3GTMS

Koch Foods, one of America’s largest chicken producers, decided to implement its first TMS after decades of reliance on analog processes. As a $5 billion+ company, with around $200 million in annual outbound freight spend and multiple business units, a TMS was needed to consolidate and modernize transportation processes. Koch Foods’ immediate TMS objective was taking a control tower approach to freight transportation. With enhanced visibility into carrier rates & performance, and the ability to isolate time-consuming bottlenecks, the transportation team was able to identify opportunities for more efficient use of resources and provide new sources of value for both Koch and its customers.

SmartWay Logistics, a 4PL company operating throughout Europe, was facing challenges with its existing Transportation Management System (TMS). The system was underdeveloped and unable to meet the growing market demands. The limited automation capabilities of the system resulted in employees spending excessive time on manual, repetitive processes. The company also struggled with poor visibility and optimization capabilities, which hindered their ability to deliver efficient, cost-effective services. The lack of a robust TMS was affecting their competitive edge in the market. SmartWay Logistics was in need of a new TMS that could enhance automation, speed up integrations, broaden visibility, and strengthen its competitive position.

Green Circle Growers, one of the largest greenhouses in North America, was facing challenges in managing its growing customer needs. The company was manually managing the data for product transportation, as well as for its dedicated fleet and sister company, Fresh2U Transportation. The company was trying to meet its growing customer needs while manually managing the data for product transportation. The company was in need of a more robust transportation management system (TMS) to support its growth and to manage the complex constraints and data changes such as appointments or carrier availability.

Fabuwood is a cabinet manufacturing company that sees itself as a technology company. It has pioneered the deployment of advanced IT systems in cabinet manufacturing and was the first in its industry to build a business around their use. The company has invested substantially in building this technology, but it also acquires some specialty systems from partners. For freight transportation management, it selected 3G Transportation Management. The team chose to put its trust in 3G for two reasons: its ability to support multiple operations and a shared customer-first philosophy. While many manufacturers choose to outsource logistics planning entirely, the Fabuwood team has a different approach – one that requires maintaining control of operations in order to maintain control of the customer experience. The common focus on the end customer experience led to a mutual understanding of what was really important.

Whole Latte Love, a specialty retailer of homemade coffee, was facing challenges with its home-grown ERP system. The company needed a configurable, cloud-based system to support its growth. However, the initial shipping software caused a six-week ERP deployment delay. The company needed a software that could strike the right balance between ready-to-use and easy-to-configure. The software needed to communicate automatically with the ERP without manual intervention. The company also wanted to improve productivity by eliminating manual keying in of orders and going outside the system to validate addresses.

ISOFlex, part of the Sigma Plastics Group, was in need of a new Transportation Management System (TMS) that could help the company better manage and control its logistics operations. The company's immediate need was a single interface to procure and manage both TL and LTL transportation. More specifically, LTL carrier integrations, TL contract management, and spot market brokerage access. The company had identified several ways it could substantially reduce freight costs – using volume LTL instead of TL, rate shopping across modes, newly renegotiated contract rates – but couldn’t fully realize those benefits without a TMS. As long-term thinkers, future expansions were also top of mind. Being part of a multi-location operation meant that any new TMS needed the ability to scale for broader coverage and greater efficiencies. Unfortunately, the product they initially chose was decommissioned shortly after they began implementation, leading to a renewed search for a reliable TMS.

Bemis Manufacturing Company’s Sheboygan Falls location is the major North American distribution hub for all of its proprietary products. But getting its products to various regional markets required enormous amounts of time and manual labor for determining the best routing options. The company’s original scheduling system, built to handle the transportation realities of 15-20 years ago, had provided Bemis with a competitive advantage in years past, but was now falling behind current business needs. Bemis’ network required five individuals to perform routing analysis and planning, taking into account multiple locations, carriers, along with factors like LTL versus truck load stop-off and many other data points. This led to huge variations and calculations for any one plan or date.

