Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

In Person

Interview: Denis Reilly of Kenco

In our continuing series of discussions with top supply-chain company executives, Denis Reilly of Kenco discusses disruptions from Covid-19, digital transformation, and the quest for innovation.

Denis Reilly

Denis Reilly is president and CEO of Kenco, a third-party logistics provider (3PL) whose services include distribution, transportation management, material handling equipment and fleet services, e-commerce fulfillment, and supply chain intelligence solutions.

Reilly has more than 35 years of experience in the logistics industry. Prior to joining Kenco in 2017, he was the CEO of St. George Logistics and has held executive and senior leadership posts with USA Dry Van Logistics, Geodis, MIQ Logistics, and Menlo Logistics. He began his career in logistics with Frito-Lay in 1983.


Reilly is a member of the Kenco board of directors, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), and the University of Tennessee Global Supply Chain Institute Advisory Board. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, he holds a bachelor’s degree in logistics and an MBA in logistics and marketing. He recently spoke with DC Velocity Editorial Director David Maloney.

Q: How have Kenco’s operations been affected by the Covid-19 crisis?

A: Many, if not all, businesses across the nation have felt the impact of this pandemic, including 3PLs. At Kenco, we manage numerous supply chains across various industries. Encompassing over 90 distribution centers across North America, these supply chains range from ones that put food on peoples’ tables to those that ensure medical supplies are delivered to hospitals.

Our day-to-day operations have changed in accordance with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines and our efforts to protect the health of our employees. We initiated a Covid-19 Task Force months ago to focus on ensuring the safety of our employees while ensuring business continuity. Like many, we quickly converted our headquarters staff to work at home and, in the field, adopted the recommended social distancing policies, temperature checks, quarantines when applicable, enhanced cleaning processes, and adoption of face coverings.

Many of our customers have experienced significant and sudden volume changes. Some customers, such as those in the food, consumer packed goods (CPG), and health-care industries, have seen increases in demand of 30% to 200%, while others have experienced significant decreases. The challenges associated with significant demand spikes were managed through collaborative planning and the “can-do” attitude of our associates.

We are working with all customers to help them optimize and reduce costs during this challenging time. And our engineers and other supply chain professionals are prepared to help customers regain and recover when the coronavirus situation improves for their businesses and industries.

As the Covid-19 pandemic crisis evolves, we continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate actions to address potential concerns and risks. As always, Kenco’s primary focus is on the health and safety of our associates and customers.

Q: How will Covid-19 change future supply chain design?

A: The effect that Covid-19 has had on the supply chain is unlike any other disruption I’ve ever witnessed. A disruption of this size will absolutely impact many facets of the supply chain, including strategic design and tactical execution.

For example, we will likely see a resurgence of nearshoring or movement of some manufacturing back into the U.S., especially around key ingredients and products in the health-care industry. This pandemic will accelerate the growth of e-commerce, as during this time, everyone is getting accustomed to buying online.

In addition, the adoption of automation in distribution operations will probably accelerate, providing enhanced scalability and productivity. Finally, I think there will be a renewed focus on resilient supply chains and contingency planning. Strategies such as adding manufacturing and distribution locations, port diversification, and increased safety stocks will be essential to prevent future disruptions to supply chains.

Q: Kenco offers a wide array of supply chain services, from traditional warehousing and transportation to real estate management. How does that provide an advantage for your customers?

A: Kenco’s comprehensive solutions allow us to meet all of our customers’ needs across the supply chain. Customers typically outsource design and execution activities that are not their core competencies. We have the people, best practices, and technology that enable us to proactively look across our customers’ whole supply chain to drive efficiencies. In addition, our integrated solutions provide customers with a “one stop shop” for outsourcing, resulting in a competitive advantage from both a cost and service perspective.

Q: Innovation has been an emphasis for Kenco for many years, including the establishment of the Kenco Innovation Labs. How has this helped to serve the industry?

A: The world around us is continuously changing and so are the needs of the supply chain. The solutions that worked well in the past may not be adequate in the current and future environment. Therein lies the need for innovation.

Innovation is a key priority for Kenco because it allows us to provide our customers with best practices to meet their needs. In our Innovation Lab, we work with a wide variety of vendors to test emerging technologies in a real-world dedicated warehouse space. Our Innovation Lab functions as a formal space to review, research, and promote new ideas to bring futuristic solutions to our customers and the industry.

Vendors bring new technologies to our lab, where we can vet them carefully before implementing them in our day-to-day operations. We had one vendor bring in a robot for testing. It worked for a few days and then shut down. What we found was that there was a lot of pollen buildup around the sensors that caused it to shut down. The vendor made some quick modifications, and then its product worked effectively.

