Brett Favre a Jet? Although Wisconsinites weren’t able to control their football fortunes, there’s one Wisconsin-based company proving that it can control something of vital importance to food processors: the supply chain.

DePere-based Wel Companies Inc. operates more than 375 temperature-controlled trucks and 11 refrigerated and frozen food distribution centers. It offers both truckload and less-than-truckload shipping, brokerage and an array of warehousing services.

“As an asset-based supplier, we are able to control the supply chain from pick-up to delivery. And as capacity tightens, we have more control over less-than-truckload programs when we’re arranging them ourselves,” says Vice President Randy Tielens.

From its start as a truckload carrier, this private family-owned company now has 33 years of experience with temperature-sensitive products such as refrigerated and frozen entrees, dairy products (cheese, yogurt and ice cream), juices, meat and poultry. Later, Wel began adding multi-temp, cross-dock warehouse-distribution centers to provide consolidated pool shipping for less-than-truckload quantities.

Today Wel’s warehouse and distribution center network stretches from Modesto, Calif., to Winterhaven, Fla., and from McDonough, Ga., to Edgar, Wis. Moreover, its facilities offer customized local services ranging from transload shipping (Modesto, Irving, Tex.) to container import handling and drayage (Jamesburg, N.J.). This summer brought the company’s latest custom warehousing news: Wel just constructed an 80,000-square-foot distribution center in Edgar, Wis., to service several area cheese processors.

For that matter, the company isn’t done growing.

“We’d like to build our fleet to as many as 500 trucks,” says Tielens. “To better serve our customers, we also plan to expand our presence in the Northwest and West.”