Boone Brands, a company with a history dating back to 1942, is known for delivering quality canned products. However, keeping up with the ever-demanding supply chain industry was a challenge. The company needed a solution that could help them save time, contribute positively to their bottom line, and support the growth of their business while mitigating rising freight costs. They also needed a system that could allow them to compare all their carrier rates on one screen to select the lowest cost carrier for each shipment.

In 2016, 180 Innovations began experiencing a rapid period of growth, which necessitated a shift from small parcel shipments via the postal service to LTL shipping. With these increased freight needs, the company realized the need to optimize their processes rather than scaling an old system. The company was looking for a solution that could handle their increasing business, without needing to scale their previously manual process. The challenge was to find a system that could rate, book and track shipments with ease as well as automatically create BOLs.

Inmod, a rapidly growing international manufacturer and distributor of furniture, lighting and décor items, was struggling with an inefficient transportation management process. Their logistics team could spend up to 15 minutes to quote a single shipment due to the need to enter shipment information into each of their six carriers' websites to receive a rate quote. As the company continued to grow, this time-consuming process was identified as an area in need of improvement.

Coatings & Adhesives (C&A) is a manufacturer of coatings, adhesives, and polymers for the printing and graphic arts industries. The company sells their products across the United States as well as internationally to distributors and end users. For years, C&A used a third party logistics provider (3PL) to manage their freight operations. The prospect of change was daunting for the organization, but high freight expenses, limited carrier scope and poor service from their 3PL pushed C&A into considering other options. When considering this change, C&A’s main goals were to reduce freight costs, gain visibility and accessibility to carriers, and improve the efficiency of their supply chain operations.

Until 2016, Hanover Foods Corporation was using a manual freight management process which was long and arduous. The company was in need of an automated, feature-rich, TMS platform. They wanted a solution that would vastly improve the visibility across its transportation network. Some of the key requirements during the selection process included the ability to quickly generate accurate reports concerning the prior week’s on-time deliveries. The company also wanted to digitize its manual accounts payable process, which often took five or more hours a month for the controller to manage.

Holman Parts Distribution was facing several operational and financial challenges. Operationally, the company was struggling with cost overages due to inefficient carrier selection, poor on-time delivery rates, and a lack of supply chain visibility. Financially, the company was allocating too many human resources to manual freight invoicing and frequently paying incorrect invoices. These challenges prompted the company to search for a transportation management system (TMS) in the fall of 2015.

Hyperline Cabling Systems was dissatisfied with their third-party logistics provider (3PL) and recognized the need to regain control of their logistics operations by implementing a transportation management system (TMS). They found that their 3PL would dictate which carriers they could and could not use. This was a problem for Hyperline because not all of the carriers that they wanted to ship with were “approved” carriers. By not being able to choose their desired carriers, Hyperline couldn’t take advantage of lower rates, better service types and price competition. Another deficiency in using a 3PL was the lack of visibility to loads. With the 3PL, some of Hyperline’s loads would be turned into handoff loads, meaning that the carrier that picked up the freight was not the one that delivered it.

Vaxcel International, a manufacturer and distributor of home lighting and fan solutions, was looking for a transportation management system (TMS) that would not limit them to traditional processes. Their main concern was maintaining strong carrier relationships without compromising on efficiencies. Many TMS providers they had dealt with in the past were directly connected to one carrier or another, making it difficult to gain an impartial perspective on freight rates. They wanted to be able to objectively view all available rates, book them, and manage the process all from one location without sacrificing valued partnerships they have developed over the years.

AMMEX, a global importer of disposable gloves, was facing challenges in consolidating processes into a single transportation management system. The company needed a TMS that could integrate with Microsoft Dynamics and connect to a variety of LTL carriers. The system also needed to scale to incorporate container tracking and be usable by multiple departments within the organization. The company was shipping between 80 – 100+ LTL shipments every day from their domestic warehouse locations and needed a system to streamline their logistics operations and make shipping processes more transparent.

Master Magnetics, a company that manufactures and distributes magnets and magnetic devices, was facing challenges in their logistics operations. They had no previous experience with a Transportation Management System (TMS) and were initially uninterested in adding technology to their operations. The company ships roughly 500 – 600 pallets worth of magnets each month to retailers, resellers, wholesalers, and distributors nation-wide. Some of their products are still in their raw form and others are pre-packaged and ready for resale. The logistics team ships between 40 – 50 LTL shipments each day. The company was looking for a solution that could help them realize significant financial ROI by leveraging technology while simultaneously saving time rating and booking freight.

