Case Study: How Citi-Cargo Helped Butting, Canada, Grow Their Business

Problem

About a dozen years ago, Butting Canada, a pipe manufacturer, had an opportunity to secure a contract with the water filtration division of General Electric. There was one problem: GE needed easy access Butting’s inventory from their facility in Minnetonka, Minnesota – a market Butting wasn’t in yet.

Because GE would be Butting’s only customer in this geographic area, it didn’t make sense for Butting to purchase a facility or hire their own staff. So they called Citi-Cargo & Storage.

Solution

Butting decided to contract with Citi-Cargo for about 4,000 square feet of temperature-controlled warehouse space. Citi-Cargo also manages all of Butting’s inventory, fills GE’s orders and delivers goods to GE on Citi-Cargo trailers about twice a week. “It allowed Butting, Canada, to get the contract, and GE to get their piping on demand,” said Greg Tillotson, Sales Manager at Citi-Cargo. “This way GE doesn’t have to stockpile goods at their own facility.”

Results

Together with Citi-Cargo & Storage, Butting, Canada entered the Minneapolis, Minnesota market and secured GE as a customer without the long-term commitment of buying a warehouse and hiring staff. More than a decade later, the arrangement still works.

Citi-Cargo & Storage often supplies warehouse space to customers with too much inventory, but their services are often a solution for manufacturers who want to expand.

“When a manufacturer gets a new customer or wants to enter a new market, contracting out storage, fulfillment and transportation services to a company like Citi-Cargo just makes sense,” Tillotson said. A manufacturer may not have the volume to support a big investment in a region they aren’t familiar with. “They benefit in cost-savings because there’s no long-term commitment to infrastructure or employees.”

Citi-Cargo customized the warehousing, logistics and transportation services Butting, Canada, needs. Learn more about Citi-Cargo & Storage warehousing, inventory management, logistics and transportation services.