DC Velocity - February 2018

4 DC VELOCITY FEBRUARY 2018 www.dcvelocity.com inbound

As anyone in the industry can attest, running a successful catering business takes more than tasty cuisine and artful presentation. You also have to get the distribution part right. No matter how exquisite your roasted rosemary beef tenderloin may be, a single tardy or botched delivery could ruin your reputation.

The challenges of meeting tight delivery schedules recently led one catering firm, Toronto-based Marigolds & Onions, to seek high-tech help. With a fleet of 10 vans delivering over 100 orders a day throughout the Greater Toronto area, the fast-growing firm had reached the point where manual planning and routing no longer made the grade. It needed to automate its transportation operations.

After exploring its options, Marigolds & Onions settled on routing and scheduling software from Dallas-based Paragon Software Systems. The company now uses Paragon’s Single Depot software application, which includes street-level mapping capabilities, to generate efficient routes that meet contractual requirements. According to the company, the solution has more than delivered on its promise, helping ensure that orders are delivered on time while drastically cutting delivery labor costs, fuel expenses, and the use of third-party couriers.

“Timing is of paramount importance to
our business. The food needs to be deliv-
ered within very tight delivery windows
and within a short period of time after the
chef has finished making it, irrespective
of how many meals we are preparing that
day,” Marigolds & Onions owner John
Valente said in a release. “If an order is
late, even by five minutes, the delivery
has failed because the order did not arrive
within the agreed time.”
And that could dampen a person’s enjoy-
ment of even the most delectable mini
French macaron doughnuts.

Here’s our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

; Itasca, Ill.-based supply chain solutions provider AIT Worldwide Logistics raised more than $60,000 in 2017 in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Hundreds of AIT employees and their families and friends joined 22 company teams participating in “St. Jude Walk/Run to End Childhood Cancer” events across the country in September. Together, they collected $31,777, which was matched dollar-for-dollar by the company.

; Plantation, Fla.-based international parcel express services provider DHL Express brought together company employees and their families to plant

100 trees in one day as part of the company’s “Plant a Million Trees” initiative, a component of its overall “GoGreen” sustainability plan. The tree-planting event, which took place in Miami, was held in partnership with local environmental charity One Tree Planted.

; The Tempe, Ariz.-based professional association Institute for Supply Management will award $10,000 in scholarship funds to individuals seeking education in supply management, supply chain management, or procurement. The funds will be distributed through the R. Gene Richter Scholarship program, which provides tuition assistance, executive mentoring, junior mentoring, and networking opportunities.

; Lake Success, N.Y.-based customized transportation solutions provider Transervice Logistics donated over 1,200 toys to children at more than

120 locations this holiday season. The gifts went to the children of company employees as well as the Salvation Army in support of its mission to spread holiday cheer for families in need.

; San Francisco-based healthcare supply chain management solutions provider McKesson Corp. partnered with rideshare company Lyft to support victims of the North Bay wildfires in California by providing complimentary rides to local hospitals and treatment centers. The partnership follows on McKesson’s donation of $100,000 to the American Red Cross in support of additional wildfire relief efforts.