
Pharmaceuticals Manufacturer
A pharmaceutical manufacturer uses the Tive supply chain visibility solution to monitor highly temperature-sensitive products that are shipped via ocean freight from Europe to North America.
Robinson Nursery—a second-generation, family-owned wholesale grower and distributor of over 200 varieties of shade and ornamental trees—understands the value of strict temperature control in the supply chain. From its home base in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, the nursery dispatches nearly 400 trucks a year with trees bound for destinations throughout the United States and Canada.
Crews begin digging up dormant trees in late October, and put them in cold storage until they are shipped in reefer trucks starting in the middle of February. Whether a full truckload of 3,200-3,400 trees worth between $50,000-$100,000 or a Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) shipment, the densely-packed plants must be kept in a temperature-controlled environment—from 30°F to 40°F—to prevent their bare roots from flash freezing.
“Temperature is important, as it can be difficult to tell when a tree has been damaged by cold.”
Josh Robinson, Co-Owner
In 2021, Robinson Nursery’s visibility solutions partner at the time was not meeting expectations. Its trackers wouldn’t always work, data was incomplete or incorrect, and information was often not delivered in real time.
This created many issues:
“Tive has been a game changer for us. Temperature is critically important for all our products, and Tive gives us full visibility into our shipments—from start to finish.”
Josh Robinson, Co-Owner
After vetting several potential partners, Robinson Nursery chose Tive’s real-time visibility solution—including hyper-accurate Solo 5G trackers and the Tive cloud-based platform—for several reasons:
“Tive gives us all the data we need to pursue where any defect or issue originated.”
Adam McClanahan, Sales
Some Robinson Nursery customers arrange their own trucks; sometimes, trees can be put on trucks containing products from five or six nurseries. With Solo 5G trackers on every Robinson Nursery shipment, customers can track trucks themselves using a secure link.
Improved customer service and communication are major benefits—but greater accountability is equally important. Following are two examples:
“Our customers also have the ability to track their shipments—which is a big value-added facet that wasn't previously available. We look forward to continuing to work with Tive to further improve our supply chain operations down the road.”
Josh Robinson, Co-Owner