Thoughts:
Ø
Key words here are “working together”, “VAI
strives”, “help customers”, “enhances our offerings”.
Ø
VAI is a company that is always looking to
improve operational efficiency which drives profitability for their
customers. A win-win. If there customers do well, then they do, but
the key is the customer comes first.
The integration of AgileElite and VAI’s S2K has so far
vastly improved rating, routing, planning, optimization, execution and
reconciliation capabilities. This has resulted in a reduction of employee
resources and errors in invoice reconciliation, and has provided transportation
visibility and control that will set the stage for renegotiation of their
carrier contracts providing a 10-20% reduction of transportation costs.
Thoughts:
Ø
“Vastly improved…” is an indication the results are
significant.
Ø
Reduction of employee resources and errors is a
good thing.
Ø
Greater visibility and control resulting in
reduction of costs is also a good thing.
The return on
investment is estimated to be less than one year.
Berk’s old approach involved manual processes such as
using carrier-supplied systems and third party freight brokers. There was no method of comparing
transportation options across multiple modes of delivery and no routing to
determine the best cost or time in transit. All processes were previously conducted
offline from VAI’s S2K ERP application. After
consulting with VAI, Berk identified Agile Network as a prime candidate to
provide a comprehensive transportation solution.
Thoughts:
Ø
Manual anything is a gap that will increase
costs, errors and overhead in any operation regardless of the solution. This is an industry constant.
Ø
Having more information to compare improves
decision making.
Ø
Comprehensive, in this case, means we are
looking at more information in a consolidated way.
Agile was selected based on their best practices approach
to measuring, controlling and reducing transportation costs by leveraging their
AgileElite transportation management system. Close attention was also paid to
Agile’s ability to implement rapidly and provide seamless integration to VAI’s
S2K ERP application.
Thoughts:
Ø
I would select them too, if they could actually
deliver consolidated industry information, offer seamless integration and great
ROI.
SITUATION SUMMARY
·
Manual and offline processes used.
·
No control or visibility of transportation costs.
·
No method of comparing options across multiple
modes of delivery.
·
No method to measure, verify or contain carrier
costs.
Thoughts:
Ø
These are common traits distribution and
manufacturing companies deal with.
Ø
None of them are good.
Ø
All of them increase costs, errors, and
overhead.
KEY BENEFITS
·
Rapid implementation.
·
Seamless integration to VAI S2K.
·
Reduction of transportation costs.
·
Control and standardization of processes.
·
Accurate freight quotes up front.
·
Reduction of employee resources and errors in
invoice reconciliation.
·
Eliminated the need for an LTL freight broker.
Ø
Rapid implementation means a greater and quicker
ROI (the money you invest is returned with interest).
Ø
Seamless integration means your people do not
have to do anything to make it work.
Ø
Reduction in costs means more profits.
Ø
Control is good.
Ø
Accuracy is good. Customers get what the expect, when they
expect it, at the cost quoted.
Ø
Reallocate employee resources to areas that need
more manpower.
Ø
Eliminate unnecessary resources also controls
costs and increases profit.s
CAPABILITIES
REQUIRED (Berk identified the following key system requirements):
·
Tight integration to VAI’s S2K ERP application,
residing on the IBM iSeries.
·
Deployment of Agile software as invisible
components behind the scenes of VAI's S2K application.
·
Control and visibility of transportation costs
using a best practices methodology.
·
Ability to control the parcel life cycle process.
·
Ability to identify late and lost shipments and
provide complete reconciliations.
Thoughts:
Ø
Tight, seamless integration means less overhead,
a system that works and has great return potential.
Ø
Behind the scenes means someone has done their
job. It means that a coordinated effort
has resulted in positive growth.
Ø
Control and visibility are key components that
management needs to make quicker more accurate decisions.
Ø
Increased accuracy and observability of the
inevitable errors means the profits stay in house.
Conclusion:
It is obvious why VAI has highlighted this success
story. What may not be so clear at first
glance is what happened behind the scenes.
Berks has a true, trusted partner with VAI. This is an invaluable business relationship. Who do you work with now that you consider a
trusted advisor? Do you trust them to
give you solid advice or to point you in the right direction, even if they
cannot help?
Berks took the time to identify an area in need of improvement and worked with their trusted advisor to come up with a solution that did not increase their operational overhead and did what was promised.
Who are you trusting now?
At Dolvin Consulting
we cannot promise the world or that you can even achieve results like what was
noted in this article. We can promise to
do our very best to connect you with the resources you need to move
forward. Remember that the result is
evident in the return on investment and that there will always be upfront costs,
but in the end should you should be able to sleep better at night.
Contact
us today to see how we can help.
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