Hasbro

Hasbro's Supply Chain Transformation: Driving Agility and Optimization Through Data-Driven Procurement

Hasbro, a global leader in toy manufacturing and entertainment, operates a highly complex supply chain and moves 15-20k TEU per year. With a diversified manufacturing base spanning multiple continents and with the need to transport goods across the globe efficiently, the company's procurement team faced challenges in aligning operational goals with market dynamics.

Recognizing the need for strategic improvements, Hasbro embarked on a supply chain transformation initiative branded as the "Optimus Way,” focusing on agility, optimization, and data-driven decision-making - inspired by their Transformers product line.

Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges: Visibility, Diversification, and Negotiation Power

With limited visibility into the dynamic world of freight, Hasbro's global supply chain faced mounting challenges. Fluctuating tariffs and market rates created uncertainty and misalignment internally, while the company’s reliance on a limited number of carriers led inefficiencies and missed opportunities for better terms.

Brendan Burke, Global Ocean and Air Transportation Manager at Hasbro, reflects: “At one point, we gave almost 80% of our volumes to one carrier. While they performed well in the US, they struggled in regions like Latin America, where they lacked the necessary infrastructure. In the end, the savings we thought we were getting didn’t outweigh the delays, operational headaches and extra costs.”

This lack of diversification left Hasbro vulnerable to disruptions and limited their negotiating power. But with most of their market expectations being set by their carriers, the shipper found themselves stuck in a loop.

Burke continues, “For a long time, we didn’t have the tools to check if our rates were competitive. We didn’t know what we should be striving for. That limited our ability to secure better terms even with our current suppliers.”

The impact extended to internal departments like finance and leadership. Without clear, unbiased data to justify spend or clarify performance, the procurement team found it challenging to secure buy-in for its strategies.

Recognizing these challenges, Hasbro sought to transform their procurement strategies, leveraging data and fostering agility to stay competitive in an evolving landscape.

Leveraging Xeneta for Data-Driven Procurement and Enhanced Supply Chain Agility

Hasbro adopted Xeneta to benchmark themselves against the market, gain a better understanding of service levels and market drivers, and accurately report and improve on their performance.

As part of Hasbro’s subscription, they have access to functions and datasets such as spend analytics, tender benchmarking, Schedule Reliability, Carrier Spread, and Surcharges.

Hasbro uses this unbiased market intelligence to:

• Gain market visibility: Understand rate averages, extra costs, and emerging trends across both regional and global corridors
• Diversify carrier selection: Compare different carrier rates and service levels to balance their volumes and find the provider with the most reliable, fair terms
• Strengthen negotiations: Center regular contract and market discussions around data to secure transparency and efficiency
• Foster internal alignment: Regularly present market metrics and performance analysis to leadership and finance
• Stay agile and resilient: Budget and plan for different scenarios, contracting with built-in contingencies to ensure financial predictability and minimize disruption

Achieving Transformational Supply Chain Outcomes with Data-Driven Procurement

In just one year as a Xeneta customer, Hasbro has transformed its procurement and supply chain operations.

During early discussions, Xeneta’s freight spend analysis uncovered more than $1.5m in performance improvement opportunities. By addressing internal misalignment, leveraging robust datasets, and fostering stronger carrier relationships, the company has achieved significant outcomes that reshaped their approach to global logistics.

With Xeneta, Hasbro gained a clear view of how its contracted rates compared to industry averages. This transparency allowed the team to renegotiate rates more effectively, leading to substantial cost savings.

Brendan Burke reflected on how these insights strengthened their position: “We’ve been able to go back to carriers and point out the delta between our contracts and the market average. Those conversations, backed by data, have led to tangible savings and better terms.”

Hasbro moved away from relying on a single carrier for the majority of its shipping volumes, redistributing its contracts across multiple providers. This diversification reduced risk, increased operational resilience, and introduced healthy competitive tension among carriers.

“We realized that putting 80% of our volumes with one carrier wasn’t sustainable. Diversifying our portfolio has made us more agile, reduced risk and strengthened our negotiating power,” Burke explained.

3. Strengthened Internal Alignment

The integration of Xeneta fostered better collaboration and communication between Hasbro’s procurement, finance, and regional teams. Monthly market rate updates are shared across departments, providing clear benchmarks and promoting a unified strategy.

Burke highlighted the impact on internal alignment: “I always show our leadership screenshots directly taken from Xeneta. It’s hard to argue with data that clear and it gives them confidence in our strategic decisions.

“Our finance team especially love the insights as it helps them build realistic budgets and plan for different scenarios.”

4. Greater Operational Efficiency

By factoring regional insights into carrier selection and contract negotiations, Hasbro improved its operations in previously challenging areas, such as Latin America. Operational teams reported a reduction in overhead costs and found smoother processes with better-aligned carriers.

“Taking the time to dive into regional data has made a big difference,” Burke shared.

“Every month, we send out a regional breakdown to our teams to make sure everyone has the knowledge they need. Through this, we can recalibrate our strategies to market realities and avoid carriers that might offer savings upfront but cause issues down the line.”

Driving Continuous Improvement and Strategic Agility in Global Procurement

Looking ahead, Hasbro is committed to further improving procurement and supply chain operations. By embedding the “Optimus Way” principles into their workflows, underscored by Xeneta intelligence, the company continues to enhance its strategic agility.

The procurement team plans to expand its use of data analytics and see Xeneta’s upcoming ocean releases as key areas of interest.

“Recently, it’s been great to hear that Xeneta is going to provide Demurrage and Detention data in the platform,” says Burke.

“Charges for exceeding free days have historically been a problem for us, so it’ll be eye-opening to see what the market average really is. Taking that type of data into negotiations could have a huge impact on our contract terms and how we pick carriers.”

Through collaboration, foresight and technology, Hasbro has shown the power of a strategic approach to global procurement.