There is no room for disruption in the coffee bean supply chain. Through their transport partnership, Selecta and Posti ensure that regional warehouses always have the right level of bean stock. Posti transports everything from small and large parcels to freight shipments between businesses across Finland, often with next-day delivery.
Article summary:
Selecta takes care of coffee breaks for thousands of people in Finland.
Posti handles Selecta’s product and equipment deliveries throughout Finland.
The deliveries moved to Posti smoothly and the partnership got off to a good start.
Transparency and openness guide the cooperation.
A coffee break starts with a reliable supply chain
Running out of coffee in the middle of the working day is frustrating for many people.
Selecta supplies coffee machines to workplaces and takes care of thousands of coffee breaks in Finland. Its professionals ensure that the machines work and that there are enough beans for every cup.
Selecta has sixteen regional warehouses in Finland’s largest cities and their surrounding areas. Each regional warehouse always has fresh coffee beans for refilling the machines.
The local specialists who service the machines take the beans with them and head out to workplaces, making sure the coffee never runs out.
Before reaching the regional warehouses, the beans travel from around the world to Selecta’s main warehouse in Helsinki.
“Pekka’s team collects the goods from there and distributes them around Finland as planned,” says Aku Ryhänen, Service Director at Selecta.
Raw materials and equipment throughout Finland
Selecta’s locations mainly receive raw materials for coffee machines, including coffee beans, cocoa and milk powder.
Sales Manager Pekka Heino’s team of Posti logistics professionals handles Selecta’s product and equipment deliveries. A raw-material replenishment may leave the Helsinki warehouse for Turku, while a new coffee machine may travel to Oulu.
Selecta has coffee machines at thousands of workplaces throughout Finland. According to Ryhänen, a reliable transport partner with nationwide coverage is essential in a large, sparsely populated country.
“It does not make sense for us to maintain enormous warehouses in the regions. With a transport partner, raw materials, equipment and workwear are in the right place at the right time.”
“The most important thing for us is that people get the drink they want from the coffee machine. Posti is an everyday partner that transports the beans to regional warehouses throughout the country,” says Ryhänen.
The partnership got off to a smooth start
Selecta switched to Posti as its transport partner at the beginning of the year. In a service business, Ryhänen says, deliveries must be timely and service quality must be right from day one. He considers the launch phase the most critical, with no room for disruption.
“We did not have to worry about any drop in service quality. The transition to Posti went smoothly, and the partnership got off to an excellent start.”
In well-functioning logistics, no news is good news.
Pekka Heino says that business customers value the coverage of Posti’s transport network and the speed of its deliveries.
“Reliable, timely transport frees up a company’s time and creates added value. Sustainability is a major priority for us, and we consider both people and the environment throughout our operations and across the organization.”
Responsibility is part of the partnership
Having a responsible partner is important to Selecta as well.
“We have also electrified vehicles and reduced kilometers driven through route planning. There is no alternative to operating responsibly and requiring the same from our partners,” Ryhänen says.
Openness keeps the service chain moving
A cup of coffee offers a welcome break in the working day and a chance to share a moment with a colleague. If the coffee runs out, people notice. That is why the supply chain for the beans needs to run without interruption.
“Take coffee away from a Finnish workplace and people will soon be unhappy. The same principle applies to logistics, in a way: when everything runs as agreed, you hear nothing. No news is good news, and in logistics, no surprises is definitely a good thing.”
Heino and Ryhänen meet regularly with their teams. The new partnership develops through discussion and by listening to one another. Transparency and openness are values that guide cooperation.
“I am easy to reach. If any challenges arise, we need to address them quickly and tackle the root causes. It is important that we are closely involved in Aku’s team’s day-to-day work and that he can contact me whenever needed,” Heino says.
“Posti was immediately interested in what we need to ensure that coffee is always available at workplaces. I appreciate the customer-focused approach,” Ryhänen says.