billion firm GTE, the largest US local telephone firm. GTE Supply's transporation costs reached $84 million in 1993, prompting its management to form a task force to address the problem of streamlining. Aiming for daily savings of $40,000, GTE implemented a pilot crossdocking project to reduce cycle time, number of shipments and damage claims. GTE realized savings of $1.1 million in 1994.
When the transportation group at GTE Supply got wind that its vendors were jerking the group around, it decided to make some changes. The GTE national logistics center in Westfield, [...]