Another example is our development of the LoadProof app [a mobile app that photo-documents shipments as they move through the supply chain]. This was created through the collaboration of our warehouse operations and technology teams. The end result is a publicly available application that has become an industry standard in retail chargeback avoidance and compliance.

Q: Kenco is the largest woman-owned 3PL in the U.S. Does this unique status provide an advantage?

A: I view Kenco’s diversity as a competitive advantage because we choose the most talented individuals for every role, regardless of gender. At Kenco, we actively promote the advancement of women in an industry that is historically male-dominant.

From our chairwoman and owner to the vice president of innovation and the many women who are Kenco general managers operating fulfillment warehouses on behalf of our clients, women play a major role in our success. They are in these roles because they are the best at what they do. In recognition of this, a large CPG customer recognized Kenco for promoting the advancement of women by selecting us as its Woman-Owned Supplier of the Year.

Q: You have said that your vision for Kenco is that it will lead the digitalization of the supply chain. Why is that important?

A: I strongly support the digital transformation of the supply chain. At Kenco, digitalization is a top priority that we are taking very seriously, as is evidenced by our investment in technology, people, and our recent Innovation Lab expansion.

Most companies realize they need a digital transformation of their supply chain but lack the required knowledge, expertise, and focus to successfully achieve it. Kenco, as a supply chain solutions and services provider, sensed this market need early on and is working to lead the way in helping our customers with their transformation efforts.

The Latest

More Stories

intermodal operations

Tennessee waltzes off with top prize at IANA case study competition

If you were in charge of attracting new drivers to the intermodal industry, would you choose an owner-operator or a company-driver business model? That was the question posed to students competing in the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) 2024 Intermodal Case Study Competition.

A team from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, walked away with top honors at this year’s event. It was the school’s first time competing in the scholarship competition, which was held during IANA’s Intermodal Expo in September.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Cibao Meat Products logo

Deli-meat producer takes company communications into the digital age

Family-owned business Cibao Meat Products, a producer of Hispanic-style sausages and deli meats, has long prided itself on staying true to the traditions and values the company was founded on in 1969—like a commitment to high-quality ingredients and a family workplace atmosphere. Less of a source of pride, however, was its continuing reliance on the same, mostly manual, processes and data management techniques used at its inception.

With the company now selling its meats to retail giants such as BJ’s, Sam’s Club, and Costco as well as 500 supermarkets and restaurants across the U.S., Cibao president Heinz Vieluf Jr. knew that it was time to take the company into the digital age. “As a third-generation leader of a multigenerational company, I put an emphasis on bringing our business into the digital future and utilizing technologies that will help propel success,” he said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
autonomous lift truck in warehouse

Going deep on self-driving vehicles

As autonomous systems take on a bigger role in logistics and industrial production applications, the race is on to make the equipment smarter, more efficient, and safer. To accelerate work in this area, the German lift truck and logistics technology vendor Kion Group is partnering with a local university to support expanded studies on artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems.

Through a grant of $1.1 million over a period of five years, Kion has funded an endowed professorship for Safe Autonomous Systems at TU Dortmund University. The program will be headed up by computer science professor Sebastian Peitz.

Keep ReadingShow less
Palmer's product on the line.

Photo courtesy of ET Browne

Streamlining supply lines

American skin-care company ET Browne—best known for its Palmer’s Cocoa Butter—has trimmed costs, boosted revenue, and increased profits thanks to a recent IT upgrade from its longtime technology partner Syspro, a global enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider that specializes in serving manufacturing and distribution businesses. ET Browne has run on Syspro software for 25 years and racked up some of its biggest year-over-year improvements following a 2023 upgrade to the latest version of Syspro ERP—an enhancement that allowed it to leverage the platform’s material requirements and planning (MRP) capabilities to build a just-in-time inventory system.

The net result? A smoother-running supply chain.

Keep ReadingShow less
Clean Energy illustrations

Illustration courtesy of Clean Energy Fuels Corporation

Try before you buy

For consumers, the car-buying process generally includes a test drive so they can see if the vehicle lives up to its hype before they plunk down any money. But the process can be a little more difficult for commercial fleet managers.

That experience is about to get easier thanks to Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a California company that provides renewable natural gas (RNG) for the transportation industry. Last month, Clean Energy launched a program to allow heavy-duty fleets to try out a truck equipped with the new Cummins 15-liter X15N natural-gas engine.

Keep ReadingShow less