Matson Logistics Strikes a Chord with Fender

Matson Logistics Strikes a Chord with Fender

Three men post for a picture with the Pathfinder Award, the tuning pegs of an electric guitar.
Matson Logistics Senior Director of Sales Daniel Paulsen receives the 2023 Pathfinder Award from Fender’s Transportation Manager David Watkins and Sourcing Director Eduardo Castro.

By Jahan Byrne, Director, Corporate Marketing, Matson Logistics

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, the world’s largest acoustic-electric guitar manufacturer, recently presented its 2023 Pathfinder Award to Matson Logistics for its outstanding performance as a lead logistics provider at a ceremony in January.

Based in Los Angeles, Fender has been an iconic part of the international music scene since 1938. It is best known for its legendary electric guitars, the Telecaster, Stratocaster, and Precision Bass, which have been in continuous production since the 1950s. It also manufactures acoustic guitars, ukuleles, amplifiers, strings, and accessories. In 2021, it acquired PreSonus, a line of studio recording and live-sound equipment and software.

“This is tremendous recognition for Matson Logistics,” said Daniel Paulsen, senior director of sales for transportation services. “We started serving Fender in September 2021, first with transloading and then with door-to-door intermodal service utilizing our national fleet of MLHU containers.”

“And in that short time, our performance was recognized and awarded from over 22 other supply chain providers,” added Paulsen.

Fender bestows the Pathfinder Award to suppliers that exhibit outstanding efforts in areas that include on-time delivery, tier 2 supplier management, or providing out-of-the-box solutions.

“We present this Pathfinder Award to Matson Logistics for its customer-first support and transportation service,” said David Watkins, Fender transportation manager. “Matson Logistics demonstrated best-in-class service in Q4, managing our increased volume of finished goods between four distribution centers (in the U.S. and Canada) without any issues and securing capacity while exceeding service expectations.”

Fender has been a Matson Navigation customer since 2016. And Matson Logistics Supply Chain has provided LCL (less-than-containerload) import services since 2021.

According to Keith Crenshaw, vice president of transportation, the award reflects a coordinated ensemble across Matson Logistics sales, operations, equipment, and pricing. The Fender account team included Andrea Pinkerton, intermodal operations; Howard Gradle and Savannah Flament, pricing; Kellie Vanderzanden and Kimberly Tianio-Cruz, equipment; and Dan Paulsen, sales.