PITCO

About PITCO

PITCO is a leading wholesale distributor in California, focusing on independent stores, covering a large territory from Napa Valley to Fresno.

Customers include grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, vending operators, bakeries, catering trucks and more.

Operations include 4 warehouses totalling almost 500,000 sq. ft and a large fleet of trucks include temperature-controlled partitions for items that require refrigeration.

The Problem

The existing lease contract on their forklifts was expiring, and they were considering a brand new lease to acquire brand new equipment.

At first it seemed straightforward—just put a call out for bids, and evaluate them as they came in.

But regardless, they were looking at a hefty $1.8 million estimated price tag and therefore wanted a bit more research first..

But...

When we came in, it quickly became apparent that there was more work to do before making a decision on the lease.

They were spending $350K annually on servicing the fleet, but it turned out they weren’t tracking any metrics and didn’t know the utilization on their units or how close each unit was to its end-of-life.

The Solution

We provided a detailed fleet analysis, including utilization of all forklifts in the fleet.

We identified forklifts with high hours on them—of which there were very few.
We monitored parts usage and increased stocking levels to speed up repairs.
We implemented daily response time and downtime reporting to monitor their trucks and ensure they're running optimally.

The Result

We found that the average usage over the preceding five-year period was 2,300 hours—and some equipment only had 300 hours of usage. This was only a fraction of the 12,000 hour total lifespan.
We significantly reduced downtime by increasing the fill rate of parts in stock.
We recommended PITCO lease a combination of new and reconditioned equipment instead of replacing the whole fleet—and recommended an option where all equipment was supported through an unlimited maintenance agreement.
By tracking their metrics and making decisions based on data rather than assumptions, PITCO was able to reduce their costs by $450K over 5 years.
PITCO is still reducing the cost of service and increasing uptime to this day.