Dynamic Logistix, a logistics services provider, was in the process of building its service offerings and needed a cutting-edge transportation management system (TMS) to provide mid-market transport and logistics customers with a comprehensive solution that supported the complete “order to settlement” lifecycle. The company's CEO, Jeff Auslander, had experience with a range of Tier 1 TMS companies and systems and was looking for a solution that would provide personalized service and attention. The company also needed a TMS that could integrate quickly and reliably to save money and start delivering savings to customers.

TrakMotive was using a few different workflows in order to process shipments and were unable to find an efficient way to ensure data was getting written back correctly. Team members were having to manually key in various repeated pieces of information into multiple systems leaving their business vulnerable to errors. With multiple systems and tabs open to process a shipment, their management team required they limit the number of carrier offerings so that they could try to reduce manual errors and time spent at the shipping workstation.

As RedStone’s client base grew in size and complexity, its legacy transportation management system (TMS) had trouble keeping up. It wasn’t able to scale with the business or support its diverse client needs. In addition, the TMS vendor announced it would not support 3PLs going forward. RedStone sought a TMS that could provide the flexibility it needed to meet its expanding 3PL needs and differentiate its services.

Shippers Express, a freight and logistics services company, was initially using MercuryGate as their transportation management system (TMS) provider. However, they found the system inflexible and slow-moving, especially when it came to making changes or generating new reports. The company also had to work through a third-party support provider, which further complicated the relationship. Shippers Express was in need of a more flexible and efficient TMS solution that could better cater to their needs.

Corsicana Bedding, a producer of quality mattresses, was facing challenges with its load communications. The company was dealing with complex and numerous communications around loads, which was becoming cumbersome. For instance, some loads had as many as 20 emails going back and forth. This was making it difficult for the company to keep track of what was covered. As a result, Corsicana was seeking a transportation management system (TMS) that could increase automation and streamline operations. The company wanted a TMS that would enable new business initiatives.

ODW Logistics, a full-service 3PL provider, was facing challenges with its transportation management system (TMS) which was built in the 1990s for a truckload business. The TMS was not able to support the company's goals to acquire new business and offer differentiated services, especially in the less-than-truckload (LTL) and brokerage environment. The company needed a TMS that could support the non-asset sides of the business and leverage its in-house database and development expertise. It was also important for the new TMS to support and strengthen the company's competitive advantage of delivering fast, customized services that allowed customers to adjust to changing market demands.

Bestway Freight Solutions, a high-growth 3PL, was looking to improve its technology and expand its LTL business for continued growth. The company had outgrown its transportation management system (TMS), which was causing it to miss out on opportunities. The company needed a TMS that would allow faster execution on each load each day, enable rapid carrier onboarding, and provide customers with instant access to their accounts. The company's growth ambitions required the ability to serve its customers' TL and LTL needs. Winning both award types from its largest customers would allow Bestway to move from a TL-LTL split of around 95/5 to 50/50. Executives also knew that growth through headcount alone was a risky proposition, so a fundamental technology change was needed.

Crane Worldwide Logistics needed to find a technology solution to serve as the backbone for their new managed transportation business unit. As a massive provider of other logistics services, Crane had technologies in place for their freight and brokerage divisions. However, these technologies were broker-only platforms, which lacked the 3PL functionality and scalability that Crane required for managed transportation services. The Crane team had previous experience with other full-service TMS platforms and wanted a solution they could configure to their needs while maximizing their value and ROI. Crane also wanted a technology that let them scale globally to support their customers worldwide.

NFI, a fully integrated North American supply chain solutions provider, was using two TMS platforms to operate its business. Due to NFI’s growth and its evolving levels of sophistication, the company identified opportunities to expand their technological focus to maximize productivity in an effort to pass on savings to customers. The company was facing challenges in managing cross-docking from a consolidation or visibility standpoint. The legacy TMS couldn't handle the complexity of cross-docking, creating gaps in the process.

Crowley Logistics Inc., a subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corp., sought to bid on the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) largest surface transportation contract to date. The scale and complexity of this project was a first for Crowley, requiring it to establish a new department to support the work and partner with a transportation management system (TMS) provider that could address the complexity and demands of the contract, specifically the execution of the LTL and freight optimization requirements. This project was made even more challenging with the addition of new DoD expectations regarding the frequency and type of communications from Crowley, along with new requirements for freight tendering. When considering TMS providers, Crowley’s approach included the question “How do we accomplish the unknown?” This contract was full of “firsts” for the DoD and for Crowley; the new demands and new business approaches made it imperative to find a fundamentally different kind of TMS that could be responsive to these unknowns.

