Quenching a Thirst for Supply Chain Visibility & Optimization

Companies that have been in business for over 90 years have a few things in common. Innovating and evolving the business to meet the changing needs and demands of customers, is one of them. This is true whether it’s a supply chain and logistics solutions provider, or a privately held beverage company.

For Pabst Brewing, which was founded in 1844, you don’t become one of the largest brewing companies in North America without evolving the business. Over the years, it has gone through many transitions, but one thing has remained the same—continuously innovating to connect with its customers.

One of those recent changes for Pabst was bringing in new breweries. As the beverage landscape for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks shifts, Pabst is focused on becoming an enhanced drinks business. Known most for its flagship, Pabst Blue Ribbon, the company now has over 50 beverage brands in its portfolio. This growth brought on challenges for its supply chain.

Among the challenges, the company wanted to improve its transportation network, including design, scheduling, and visibility across the network. Data was not readily available.

With growth, and bringing on new brands, this meant more shipments and complexity. To overcome this, after an RFP process, Pabst chose to outsource with Ryder for a supply chain solution that included transportation management, and the proprietary digital platform RyderShare™.

“We had a comprehensive review of third-party logistics (3PL) providers,” says Tony Stefanek, senior vice president of supply chain at Pabst. “We chose Ryder because they were in-tune with our business. Other providers were guessing. Ryder understood what we wanted, jumped right in, and brought more than just a single solution. Having that is huge.”

Through this solution, Ryder manages more than $12 million in freight and approximately 10,000 loads annually. This includes inbound and outbound finished goods, shipment planning & execution, procurement, carrier management, and network design. RyderShare™ gives real-time visibility to all shipments across the Pabst network and provides the data to optimize the entire transportation network.

Implementing the Solution

Ryder began the start-up of the solution in April 2022. Right in time for peak season at Pabst Brewing. The transition was from a previous 3PL, and there was concern over missing shipments, especially during Memorial Day weekend.

“It wasn’t ideal to start-up when we did, and there was a lot of concern about how much we were going to miss, if our systems were going to be down, or what unforeseen issues may occur,” Stefanek says. “It was seamless. We did not miss any shipments. Going through a transition for a company of our size is a big deal. You know there might be some disruption, but we did not experience that with Ryder.”

Digital Transformation

Implementing RyderShare™ and utilizing sophisticated analytics tools began the digitization of Pabst’s transportation network. Prior to Ryder, dock scheduling at Pabst was done manually by email—a practice that is not uncommon in the transportation industry. However, with more than 200 emails daily, no standardization, and a lack of visibility, shipments were getting missed.

RyderShare™ changed that. Pabst has nearly 30 people using the RyderShare™ platform, and all need a customized view. For some, it is seeing all the shipments that are moving during the day. For others, it is being able to see where a single case of beer is, on what truck, and when it will be delivered.

“The visibility is a huge part of the solution that Ryder provides us,” Joe Stroud, director of transportation at Pabst, says. “At the docks, we can see what is scheduled and when. We also get the email notifications that show if there are delays, so we can notify our customers if needed.”

For Juan Prieto, distribution services manager at Pabst, and his team, the custom notifications are key for their day-to-day operation.

“We can customize the notifications of an issue to 15 minutes, 20 minutes, or whenever,” Prieto says. “Even bigger is we can go in RyderShare™ and interact with the data, see where loads are at, and let customers know if there are issues before they call us.”

Along with the visibility and data, RyderShare™ has also allowed for seamless creation and integration of tools to enhance the Pabst network. For example, Ryder created an additional tool for invoicing that allows Pabst to sort information by brand and item code so it can look into its pricing and other historical data. Ryder also helped Pabst when it switched EDI partners.

“Ryder does things outside the typical playbook,” Stroud says. “When we switched EDI partners, Ryder took care of it in a matter of days. Other providers were building out a scope of work and process with estimates of how long it would take. Ryder just got it done. Ryder’s ability to flex from a technology perspective is second to none.”

Working Together as One

At a critical time in its business, it was clear what Pabst was looking for from its 3PL. It needed to optimize its network and gain visibility, but most of all, it needed a provider that would work alongside it with a focus not just on the present, but on continuously improving for the future.

“Pabst was clear in what they wanted from its 3PL,” says Chad Cross, senior director of customer logistics at Ryder. “We synchronized our efforts and created a clear path early on. Everything was on the table and we knew what needed to be done. That transparency in a relationship is crucial to the success Ryder and Pabst have had.”

Whether it is implementing new technology and processes to enhance visibility, redesigning the transportation network, or being able to flex staff quickly, Ryder and Pabst have worked together to meet the changing landscape of the beverage industry.

“Ryder has become an extension of Pabst,” Stefanek says. “We have stretched the Ryder team many times, and they hit the mark every time. Ryder is always looking ahead at how we can get better than we are today. That is what we want to see. With Ryder, we continue to get better and stabilize our business.”