Case Study

A strategic outsourcing strategy leads to a bigger scope and bigger results

Within a matter of weeks, Adecco provided a new client increased productivity, a dedicated operations team, and a successful local recruitment strategy

3 minutes

May 14, 2025 Adecco

Two people in hard hats and safety vests talk in a shipping container yard.

Facing a tight deployment deadline, Adecco implements a strategic outsourcing program leading to 96% average weekly operational efficiency within two months.

Full story:

After seeing our success filling temporary positions, our client, a national home goods retailer, asked us to replace another staffing provider responsible for loading and unloading shipping containers.

We implemented an entirely new strategic outsourcing program, despite a short window to audit our client’s site and four weeks to implement a tailored solution.

To ensure compliance with federal regulations, our team discovered that we needed to replace most of the existing workforce. We tapped into the expertise of a recruiter in a local branch to take on the challenge of attracting talent to take on these physically and mentally challenging roles.

Results in 2 months: 96% average weekly operational efficiency, after starting under 70%; 7x increase in total weekly inbound and outbound shipping containers and trailers; 53% decrease in average invoiced cost per item; Grew from managing 1 shift/5 days at start of program launch to 6 shifts/7 days; $500K total cumulative labor savings

Our strategy:

Conducted worksite assessment to develop work standards and expectations for average worker and set production bonuses
Tapped into the expertise of local branch recruiters to source candidates
Created a 4-to-6 weeklong onboarding program to gradually introduce associates to the job and its responsibilities
Deployed Lean Six Sigma strategies to improve operational efficiencies
Dedicated an operations team, site manager and analyst to track payroll and invoicing

Shortly after starting, our client was so impressed they began assigning us additional shifts, which we quickly kept up with.

A strategic outsourcing solution isn’t right for every client, but for those who need critical secondary operations managed by experts, Adecco can help.