Redwood Turns Up the Heat: Powers cost and service enhancements for Harbison-Walker International

Redwood’s modern 4PL approach drives significant improvements in logistics execution and operations for HWI’s refractory solutions

Redwood Logistics (Redwood), one of North America’s fastest growing fourth party logistics (4PL) providers, today announced the success of its partnership with Harbison-Walker International (HWI), the largest producer of refractory products in North America. By implementing advanced transportation management solutions and providing logistics expertise, Redwood has enabled HWI to achieve notable cost and service improvements.

With over 150 years of experience, HWI is a key supplier of refractory materials such as bricks, monolithics, and high-temperature insulation products used in steelmaking and other industries that operate in extreme environments. Shipping over 130 million pounds of products annually from 22 distribution centers across North America, HWI needed a streamlined logistics approach to maintain its high customer service standards and ensure on-time deliveries, often to remote locations.

“We were seeking a long-term partner who could evolve alongside us, offering a comprehensive suite of transportation management solutions while minimizing our internal technology investment,” said Lauren Cline, Logistics Specialists II at Harbison-Walker International. “Redwood has enabled us to focus on what we do best—innovating refractory products—while ensuring cost-effective logistics management that maximizes service and financial performance.”

HWI faced the challenge of managing its complex logistics operations, which involved integrating third-party logistics (3PL) data, optimizing parcel shipping, and improving spot freight procurement. HWI aimed to continue focusing on its core strength—providing innovative refractory solutions—while ensuring its logistics were managed efficiently without the need for additional internal resources.

Redwood’s modern 4PL strategy of orchestrating supply chain technology and logistics execution, emerged as the ideal partner for HWI. Redwood implemented Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) to provide HWI with a fully integrated transportation management system (TMS). This system was seamlessly connected to other supply chain solutions and systems, via an easy integration through RedwoodConnect, Redwood’s proprietary supply chain integration platform designed to streamline the most complex integration cases.

To further enhance HWI’s freight procurement process, Redwood also provided brokerage services, optimizing spot freight for both cost efficiency and service quality.

"By orchestrating supply chain technology and logistics execution through a modern 4PL strategy, Redwood has truly turned up the heat for HWI, streamlining operations and driving enhanced efficiency,” added Eric Rempel, Chief Innovation Officer at Redwood. “We helped HWI achieve significant efficiencies by implementing our 4PL services, transforming their processes for better results. Our long-standing relationship with Oracle and open, integration platform meant a quick return on investment for HWI."

By collaborating with Redwood for both technology solutions and managed logistics services, HWI was able to launch its new transportation management solutions on an accelerated timeline, achieving immediate value. The partnership reduced HWI's reliance on internal IT resources, allowing the company to capitalize on Redwood's expertise while leveraging advanced supply chain technology.

Looking ahead, HWI is set to implement Redwood Parcel Cloud, Redwood’s proprietary multi-carrier platform that offers cloud-based rating, labeling, and manifest capabilities, providing further integration with existing systems.