Personal Service and White Glove Handling Creating a Better Business Solution with Many Options

AAA Packing & Shipping of California has picked from the many features of the Magaya Cargo System like a careful vineyard owner selecting only those grapes that signify their wine’s true personality.

,,,,Everyone here has a ‘customer first’ attitude to provide high quality customer service,

D.J. Pick, General Manager, AAA Packing & Shipping

CASE STUDY:

AAA Packing & Shipping Delivery, Packing, and Installation Services

ChallengesNeed to ship a bronze sculpture of a dolphin dancing atop a curling

ocean wave? How do you pack something like that? How about a

priceless painting, a crystal chandelier, or an irreplaceable antique?

AAA Packing & Shipping has the expertise to build the custom crate,

arrange the shipment, and install any piece of furniture, art, or anything

you can think of. They use the Magaya Cargo System in their operations

in California to ship a variety of items across the U.S. and the world.

AAA Packing & Shipping has made a niche for themselves in the

competitive field of servicing the hotel and hospitality industry. In

addition to shipping personal effects, medical supplies, and general

cargo, they handle many hotel renovations for companies such as

Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and the Four Seasons.

The hotels that AAA Packing & Shipping service require a variety of

items shipped and installed such as hotel room furniture, lounge chairs

by the pool, and the buffet tables in the restaurant. Just as fine resorts

offer a variety of amenities to their guests, AAA Packing & Shipping

provides many services to their clients.

They are seeing an increase in business recently from the hospitality

sector, which experienced a decline due to the recession, according to

their General Manager, D.J. Pick. Many hotels were forced to postpone

planned renovation projects due to decreased occupancy, but are now

working to complete projects as originally outlined. “Properties want

to concentrate on completing renovation projects during their typical

periods of lower occupancy. In Los Angeles, this generally occurs in the

first quarter,” Mr. Pick said.

They pride themselves on offering “white glove” service for interior

designers, fine hotels and resorts, and others because they not

only deliver items but they also place them according to customer

specifications.

AAA Packing & Shipping employs expert installers who possess a wide

range of skill sets to prepare them for the most unusual of tasks. Past

and current clients include the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club in Kapolei-

Oahu, HI; Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA; and Lake Austin Spa

Resort in Austin, TX.

In addition to hotel projects, AAA offers a wide arrange of packing

and shipping services to manufacturers, designers, and other clients.

“We pick up the items, pack them, build custom crates if needed,

and arrange to ship the items out,” Mr. Pick said. To showcase their

employees in action, the AAA Packing & Shipping website has videos

that show how they build custom crates and pack items such as a

delicate chandelier.

Making Magaya Work for ThemAAA Packing & Shipping makes use of the software features that suit

them best. Just as a large buffet at a fine hotel or on a cruise ship offers

a wide variety of food, the software comes with a range of features,

giving customers the option to choose the features that suit their

business now and in the future.

The software features the staff members at AAA Packing & Shipping

use include the Pickup Orders, Warehouse Receipts, and Cargo

Releases.

Frequently, serving their clients begins with picking up furniture for

them from interior design shops and local manufacturers who build

custom furniture. Mr. Pick said they have a regular route they drive to

pick up items. They create the Pickup Orders and include the address

and the information about the items such as quantity, description, and

other details.

They bring the items to the warehouse, and create a Warehouse

Receipt to record them. All furniture is inspected and photographed

when it arrives. The photos are then attached to the Warehouse

At a GlanceAAA Packing & Shipping

www.aaapack.comIndustry

Delivery, Packing, and Installation Services

SolutionMagaya Cargo System

AAA Packing & Shipping offers custom crating, international shipping, warehousing

and other services from their two locations in Greater Los Angeles, California. They also

provide local pickup and delivery of furniture, art work, and other items. Clients include

interior designers, fine hotels, and resorts.

AAA Packing & Shipping

Hotel Room

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City’s new reputation for hand-crafted furniture and other items builds

on the city’s past as the home of another creative endeavor, motion

pictures. Sony Pictures Entertainment (formerly MGM Studios) has their

studios in Culver City where many films were made, including Gone

with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and E.T., as well as many television

shows.

In mid-2010, AAA Packing & Shipping expanded their warehousing

operations to a facility in Pacoima, California, located in the San

Fernando Valley. They now have a total of 110,000 square feet of

warehouse space. One warehouse focuses on the items for interior

designers, and the other location holds longer-term storage items and

items for their hospitality clients.

In Conclusion“We provide a whole range of services,” Mr. Pick explained. “We’re the

small company that could. For example for our hospitality clients, we

provide a turnkey service for their renovations. We remove the old

furnishings and send the items to furniture liquidators who buy them.

Then after the construction crews have repainted, laid new carpet, and

completed other tasks, we deliver the new furniture and install it in the

rooms.”

Talking about the employees, Mr. Pick said many of the employees

are cross trained and able to perform multiple tasks that the company

offers.

“We employ top people so we can deliver what we call ‘white glove’

service. Everyone here has a ‘customer first’ attitude to provide high

quality customer service,” Mr. Pick said.

Receipt. Then each item is assigned a location in the warehouse so it

can be tracked and found quickly when needed.

To ship out items, they create ground shipments in the software by

using the wizards that create consolidations or straight shipments.

For local deliveries, they create Cargo Releases. A Loading Guide and

the Bill of Lading are added to the shipment transaction directly from

the software. The built-in customization features enable them to

customize the straight bill of lading to suit their needs.

They partner with logistics providers who arrange shipping with other

freight forwarders who contact carriers. Often carriers send trucks to

their facilities. The trucks are loaded and the items are shipped out.

AAA Packing & Shipping has sent items not only in the U.S., but all over

the world to places as far as Dubai and Australia.

They use the software to create inventory reports of all the items so

they can see what they have in stock at any time. Mr. Pick explained

that most of their clients require frequent updates of their inventory.

He filters the Commodity List based on consignee to group the items.

From One Truck to a FleetAAA Packing & Shipping started in 1978 with two people and one

truck. Now they have over 70 employees. The current owner, Bruce

Nebens, bought the business in 2002 from the original owner who

retired. It was originally a moving company. Today they still move

personal effects for customers locally and across the U.S. with their

own trucks.

In addition to the trucks, they have a warehouse near Culver City,

which is close to many of their customers in the workshop district that

has evolved in the area. The area now boasts an art gallery district

and workshops where local craftsmen build custom furniture. Culver

AAA Packing & Shipping

Museum Pieces

Fleet of Trucks