Rohlig Logistics, a company with over 160 years of experience in global freight forwarding, was in need of a transportation management system (TMS) that could deliver pallet-based rating. This was to serve Rohlig’s many LTL carriers that dealt with very heavy pallets. To the best of Rohlig’s knowledge, no TMS provider had this capability. This posed a significant challenge as it limited Rohlig's ability to efficiently manage and optimize their logistics processes.

Green Circle Growers is planning to leverage 3Gtms to support additional logistics services provided by the Fresh2U Transportation organization. The company is currently working on process flows and documenting those processes in order to adapt the 3Gtms transportation management system to its future LSP needs. On the other hand, Vesta Freight, a startup freight brokerage founded by industry veterans, recognized a significant market opportunity. They were committed to building a solid foundation for scalable, and sustainable business growth starting day one. For Vesta, the first investment was the right TMS. They selected 3G’s TMS and leveraged its Smart Start templated implementation.

Capstone Logistics, a third-party logistics provider (3PL) with a long history in freight brokerage, identified managed transportation as an ideal growth opportunity. This move would allow the company to expand and diversify its product offerings, complementing its transactional brokerage business with an end-to-end solution. Regardless of current conditions, managed transportation provides both growth and stability. For Capstone, it also presented an opportunity to apply decades of industry knowledge to helping small-to-midmarket shippers navigate uncertain times. However, to execute on its growth strategy, Capstone required TMS software built from the ground up for managed transportation – software that could serve as a “single source” for running the division.

Seal Shield, a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade hygenic technology, was experiencing a healthy growth rate averaging around 15% year-over-year. By 2012, the company needed a true ERP and chose NetSuite. In 2019, Seal Shield decided to relocate its operation and warehouse function from the west coast to a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse on the east coast. This move was supposed to increase efficiency and help the team prepare for unpredictability. However, the team found itself spending significant time developing processes and managing training of its outsourcing partner; an arrangement designed to create efficiencies consequently had the opposite effect. As Seal Shield began to address the pressures that came with a rapid rise in demand, Pacejet became a key component of building a world-class, in-house, distribution operation.

Portacool, a manufacturer and distributor of cooling equipment, was facing challenges in maintaining its aggressive growth trajectory due to its 30-year-old ERP system. The company needed a solution that would not only facilitate growth but would never be outgrown. The company also needed to import 30 years’ worth of data in a matter of months, making that data accessible, and allowing monthly books to be closed in two days rather than two weeks. Additionally, Portacool was dealing with more customer orders than manufacturing capacity, which was a stressful situation. Shipping inefficiencies were compounding and magnifying the complexities of an integrated manufacturing-distribution business. Timely, accurate processing and information sharing, both internally and with customers, was key to maintaining customer satisfaction and trust.

AmerCareRoyal, a leading manufacturer and distributor of disposable food packaging products, was looking to distinguish itself as a differentiated fulfillment partner to its customers. The company's growth depended on its ability to lower costs and improve service. The logistics team was spending a significant portion of the day manually reaching out to brokers and carriers via email, to request quotes and book loads. This process was time-consuming and inefficient. Additionally, AmerCareRoyal was not utilizing capacity efficiently. When manually consolidating loads into multi-stop truckload combo shipments, the team completed about 150-200 per month. The company was also a heavy user of LTL, and the team was looking for ways to reduce its monthly LTL shipments without reducing the amount of product shipped.

Koss, a Milwaukee-based manufacturer, distributor, and retailer of high-quality headphones, faced challenges as its operations grew more complex. The company needed to retire its aging, on-premises ERP system and move to a cloud-based solution. As Koss expanded, particularly with a significant channel partner like Amazon, it encountered difficulties managing ultra-high-volume shipments. Amazon orders could exceed 500 packages, requiring Koss to consolidate shipments and manually generate ASN labels, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. The manual process took 20-30 minutes per shipment, increasing the risk of human error and inefficiencies.

