UTILIZING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
SPECIALISTS IN CONSUMER GOODS LOGISTICS
GPA Logistics Group offers tailored fulfillment, warehousing, and co-packing solutions for consumer goods importers and wholesalers. Bill Drummer, CEO, discusses how the company utilizes advanced technology
Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Poppi Burke
We’ve positioned ourselves as specialists in consumer goods logistics, with particular expertise in apparel and accessories.”
When Bill Drummer, CEO, and Brian Cantrell, President, established GPA Logistics Group (GPA) in 2016, they were tasked with turning around a small, underperforming third-party logistics (3PL) provider in Fontana, California (CA).
The former’s opening words demonstrate how the dynamic duo have since progressed the company, as both came with over 20 years of experience in the industry.
“I was a partner in a 3PL based in New Jersey before moving to CA, and Brian was a Senior Executive in a large, national 3PL,” Drummer recalls.
“In 2017, GPA Global, a multinational packaging company, partnered with us and provided the financial backing we needed for accelerated growth
and geographic expansion.”
GPA’s comprehensive service portfolio includes business-tobusiness (B2B) distribution, directto-consumer (D2C) e-commerce, co-packing, reverse logistics, and dedicated warehousing.
With a client base spanning health and beauty, fitness equipment, consumer electronics, and fashion accessories, the company operates multiple facilities across both the East and West Coasts of the US, ensuring optimal shipping zones and redundancy for business continuity.
INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY
Like many industries these days, technology is the backbone of GPA.
“If you told me 20 years ago that our hourly associates would be walking around our warehouses holding minicomputers, I would have trouble imagining it,” Drummer says.
“Today, they are operating
sophisticated mobile computers worth thousands of dollars while managing complex automated systems.”
The company also has in-house IT staff with expertise in coding, programming, electronic data interchange (EDI) and application programming interface (API) integrations, warehouse management systems (WMS), hardware and networking setups, cybersecurity, and communications.
GPA’s data is not only critical to collect and maintain, but now a resource to be leveraged for efficiency improvements and to gain a competitive advantage.
“The key is to invest in the right technology as there are so many options available. Not all of them deliver a return on investment (ROI), and many of them will be eclipsed by newer and better technology before you can implement or finish paying for them,” notes Drummer.
Recently, the company upgraded its WMS to Osa Commerce, a
“WE’VE POSITIONED OURSELVES AS SPECIALISTS IN CONSUMER GOODS LOGISTICS, WITH PARTICULAR EXPERTISE IN APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES”
– BILL DRUMMER, CEO, GPA LOGISTICS GROUP
newer, more robust system that has greatly improved its tracking and reporting capabilities.
GPA also uses business intelligence software platform Octup to aggregate data from multiple sources and report its key performance indicators (KPIs) and labor utilization, giving it daily profit and loss reports per location.
Its returns management software solution, Returns Desk, exemplifies customer-centric technology, allowing clients to monitor returns processing in real-time and make immediate decisions on disposition.
For EDI and API integrations, GPA has developed its own value-added network (VAN) and API servers. This internal capability eliminates
third-party bottlenecks and ensures rapid response to customer requirements.
“The key differentiator is providing customers with complete operational transparency. In today’s environment, visibility is a fundamental requirement,” Drummer emphasizes.
ROBOTICS AND AI
Labor is by far the largest expense and most malleable resource in a 3PL.
As a result, it’s hard to recruit and train qualified associates who can manage the technologies and understand the impact of their actions, particularly in certain geographic areas.
“Advances in robotics are coming fast, but one must be careful not to be blinded by the fancy new toys that are available and evaluate if there is real ROI to deploying them,” cautions Drummer.
“Robotics are still expensive; the challenge isn’t just the initial capital investment – it’s the ongoing software complexity, integration costs, and potential workforce disruption.”
COULD YOU EXPAND ON YOUR DEDICATED WAREHOUSING SERVICES?
Bill Drummer, CEO: “We’ve been brought in to take over the operations of private, one-client warehouses. Operating a warehouse is an entirely different and difficult challenge and it diverts their management and financial resources from growing their business.
“We conduct comprehensive operational assessments and implement our proven systems, processes, and technologies. This typically results in reduced headcounts, increased throughput, and optimized facility utilization.
