Case Study
North American Division of Global Lime Producer Upgrades Supply Chain Capability, Reducing Annual Demurrage While Strengthening Revenue and EBITDA
$50M
Annualized EBITDA Improvement
Strategic Imperative
To achieve a 56% reduction in annual demurrage, leading to revenue growth and improved customer satisfaction by significantly enhancing supply chain effectiveness to meet customer demand efficiently and promptly
Client Background
- North American division of a global lime and limestone producer with 114 operational sites, 62 quarries and mines, and over 6,300 employees
- Supply chain scope linked central planning with plant operations, transportation scheduling, order handling, and customer fulfillment
- Business supplied steel, utility, glass, and paper industries requiring reliable movement of lime products across the network
- Flat customer demand increased the need to capture market share through stronger service and supply chain execution
- Leadership needed supply chain performance to support revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and stronger annual EBITDA performance
- New central supply chain organization was not meeting its mission, while annual EBITDA growth remained below corporate goals
Key Issues & Barriers
- No internal process existed to optimize supply chain performance across central and plant-level operations
- Roles and responsibilities were inconsistent across 14 site coordinators, weakening ownership and execution consistency
- Poor communication among key plant personnel limited coordination of customer demand, production capacity, and transportation requirements
- Supply chain leaders lacked decision-making tools to effectively manage plant capacities, order backlogs, and loading constraints
- Customer issues were handled inconsistently, while inadequate cross-plant training limited adoption of common practices
- Carrier selection and rate discipline were weak, compounded by unrecovered freight charges on prepaid shipments
Key Implementation Components
- Aligned the central supply chain organization with plant operations and transportation scheduling to strengthen end-to-end coordination
- Redesigned order-handling processes and logistics to improve customer fulfillment and supply chain execution
- Developed decision-making tools to improve visibility into plant capacities, order backlogs, and loading requirements
- Implemented plant cost matrices to strengthen cost-based supply chain and transportation decisions across the network
- Implemented a new System for Managing based on best-practice analysis to strengthen supply chain performance and accountability
- Developed expert models and best practices for key central supply chain and plant personnel
Benefits & Results
$50M
Annualized EBITDA Improvement
500 BPS
EBITDA Margin Improvement
31%
Fuel Cost per BCM Reduction