Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC), one of Michigan’s major distribution agents handling liquor and wine warehousing and delivery to local retailers, today apologized to its customers for recent shipment delays and missed orders and said it is implementing plans to return to its traditional high service levels as quickly as possible.
The delays, which started several weeks ago, stem from RNDC’s move into a new, state-of-the-art warehousing facility in Livonia. The $80 million facility will provide for many years of future growth, and includes numerous automation and computer enhanced operations aimed at improving efficiency.
“We apologize to our many customers and to the State of Michigan for not hitting our high goals for solid delivery service to the many retailers we service,” said Steve Rochow, Michigan State Executive Vice President for RNDC. “We know the new facility will improve our service when it is fully operational. But moving from two warehouses to one while serving our many customers turned out to be like building a new plane while flying it – and we have not performed adequately.”
RNDC is working closely with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to keep it updated on decisions and progress. On Thursday a phone message was sent to the company’s 13,000 customers to apologize, provide background on the situation and let retailers know how best to reach RNDC with specific issues. RNDC will continue to communicate closely with the state and its customers.
“We have identified the problems and are attacking them. We have added additional communications team members to handle calls and emails from customers. We are moving product back into one of our previous facilities to address immediate needs. And we are addressing software and hardware issues that have hampered our Livonia operations,” said Rochow.
The situation was not helped when a Nov. 6 fiber optic line cut interrupted telecommunications and computing capabilities to the RNDC facilities – and many others in that part of Livonia – for more than 10 hours.“We apologize for these delays. They are not acceptable. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve the issues that are causing them, but it may be several weeks before customers regain their normal high levels of service,” said Rochow. “We are entirely focused on fixing our issues to meet customers’ needs.”
About Republic National Distributing Company
RNDC, a world-class distributor of fine wines and spirits in North America, has operations in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Young’s Market Company, a partner of RNDC, distributes wines, spirits, and select beverages in the western United States including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Visit www.RNDC-USA.com or www.youngsmarket.com.
