Twenty years ago, BJ's Wholesale Club was managing international shipments with spreadsheets. 

At the time, the company was a $9 billion retailer operating 153 clubs and importing roughly 4,000 TEUs annually. As growth accelerated, BJ's leadership realized the existing approach wasn't sustainable. Managing global transportation through disconnected systems and manual processes would eventually become a bottleneck. 

Today, BJ's is a $22 billion company with more than 260 clubs, nearly tripled import volume, and an international transportation and trade compliance team of just five people. 

The difference wasn't simply technology. 

It was building a long-term partnership supported by a single operating platform that connected people, processes, and data across the entire supply chain. 

 As Michelle Darling, Director of International Transportation at BJ's Wholesale Club, recently shared during a fireside discussion at TPM26 (her last before her current well-deserved retirement): 

"We needed to have a partner and not just a provider." 

That distinction has never been more important. 

The Hidden Cost of Fragmentation 

For supply chain directors, logistics managers, and import operations leaders managing high-volume global programs, the cost of fragmentation rarely shows up on a single invoice; it shows up everywhere else.  

Supply chains have become increasingly complex, but many organizations still manage them through a network of disconnected providers, systems, and spreadsheets. 

The result is often the same: 

• Limited visibility across suppliers, transportation providers, and internal teams 

• Delayed decision-making during disruptions 

• Duplicate work across departments 

• Reactive management instead of proactive planning 

• Growing operational complexity that requires additional headcount 

When disruption occurs, whether it's a tariff announcement, port congestion event, regulatory change, or supplier delay, the challenge isn't simply getting information. 

It's knowing what action to take and having the ability to act quickly. 

That's why leading organizations are shifting away from fragmented logistics models and toward integrated supply chain management built around a single source of truth. 

What End-to-End Visibility Looks Like in Practice 

The benefits of end-to-end visibility are often discussed in theory. 

BJ's provides a real-world example of what it looks like at scale. 

Over the course of its partnership with Century: 

• Revenue grew from approximately $9 billion to $22 billion 

• Import volume increased from roughly 4,000 TEUs to 11,000 TEUs 

• The transportation organization added virtually no headcount to manage that growth 

• A team of five manages international transportation and trade compliance 

• During COVID, Century helped coordinate 44 emergency air freight shipments to secure critical PPE and operational supplies needed to keep stores open 

As volumes increased and supply chains became more complex, visibility didn't simply provide information, it enabled productivity, scalability, and resilience.

One Provider. One Platform. One Source of Truth. 

At Century, we believe supply chain visibility starts long before cargo reaches the water. 

That's why our services are designed to manage and connect every stage of the supply chain: 

Origin Cargo Management 

Supplier coordination, purchase order management, booking management, consolidation, origin warehousing, and compliance oversight. 

Result: Fewer vendor surprises, better container utilization, and supply chain control that starts before cargo moves. 

Transportation Services 

Ocean, air, intermodal, rail, drayage, and domestic transportation managed through Century Express and our global operating network. 

Result: Optimized routing, carrier relationship leverage, and cost-efficient movement across every mode and lane. 

Warehousing & Distribution 

Transloading, fulfillment, value-added services, storage, and final-mile execution. 

Faster throughput, reduced handling costs, and inventory that lands where it needs to, when it needs to. 

Customs & Compliance 

Customs brokerage support, trade compliance, regulatory oversight, CTPAT programs, ISF management, and duty optimization strategies. 

Result: Avoid costly delays, reduce duty exposure, and stay ahead of regulatory changes — managed by experts, tracked in VIZIV®. 

Technology That Connects It All 

Every service operates through VIZIV®, Century's proprietary supply chain optimization platform, creating a single operating environment for customers and Century teams alike. 

Result: One operating environment for your team and ours — so everyone is working from the same data, at the same time. 

Beyond Visibility: Turning Data into Action 

The true value of visibility isn't seeing what's happening. 

It's knowing what requires attention. 

One of the capabilities BJ's highlighted during TPM26 was VIBE™ (Validations Integrated by Event), Century's exception management framework built into VIZIV® that automatically monitors supply chain activity against your specific business rules and surfaces only what requires attention. 

For example: 

• Vendors booking shipments late 

• Expired HTS classifications 

• Regulatory holds 

• Purchase orders at risk of missing delivery windows 

• Booking quantity discrepancies 

• Potential cost increases before cargo ships 

Instead of reacting after a disruption occurs, teams can identify risks while there is still time to make adjustments.