Before implementing Pacejet, Chicago Music Exchange faced challenges with their existing homegrown processes and a mix of supply chain tools that did not communicate efficiently. This inefficiency was particularly evident in their onboarding process, where new crew members took over two months to get acclimated to the processes and learn all the SKUs for the items. Additionally, they had to figure out the placement of items within the warehouse, which further complicated the onboarding process. The company needed a solution that could automate parts of their process to reduce the time spent on onboarding and help them grow as they worked to scale their operations. The inefficiencies in their shipping processes also led to a high number of mis-ships, which affected customer confidence and satisfaction.

The need to implement an efficient, easy-to-use, integrated shipping process with NetSuite was just the starting point for the team at ursource. Daily shipments to more than 4,000 locations, next-day deliveries and unique handling requirements of orders meant new opportunities to leverage regional parcel delivery services in addition to national parcel shipping for better customer service at a lower cost. The team also wanted a solution flexible enough to optimize parcel deliveries with freight (LTL) shipping to implement techniques such as zone skipping to reduce shipping costs.

Working in their Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI) environment for shipping with CSI’s out-of-the-box solution wasn’t going to meet their needs based on shipping volume alone. Syntron needed a platform to help them manage their heavy shipping volume and also had compatibility with 3PLs. They landed on Pacejet for a few reasons. In addition to having relationships with Syntron’s 3PLs of choice, Pacejet also didn’t require extensive time from Syntron’s internal team on implementation.

Rhomar Industries faced significant challenges in managing freight costs due to the manual and time-consuming process of entering shipping data into multiple carrier websites and software tools. This process was not only labor-intensive but also prone to errors, leading to inflated shipping costs. Additionally, Rhomar needed a solution to efficiently manage the information required for shipping hazardous materials. The company sought a way to streamline the freight quoting process, reduce errors, and find the best freight costs across multiple carriers.

Regina Andrew faced significant challenges with their existing shipping processes, which were heavily reliant on manual tasks and prone to inaccuracies. The labor-intensive process involved prestaging orders and manually entering data on carrier sites, leading to discrepancies in shipping rates and additional expenses when customers demanded refunds for rate differences. The company also struggled with centralizing and integrating data within their NetSuite ERP, which hindered their ability to provide robust reporting on billed charges and costs. As Regina Andrew began to grow, the scalability of their shipping process became a pressing issue, necessitating a solution that could streamline operations and connect seamlessly with their existing ERP system.

In 2018, Premier 1 Supplies realized that its existing on-premises ERP system was no longer sufficient to support its growth ambitions. The system was becoming a bottleneck, particularly in terms of staffing and service requirements, which were becoming increasingly burdensome given the company's rural Iowa location. The need for a more scalable and flexible solution was evident, especially as the company was experiencing rapid growth in its e-commerce sales. The limitations of the previous system were highlighted during the global pandemic in 2020, which saw a surge in demand for backyard poultry and small farmstead supplies. The existing ERP system would not have been able to handle the increased volume of orders efficiently. Premier 1 Supplies needed a solution that could support its growth without requiring a proportional increase in headcount.

Power Curbers faced the challenge of consolidating operations across three companies acquired during a merger, each using different software systems. The need for a unified software stack was critical to function as a single, larger entity. Additionally, the company had to keep up with the growing demand for curb-paving equipment driven by the booming U.S. housing market and international infrastructure projects. This included managing the demand for service and replacement parts, which, although a small revenue segment, constituted a significant portion of shipping activities. The complexity of post-merger integration and the need for efficient shipping solutions were significant hurdles.

Okuma Fishing, a California-based wholesale supplier of sport fishing gear, faced challenges in managing its growth effectively. The company needed a more robust ERP solution to handle its expanding operations and selected NetSuite for this purpose. However, understanding the importance of integrating ERP with shipping solutions, Okuma also decided to upgrade its shipping solution to Pacejet. The challenge was not only to streamline operations but also to ensure that the integration of these systems would lead to tangible improvements in processing speed, sales, and employee roles. The global pandemic added another layer of complexity, causing some warehouse attrition, but Okuma was determined to maintain productivity and even increase the number of orders processed despite a reduced headcount.

