CaseStack Poised to Save Planet

Five years ago Dan Sanker had never stepped inside a Wal-Mart.

Now, he’s in the midst of moving part of his Santa Monica, Calif., logistics company, CaseStack Inc., to Fayetteville, right in the retailer’s backyard.

Sanker, CEO, knows that connecting with the international retail titan will be the key to his company’s future, and possibly, the future of better environmental practices in multiple industries.

After his initial trip to a Wal-Mart store, Sanker wanted to learn more about its “all-American business model,” so he began making quarterly trips to Northwest Arkansas.

Starting with the cashiers, Sanker made it his business to meet every Wal-Mart employee or affiliate he could get face time with, and learn everything about the company and its practices.

In 2004, Sanker had the opportunity to see Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott at a meeting that unveiled Wal-Mart’s plans for more sustainable business practices.

It took the wide-eyed former Procter & Gamble executive a while to process what Scott was describing but once Sanker understood the implications, a squiggly florescent light bulb went off in his head.

A change in supply chain management is going to become the next major piece of “disruptive technology,” Sanker said. It will serve as a wake-up call to business and make old practices obsolete, he said.

With the logistics industry nearing 10 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, Sanker said he knows now is the time to make lasting changes for his company and his customers.

Using his existing customer base, the large vendor community in Northwest Arkansas and the area’s visions of creating a sustainability hub, Sanker hopes to push the green envelope.

But he isn’t just relying on Wal-Mart. Sanker said he’s prepared to blaze the sustainability trail and go at it with or without the retail giant.

CaseStack, which provides supply chain management, was founded in 1999. In just four years it was named No. 37 on Inc. magazine’s list of 500 fastest growing companies in America. In 2006, the company earned $60 million in revenue and Sanker is predicting that by 2009 it will reach $150 million.

Logical Solutions

According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, in 2006 U.S. businesses spent a total of $1.3 trillion on logistics.

The four main components of the logistics industry are domestic transportation management, international transportation management, dedicated contract carriage and value-added warehousing.

Eric Wolfe, vice president of BNSF Logistics of Springdale, said the country’s increasing overseas trade has helped the international freight management component to becoming the industry’s fastest growing segment.

Because of Northwest Arkansas’ large vendor community, many logistics companies have found their way to the area. That has put a premium on employees with logistics and transportation expertise and CaseStack’s entrance into the market will no doubt tax the pool even more, Wolfe said.

Logistics companies are constantly helping their customers respond to the needs of national retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot.

During the past few years, vendors have had to take on the responsibility of managing more of their own freight.

Retailers are not housing as much merchandise at their distribution centers but demanding more “just-in-time” shipments from suppliers.

This trend, Wolfe said, has caused logistics companies to look for more efficient shipping and warehousing methods.

Sanker said CaseStack has developed a network of seven regional warehouses, located across the country, so products are stored closer to their final destination. The company has also created online services that allow customers to track and manage shipments from the comfort of their own home.

Like all logistics companies, CaseStack is constantly looking for ways to move and warehouse products for less, but many with the company insist that they march to a different beat.

Craig Long, sales manager for transportation brokers and manager of the future Fayetteville office, said he believes the company’s lack of years in the industry has helped it to remain versatile and flexible to better meet customer’s needs.

“We’re kind of a hybrid in this industry” Long said. “We’re young and we’re not afraid to try something new. Each time I get a new client I like to bring them in and work with them to brainstorm ways that we can change their business model to not only save them money but to also become more sustainable. It’s a mindset that we have.”

Long said he has no qualms about the company’s new location. In fact he sees it only as a positive.

“Having an office in the Midwest helps us handle customers better,” Long said. “My sales boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west. I expect the Fayetteville office to do what the L.A. office has done in 2 to 3 years”

The company plans to slowly grow its Fayetteville office, starting with a sales team of about 15, then developing an operations and management staff and eventually creating the research and design center.

Sanker said he hopes to double Case-Stack’s 320-person staff within two years.

Going Green

Sanker’s sustainability plan is simple: help small to mid-sized companies find new, sustainable supply chain methods that will be both Earth friendly and budget friendly.

“Saving money is part of being sustainable, they go hand-in-hand” Sanker said. “We can save companies 10 percent to 20 percent on their logistics costs. We have saved companies as much as 40 percent and there have been a few companies that we haven’t been able to save them any money.”

Through their “delivered green” program, which encourages the nearly 1,000 trucking companies that work with CaseStack to use biodiesel fuels, Sanker figures his company has saved more than 24 million pounds in carbon dioxide emissions and $2.2 million in diesel fuel spending each year.

CaseStack has proven to many in the business community that it has a good understanding of how to help businesses become more sustainable but Sanker said his company doesn’t have all the answers or a one-size-fits-all solution.

By working with each client individually Sanker said he believes CaseStack can find ways to help all companies reduce packaging, lessen their carbon footprint and store and deliver products in a more efficient manor.

But Sanker wants to do more than just help vendors meet Wal-Mart’s sustainability demands. Through a proposed research and design center, Sanker hopes to one day bring vendors, retailers and transportation companies into the sustainability conversation.

The end goal, he said, is to help people see sustainable practices as an inevitable and positive step, not just a means to satisfy Wal-Mart.

“If Wal-Mart stops doing this all tomorrow, this all is still going to happen.”

Confirmation

CaseStack’s entry into the Northwest Arkansas economy is being herald by many as a milestone for Fayetteville’s push to become a “green Silicon Valley.”

“The thing that excites me about Dan coming here is that it confirms what we believe is a great potential for economic growth for the future which is building a business and technology cluster that focuses on a green future,” said Steven Rust, president and CEO of Fayetteville Economic Development Council. “Dan’s vision falls right in line with plans already with place. It validates those plans and confirms that Northwest Arkansas can attract a business of this caliber.”

Sanker has even caught the eye of individuals at the state level.

At a recent University of Arkansas job fair, Bryan Scoggins of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development business finance team was on hand to speak with Sanker about his business plans and extend a warm welcome to Arkansas.

“We are very excited to see him here,” Scoggins said. “He fits in perfectly with the business model we are hoping to develop for Northwest Arkansas. We couldn’t be happier.”

Now that sustainability has a “spokesman,” Rust said he hopes to use CaseStack’s momentum to recruit additional sustainable companies and further develop Fayetteville’s dream of becoming the nation’s green Silicon Valley.

“This is where we need to be and using all the great companies and resources available to us in Northwest Arkansas, I know we can make a difference,” Sanker said. “This is going to happen and I want to be there for it.”