Show Me Global Logistics, a national broker and logistics provider, was facing the challenge of connecting with shippers who may not be aware of their services. They were also looking for a way to fill available capacity on a spot basis. The company was seeking a solution that would allow them to quickly and easily connect with hundreds of shippers without adding to their headcount and save time finding freight to fill empty assets.

Sensata Technologies, a company that ships over 1.1 billion units globally each year from 12 international locations using a variety of modes, was facing challenges in managing their complex supply chain. The company was seeking a more effective way to manage transportation operations with the help of technology. Their goals were to reduce costs, identify areas needing improvement, and gain visibility, traceability and control of global logistics operations. The company needed a technology solution that could flex with their needs due to the complicated nature of shipping product internationally.

Summit Supply, a family-owned direct importer of high-quality rubber tracks, undercarriage wear parts, rubber track pads, and flatproof solid tires for equipment, was facing a challenge with their manual order creation process. The process was time-consuming and prone to errors as it relied on team members entering orders one-by-one into different carrier websites. The objective was to automate the order creation process to save time, avoid human error, and operate in a centralized transportation management system.

Veterinary and Poultry Supply, Inc. (VPSI) has been a family-owned business for 60 years, distributing a wide variety of animal health and nutritional products. As their business began to expand regionally, they faced the challenge of managing new carrier relationships and an increased number of orders. Previously, VPSI relied on their sales team to hand-deliver the majority of their products to customers. However, as the business grew beyond the sales team’s ability to hand-deliver all orders, VPSI needed a solution to manage these new relationships, free up time for the sales team, and ensure customer satisfaction.

Gunner Kennels, a manufacturer of safe, durable dog kennels, was managing their freight through a 3PL, which had proven to be an expensive option. The issue of added costs became especially apparent as Gunner Kennels began experiencing a period of growth. The company needed a transportation management system that would be just as reliable as their products. They were looking for a solution that could manage multiple carriers, compare rates, and avoid additional fees from 3PLs.

Monarch Brands, a Philadelphia-based wholesaler and manufacturer of microfiber, commercial linen, institutional towels, and wiper rags, had a manual supply chain operation that was time-consuming and inefficient. The company had two dedicated employees fielding phone calls all day from their seven different carriers, recording everything in an Excel spreadsheet, and manually comparing rates before booking. The company didn’t have time to take inventory and were ‘in the dark’ about a lot of their data. The leadership at Monarch Brands knew there had to be a smarter way to manage their operations, so in late 2018 they brought in Conrad Hough as their Shipping Supervisor. Hough has extensive experience in implementing technology into supply chain operations.

Challenger, one of Canada’s largest privately owned transportation and logistics companies, was facing a challenge in expanding their footprint and bringing in new business. They needed to find new customers and build direct partnerships with them. However, this was proving to be a difficult task as small details like product information and drop-off location often slipped through the cracks. The dynamic nature of freight made it difficult for Challenger to identify target lanes, find new customers and meet their detailed requirements.

Grandville Printing, a third-generation family-owned business and the largest single-site printer in North America, was facing challenges with its home-grown shipping platform. The platform required constant updating, especially when a carrier changed their website, which wasted valuable time for their developers. The platform also didn't integrate information with EFI Monarch, the company's ERP, resulting in wasted time, limited visibility, and slower operations. The company tried leveraging their ERP’s shipping software to integrate data flows and condense operations, but found that this solution lacked the ease of use and functionality they required.

Pioneer Valley Books was facing a challenge with their previous process which was highly manual and didn’t allow for rating with multiple carriers. Their freight spend was only understood on a macro level and they couldn’t audit every invoice for discrepancies due to time constraints. The company was leveraging stand-alone shipping apps, rate aggregators tied to specific carriers, and map-based platforms intermittently. This meant the logistics team at Pioneer Valley Books needed to copy a lot of data back and forth manually, wasting time and limiting the amount of rate comparison possible. As the company’s LTL and parcel freight began to expand rapidly, their home-grown solution wasn’t flexible enough for their long-term needs.