Mercury Promotions & Fulfillment faced challenges with their existing shipping systems, which were disjointed and on-premise, lacking essential features like label functionality, rate shopping, and sophisticated scanning or packing capabilities. These limitations led to errors in the shipment process and restricted scalability beyond two workstations, hindering warehouse output as volumes increased. Additionally, the company sought to reduce manual labor time and costs while finding cost-effective shipping methods.

Intelligentsia, a specialty coffee producer, faced challenges with its existing ERP system as the company grew and took on strategic investments. The existing system was inadequate for meeting operational, reporting, and growth objectives. The company needed a modern system to handle its multi-channel model, which includes direct and distribution wholesale, retail, and e-commerce customers. The bottlenecks in fulfillment, particularly in matching shipping lists and labels, were significant hurdles. The company was unable to fulfill orders efficiently, leading to missed shipment targets and operational inefficiencies.

EventStable faced significant challenges in managing their shipping operations as their business expanded. The company relied on multiple websites and systems to obtain shipping quotes and fulfill orders, which led to cumbersome processes and inefficiencies. The lack of integration between systems meant that shipping prices had to be calculated manually by comparing carriers, resulting in a time-consuming and error-prone process. As shipping was one of their largest cost centers, EventStable recognized the need for a more efficient solution to streamline their operations and reduce costs.

DIY Home Center, a company founded in 2004, aimed to be the leading online vendor for parts and hardware for decks and homes. They faced challenges in managing their shipping operations efficiently due to the use of multiple systems and portals. With around 1,000 shipments daily, they needed a solution to streamline their operations and provide transparency in shipping to customers across the United States. The existing setup required their warehouse team to log into multiple systems, making it difficult to maintain a balanced workflow. Additionally, shipping was their second biggest cost center, with over half a million dollars spent annually, necessitating a cost-effective solution.

CMP Corporation, a leader in HVAC inventory, faced challenges with their manual shipment entry process. Shipping to about 3,000 clients in over 95 countries, they needed a solution to streamline visibility, manage shipment prices, and store data in one location. Their mission to execute excellence in fast, efficient shipping required a system that could support their competitive advantage of offering 72-hour shipments. The manual process was time-consuming and prone to errors, impacting their ability to maintain low costs and high efficiency.

BarProducts.com faced challenges with multiple, separate software systems for shipping, leading to inefficiencies and increased labor costs. As the e-commerce landscape evolved with customers expecting free or low-cost shipping, and competitors like Amazon entering the market, BarProducts.com needed to maintain its competitive edge. The company was manually rate-shopping to find the best shipping prices and using multiple shipping software applications to process orders. This resulted in about a dozen different software applications, process gaps, missing data, and a lot of manual work to keep up with growing order volumes. Without clear visibility of items shipped in boxes and no centralized shipping data, customer service struggled to keep up with customer tracking requests.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, alphabroder|Prime faced a significant challenge when one of their employees tested positive for the virus, leading to the quarantine of their entire shipping staff at the Connecticut location. This left the company with no time to find alternative staffing resources, as more than 10 employees were quarantined. The company was left with only two employees available to fulfill onsite shipping requirements, both of whom had no prior shipping experience. The situation was dire as alphabroder|Prime needed to continue their shipping operations to maintain business continuity and meet customer demands. Before the pandemic, alphabroder|Prime used various platforms, solutions, and portals to ship products, which required different licenses and translation tools for the ERP. The company had many workstations with specific shippers trained to man certain stations, making it difficult to adapt quickly to the sudden staffing shortage.

AllCells faced significant challenges in managing their shipping processes due to the time-sensitive nature of their shipments, which include human tissue and cells for research purposes. The company was manually entering each shipment into a separate portal, which was time-consuming and prone to errors. This manual process made it difficult to handle changes on the fly and to ensure timely delivery of their products. The need for a more efficient and reliable shipping solution was critical to support their growing global business and to maintain customer satisfaction.