World's Leading Energy Company Taps Canon for Move to 385-Acre Corporate Campus
Migrating To A New Corporate Campus
One of the world’s largest energy companies has a decade-plus partnership with our team at Canon Business Process Services. That relationship evolved when the energy leader migrated over 10,000 employees to a new corporate campus—the largest such campus in the US.
Though the company initially wanted a services provider with third-party logistics (3PL) expertise—which typically focuses on warehousing and over-the-road (OTR) transportation—the company realized through analysis that it needed a comprehensive integration of people, processes, technology, and logistics services capabilities. We had successfully provided those wider-ranging services at 25 of the company’s regional locations for years.
With those locations closing and its employees migrated to the new campus, the energy company engaged us—a trusted, proven partner—to provide the leadership and vision needed to successfully transition operations to a world-class workplace.
We first worked with the energy company to craft a plan for managing the materials’ workflow and activity throughout the campus. In our plan we took responsibility for selecting, implementing, and managing technology systems to keep key logistics services, like warehousing and mail management, functional for the long-term.
We also established SLAs to track how specific business activities perform, such as a 1.5-hour target for pickup and delivery of items by courier. Such SLAs keep our team accountable for delivering on our plan and improving all the time.
Plan Implementation
Next up: implementing our plan. Our client established the Canon nerve center, a utility plant where we provide most of our services. The nerve center incorporates loading docks, a warehouse, and an entrance to the company’s underground network: a map of tunnels and pathways through which we transport materials like office supplies, equipment, and mail and packages. Our team handles distribution, warehousing, and tracking for all items.
Our in-house staff of managers, dispatchers, and logistics personnel coordinates this broad spectrum of activity and deploys many vehicles:
- A fleet of electric vehicles to transport material and personnel through the campus, as well as a cleaning vehicle and an ambulance in case of emergency
- Large carts to transport materials, trash, and recycling
Our staff travels about 375,000 miles annually while operating the vehicles through the tunnels—the equivalent of circling the Earth 15 times.
Results
Besides managing the underground transportation system, we’ve deployed advanced technology to meet two key goals:
- Ensure accuracy and efficiency in the warehousing and mail management operations
- Benchmark, measure, and continuously improve the processes we manage
To meet the first challenge, we implemented a cloud-based, scalable warehouse management system (WMS) to track inventory and automatically replenish items when they fall below par levels. For example, if paper at a storage site falls below the par level of 50 cases, the system automatically orders more.
We also installed a mobile enterprise mail and package tracking system that uses barcode tracking software, mobile computing hardware, and package shipping software to monitor the flow of mail and shipments. By tracking the time an employee takes to deliver mail, for instance, we can set tangible goals for improvement.
To meet the second challenge—measure and improve processes—we applied a mixture of Six Sigma methodologies and future-looking technology. Our web-based performance management system tracks compliance with SLAs by measuring, managing, benchmarking, and driving continuous improvement for the services we provide.
Together with our client, we’ve successfully transitioned vital corporate campus logistics services and safely supported thousands of employees that now work at the new campus.