Resort Development Case Study

Challenge

A privately held real estate development and management company had recently chosen a site in Anguilla as a good location for an investment resort.  The developer worked with their architect to create a site plan and their interior designer to create a spec book containing all required furniture, fixtures, and equipment.  The purchasing agent then worked on behalf of the developer to select numerous vendors across the world to supply the necessary materials.

However, the development group had no international shipping relationships, no means of clearing customs and more importantly, no way of managing all their vendors' products to the resort location.  Particularly when one considers the scale of this $500 million dollar development, allowing the purchasing agent or even the vendors themselves to arrange for transportation and consolidation would have resulted in an inefficient and costly process.

Action

Suddath Logistics Group / Centra Worldwide stepped in and worked closely with the developers to strategically manage all of their vendors. Our team took control of the process at the vendor location and managed, tracked and negotiated freight to a consolidation point in Miami.  As the vendor's product arrived in Miami, it was inspected for damage, scanned into the consolidation point and put into inventory. Once the product was needed at the site, it was scanned outbound and marked as "in transit" in the tracking system, showing the quantity and value. Upon its arrival in Anguilla, the product was again scanned and shown as installed.

Result

Suddath's streamlined process allowed the development group to have the correct products when they needed them, where they needed them.  Ultimately, they were able to reduce their operating costs while creating a level of transparency in the system that assured a smooth construction process.  While the underlying cost savings that come with the increased efficiency of the process are difficult to quantify, Suddath has pinpointed that we were able to save the developer in excess of $5 million on transportation costs alone and an additional $500,000 on installation costs.

What makes Suddath's  solution unique is that our goal is always to ensure the best interest of the Developer/Owner rather than rely on the connections of vendors or purchasing agents who might not have the most cost efficient solutions.  While our team is engaged in supervising the day-to-day details of the project, we also consistently have our eyes on the bigger picture.