Freight Transit Buffer at Miller Children’s Village

Like many of our clients, Kapture Prefab is known as a leader in innovation within their industry. They design and build prefabricated wall panels for large-scale commercial construction, as well as a novel method to install these panels with miraculous speed. Their prefab process allows contractors to dramatically reduce construction time while receiving precision engineered products.

The majority of the clients we work with are in the commercial construction industry, we understand that the general contractor must meticulously align material deliveries with the planned labor. When a delay occurs, it causes downtime, puts timelines at risk, which can equate to thousands of dollars per hour in lost productivity. We call this High Stakes Freight. Creating and implementing creative solutions for High Stakes Freight isn’t easy, but that’s why we love it.

Our initial supply chain work with Kapture Prefab was in Arizona for the construction of the Great Wolf Lodge, which was executed flawlessly. On this first construction logistics project, Stream delivered on the goal of zero downtime due to transportation.

Freight Transit Buffer

After the success of the first project, Stream Logistics received a call requesting a meeting to discuss another project in Long Beach, CA which was currently underway. One week with Stream Logistics managing the freight shipping, Kapture Prefab was already experiencing significant construction site logistics delays caused by another provider. Lance, Kapture Prefab’s project manager, reflected on this challenge, “We first went with another carrier that assured us that they could manage the high stakes freight situation. After the first 6 or 7 loads with multiple late trucks and a lack of communication, it was clear that we chose the incorrect partner.”

Due to the complexity of the construction site schedule, panels needed to arrive on site with impeccable timing and in strict sequential order using drop deck trailers. With their other provider, shipments were picked up, but neither delivered on time nor in sequential order. Kapture Prefab’s missing shipments pushed their supply chain back, causing potential reputational damage with their customer (the general contractor), and compromised future business that was already in contract negotiations.

Our team jumped into action immediately after understanding the challenges and proposed a solution. It was clear that Kapture Prefab needed a team who understands the demands of High Stakes Freight.

The solution we designed included Transit Buffer, a concept we designed specifically for construction sites. Transit Buffer is the act of picking up the shipments 1-3 days earlier than standard transit would require in order to create a buffer for risk mitigation. For this logistics management solution, we implemented a 1-day Transit Buffer, putting our driver on site in Long Beach a full 24 hours prior to the delivery appointment. This buffer addressed two primary risks. First, it allowed for any typical delays our drivers might encounter throughout transit (i.e. weather, mechanical issues, flat tire). Second, it ensured multiple trucks would be staged in Long Beach to provide a continuity of inventory should the crew increase the pace of installation. Both benefits created a seamless experience for the contractor from the point we took the reins, and restored the timeline for opening the facility to its original date.

Our logistics management team tripled down on communication and visibility. Each driver was tracked with real-time GPS and the construction team received batched tracking updates for every truck, twice daily. Transporting over-sized panels from Arizona to California required obtaining permits, which can take up to 48 hours in CA. To avoid delays, Stream worked directly with our trusted carrier partners to secure permits proactively.

The result of the Stream Team freight shipping solution was zero hours of construction site downtime and tens of thousands of dollars in productivity increase. It was all hands on deck for Stream, which illustrates our G.A.S. (Give a Sh*t) attitude and collaborative philosophy. Calling in our team when they did not only recouped significant financial costs for both Kapture Prefab and their client, but demonstrated their dedication to brand integrity by hiring partners who share that core value.

Lance summed up the experience by sharing, “Stream ended up taking around 30 step deck trailer loads for us under some pretty stressful circumstances. The original concern from our construction site team was that they would not have enough material on the jobsite. That was quickly resolved by Stream and their logistics experts. They did a fantastic job with the site team by reducing the number of surprises for them. We found a very good rhythm to make sure there was enough, but not too much, product on the site. We look forward to working with Stream Logistics again for future projects.”