Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Tampa, Coca-Cola Beverages Florida LLC (Coke Florida) serves over 21 million consumers across 47 Florida counties, including major metropolitan areas like Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. As the sixth-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S., Coke Florida exclusively markets, sells, manufactures, and distributes Coca-Cola products. The company employs more than 5,000 associates and operates 18 sales and distribution centers. As a $2 billion company, Coke Florida has upwards of 6,000 pieces of equipment moving around the state, working seven days a week around the clock to ensure beverages are always available on the shelf for consumers.
In 2021, Coke Florida faced a major challenge with their parcel operations: finding a cost-effective way to deliver small, ecommerce orders. “If you think about a tractor-trailer, $150,000 for a tractor and $75,000 for a trailer, how do you deliver one case that may cost $25 to $30 profitably?” said Dale Yahrmatter, VP of Distribution.
At the same time, the company needed to adapt its delivery process to meet the unique needs of their diverse customers. “We have a huge opportunity here in Florida with over 21 million consumers just within our residences in Florida, but then over 140 million tourists that come here annually and growing,” said Christopher Lukert, Director of Digital Integration.
“Our customers vary widely—from small businesses with limited backroom space to food trucks and large facilities spanning 100,000 square feet,” said Scott McLaughlin, VP of Field Franchise Operations. “Each has unique needs and demands, making it essential to have a flexible route to market strategy that adapts to meet every client’s expectation.”
Initially, Coke Florida was manually boxing, taping, and labeling cases, later transitioning to a pneumatic box erector. Yet, after just 12 months, the process became inefficient, leading to the adoption of Packsize's CVP Impack.
The CVP Impack revolutionized Coke Florida's distribution operations by streamlining previously manual processes and enhancing efficiency. “Now, the operator places the case(s) on the machine, and it moves with the conveyor belt, wraps in a right-size box, seals it, labels it, and we palletize it,” said McLaughlin. “I was very excited for the CVP Impack. I've seen our former parcel operations firsthand. I've seen the amount of people it takes to run the operation. To see only a few people helping to run this and make sure it stays running continually, it's very exciting to see.” In addition, the CVP Impack has significantly improved Coke Florida’s distribution process, allowing them tocentralize the parcel operation to Winter Haven, reducing staffing from 30 employees to just six, and automating previously manual tasks in an already resource constrained environment.
“We can switch cardboard thicknesses on the fly based on what is being boxed,” said Yahrmatter. “Because of the way that the CVP Impack cuts the boxes directly to the size of the product, the damage almost eliminated completely,” adds McLaughlin.
The CVP Impack supports Coke Florida’s long-term strategy to innovate and adapt to evolving market needs. “This machine is built for scale. This is for those companies that are serious about e-commerce and doing it right,” said Lukert.
“The biggest achievement is the quality and consistency of the boxing,” adds Yahrmatter. “CVP Impack allows us to serve a wide range of customers with a service that is, in many ways, on-demand—allowing them to place an order and receive it within 48 hours.”
Aby dowiedzieć się więcej o tym, jak Packsize może współpracować z Twoją firmą, skontaktuj się z jednym z naszych przedstawicieli już dziś, aby poprosić o analizę!
