Kuebix is now a part of FreightWise
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) logistics operates at high speed with almost no margin for error. Most notably, CPG companies must be agile and nimble to navigate when costs increase, consumer preferences shift, inventory levels fluctuate, and unexpected supply disruptions create bottlenecks or constraints.
CPG Logistics Challenges
Margins on most CPG products are already narrower, but adding consumer price sensitivity and rising production and logistics costs further exacerbates the issue.
Thin Margins = High Freight Sensitivity
CPG margins leave almost no room for inefficient freight spend. Transportation must shift from reactive decision-making to long-term strategic network planning.
Capacity Erosion via Revocations and Non-Compliance
The ongoing loss of operations for small to mid-sized carriers, often due to poor safety ratings or failure to maintain adequate insurance (as indicated by FMCSA revocations), continuously removes capacity from the market. This instability forces shippers to constantly onboard new providers and manage higher risk exposure.
Reconciling the Omnichannel Fragmentation
CPG networks must now handle everything from full pallets to e-commerce parcels, each requiring different routing logic, service expectations, and cost structures.
Optimization Challenges for Multi-Stop Routing + SKU Proliferation
Serving diverse retail formats increases the need for multi-stop routing. Poor sequencing impacts fuel, labor, and on-time performance- especially with rapidly expanding SKU counts.
The Mandate for Food Safety & Traceability
Temperature control and granular SKU-level traceability are crucial for the food and beverage CPG industry.
Mitigating Transportation Network Disruption from the Bullwhip Effect
Promotions and demand swings amplify upstream in the supply chain, complicating forecasts and disrupting planned transportation networks.
When Manual Processes Become the System Bottleneck
Rekeying orders, maintaining spreadsheets, or manually calculating rates can’t keep pace. Instant order integration and automated rating are mandatory.
Unmasking Landed Cost and Performance Blind Spots
Without modern analytics, such as carrier scorecards, cost dashboards, and SKU-level reporting, teams can’t accurately control or optimize freight spend.
Elevating Transportation from Tactical to Strategic
A tactical, siloed transportation function can’t support a high-velocity operation. Agility requires a centralized system with real-time visibility and control.
What can CPG businesses do to combat rising transportation costs?
With all of the challenges, ultimately, data is your friend. Often, within the four walls of your warehouse or manufacturing facilities, you have a good handle on production and fulfillment costs. With disjointed systems and portals, multiple carriers, and multiple modes, it is challenging to tie specific transportation costs to overall profitability.
Winning in today’s CPG environment means transforming transportation into a fully integrated, data-driven function with visibility. This capability moves the supply chain beyond tactical expense management and into a core competitive advantage. To achieve this, companies need to have end-to-end visibility combining general tracking, optimization, and analytics. ERP integration also becomes extremely important to maintain visibility without sacrificing margins.
Companies seeking to execute this strategic transition and streamline their complex processes can turn to industry solutions, such as Kuebix by FreightWise. This specialized TMS provides the essential tools to tackle chronic capacity constraints, execute multi-stop optimization, and gain the SKU-level visibility required to master the high-velocity, low-margin CPG market.