“We offer customers the benefit of our trusted vendor relationships as well. Over the years, we’ve vetted many providers of services and products to 3PLs and have solid relationships with reliable, honest, and quality vendors.
“One example is M&S Woodworks (M&S). There are many pallet suppliers in our area of CA with a wide range of dependability and prices, but M&S has been rock solid for us on service, quality, and price for years. We’ve never had a problem obtaining what we need, even during the most severe pallet shortages and price hikes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is important, but often overlooked, how we provide a vital buffer between the customers and warehouse staff. Warehouse workforce management requires specialized knowledge in areas like turnover reduction, safety compliance, workers’ compensation management, and litigation prevention – expertise that most manufacturers and importers lack.
“Our established vendor relationships and procurement expertise deliver cost advantages to our customers, while our management systems ensure consistent performance and accountability.”
GPA has identified several automation solutions that meet its ROI criteria and is particularly interested in vendors offering flexible financing structures, leasing arrangements, rent-to-own programs, and performance-based contracts that reduce upfront capital requirements while sharing implementation risks.
As logistics companies integrate robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, there’s much potential for optimization and efficiency gains by utilizing these innovative technologies.
Those efficiencies are essential as importers, wholesalers, and online retailers today are far more aware of how their logistics provider can help grow their business with great service or damage their business and reputation if they don’t perform.
Drummer is most excited about AI, which can solve complex logistical challenges that traditional
“THE KEY DIFFERENTIATOR IS PROVIDING CUSTOMERS WITH COMPLETE OPERATIONAL TRANSPARENCY. IN TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT, VISIBILITY IS A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT”
– BILL DRUMMER, CEO, GPA LOGISTICS GROUP
programming approaches can’t address effectively.
He cites companies such as Lully who can take order data and return a customized, optimized pick path per order batch.
“Until now, you would program your WMS with certain logic that was static and not always the most efficient pathway for your pickers. Now, each batch is optimized based on the stock-keeping units (SKUs), quantities, and locations of each batch,” Drummer informs us.
“The same can be done with slotting. A few years ago, we took over the operations of a warehouse that
deployed a goods-to-person robotics system that was so inefficient it was bottlenecking their entire operation. The cause was inefficient slotting that was dependent on associates making optimization decisions they were not qualified to make.”
Aside from robotics and AI, GPA recently had two of its warehouses in CA certified as Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs).
FTZ operations require minimal additional investment from GPA’s perspective but deliver substantial benefits to customers, including duty deferral, reduced carrying costs, and improved cash flow management.
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GPA SERVICE PORTFOLIO
B2B distribution – Wholesaleto-retail fulfillment with EDI or API integration and compliance management.
D2C e-commerce – Full-service fulfillment with real-time inventory visibility.
Co-packing services – Retail display assembly and promotional packaging.
Reverse logistics – Complete returns management with realtime customer portals.
Dedicated warehousing – Private facility management and optimization.
“It’s another example of how we initiate ways to help our customers save money and control their expenses,” acclaims Drummer.
This demonstrates the company’s philosophy of proactive customer support through strategic infrastructure investments.
NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY
The FTZ certification process began well before US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs came into effect.
However, the uncertainty of these tariffs is the biggest challenge everyone is facing right now, according to Drummer.
“Tariff uncertainty has created a paralysis in import decision-making, with clients postponing orders pending clarity on final rates and cost allocation,” he warns.
Thus, the company’s immediate priority is maintaining operational capacity and workforce stability while helping customers navigate this uncertainty.
GPA is also concerned about the administration’s methods of enforcing immigration laws and deporting non-citizens.
“The randomness of the raids and apparent insensitivity to whether the people they are rounding up are here legally or not has even legal residents afraid to come to work,” Drummer says.
“In certain areas of the country, like CA, a significant portion of the population working in warehouses are not properly documented. Whether
they are deported or just deterred from coming to work, it will lead to labor shortages, increased labor costs, and difficulty in meeting our committed service-level agreements (SLAs).”
Maintaining SLAs is one of three priorities that GPA’s strategy focuses on, along with protecting its workforce and positioning the company as a solution for companies considering outsourcing their private warehouse operations to experienced 3PL providers who can navigate these complex challenges.
Tel: 909-349-4769
my3pl@gpalogisticsgroup.com
www.gpalogisticsgroup.com
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