By Jeff Berman | August 20, 2024
Earlier this month, Fremont, Calif.-based RK Logistics Group, a Silicon Valley provider of warehousing, e-commerce fulfillment and supply chain management services, recently announced it acquired a Tempe, Az.-based facility and assets from warehousing and expedited transportation services provider Southwest Supply Chain Solutions.
RK Logistics said it will now take over Southwest’s 79,000 square-foot warehouse, at 7929 South Hardy Drive, and included Southwests’ freight handling and warehousing contracts and what RK called a modest fleet of trucks and trailers.
“RK has 40 years of experience providing specialized logistics services for the semiconductor industry,” Joe MacLean, chairman, CEO and president of RK Logistics Group, told LM. “Arizona has been described as the Silicon Desert. We have been expanding eastward with our customers, who are expanding and building out new facilities in this area. This is a market we felt we needed to have a significant presence. We’re responding to many of our semiconductor customers who’ve asked us to join them here and establish the same capabilities and services we provide for them in Silicon Valley.”
Over the past 24 months, MacLean said RK has migrated a number of its middle and back-office folks to Arizona, at a sales and administrative office in Scottsdale.
“We’ve been considering further expansion for quite some time,” he said. “The Tempe location, which adds a climate-controlled operating facility, capacity and resources, is the next step. It’s been in the works for about the past six months.”
In terms of the main benefits of this warehouse acquisition for RK’s semiconductor shipper customers, Maclean cited two key ones: having a secure, climate-controlled facility in Arizona; being led and managed by what the company believes to be the most experienced team in logistics serving the semiconductor industry; and expanding its capabilities to a new operating area where its customers are growing and have a clear need for experienced, reliable logistics services.
From a staffing perspective, Maclean said RK expects to build an initial workforce of up to 25 employees, and expanding beyond that, as it secures new business.
Along with being fully climate-controlled, RK said that the Tempe warehouse has 12 dock doors for cross-docking freight as well and a large truck parking area. What’s more, it said that it will provide the complete portfolio of RK’s services available at the company’s other locations, including: managing inbound freight; consolidation and distribution; general warehousing; pick and pack; inventory and order management; labeling and fulfillment; and packing and shipping. Transportation services include: on-demand expedited; white glove and lift-gate service for same-day or next day delivery; scheduled volume truckload and LTL shipments; and freight brokerage.
It will also offer its purpose-designed, fast-response service program, which it said is developed exclusively for semiconductor clients. This program includes: temperature-controlled inventory management; order pick-and-pack and fulfillment; specialized crating; and “hot shot” dedicated trucking of parts and components to support manufacturing lines on a just-in-time basis.
Other benefits cited by RK include: customer access to RK’s technology platform encompassing warehouse management, transportation management, visibility, integration and order fulfillment systems. It is also in close proximity to major freeways, as well as the Phoenix International Airport and key railheads, said RK.
