Orange, Calif.—MSI prides itself on being a leader in delivering its products to customers. This is especially true with its slab business for which it has in-house trucks, drivers and specialized equipment including boom trucks. Most of the company’s slabs have always been delivered on MSI trucks. Now, MSI is investing heavily into its last-mile delivery capabilities.
MSI will be increasing its branch breadth for which eight new distribution centers are set to open in the next 12 months as well as building the trucking infrastructure for last-mile delivery of slabs and flooring products. Ultimately, the company said it will have much more control of the product, which will enable transparency, dedicated delivery days and times and significantly reduced breakage for customers.
The investment not only includes the required trucks, trailers and drivers but also the technology for more efficient dispatch, according to the company. This includes state-of-the-art hardware and software to have the most efficient loading and delivery in the industry, the company said. MSI’s tools will also be able to give real time data to its sales associates and customers.
“Ultimately, this is an investment to improve service levels for our retail dealer customers,” said Raj Shah, president. “The current investments could not have come at a more opportune time, considering the supply chain bottlenecks that have been plaguing the industry.”
Today, MSI said its fleet is considered the top 200 trucking fleets of any commodity, and it is growing significantly.