How to track goods in real-time across all modes of transport, globally?

Problem

ChemicalCo. struggled with information latency about their goods-delivery reporting. The company was caught off-guard when customers called to inquire about goods whereabouts in case of delays. This negatively impacted customer satisfaction and ChemicalCo’s NPS score. Thus, ChemicalCo. sought to identify a solution that would allow real-time tracking of goods.

Situation

ChemicalCo.’s outbound logistics is managed by a third party transportation management system (3PL-TMS) provider. However, the TMS lacked the capability of providing real-time visibility of in-transit goods. This resulted in ChemicalCo. learning about the delay, in some cases, days later or when a customer would call ChemicalCo.’s customer service enquiring about the delivery delay.

ChemicalCo. utilized SprintlyWorks team to accelerate solutions on this visibility issue. SprintlyWorks team undertook a time-bound sprint to enable progress on the challenge for faster decision making.

Our approach

SprintlyWorks team helped ChemicalCo. in two areas:

1. Identify possible approaches to solve the tracking problem
2. Rank solution providers by analysing their capabilities and fit with ChemicalCo. needs

Methodology

SCG conducted a three-phase project:

Phase 1: Understand and prioritize stakeholders’ key requirements

The downstream supply chain involved multiple internal stakeholders, therefore the first step was to list each stakeholder’s requirements for a solution. Through in-depth interviews and workshops,Phase 2: Identify solution approaches and list vendors key criteria for the solution were identified.

Phase 2: Identify solution approaches and list vendors

Two approaches were identified for tracking:

• Milestone-based solutions – Near real-time solution where location information throughout the route is shared in timely intervals
• Real-time solutions – True real-time solution where freight movement is tracked automatically from beginning to end of the route. The real-time approach was selected for further deep-dive

Phase 3: Solution fit analysis

Nine real-time solutions providers were pre-selected based on ChemicalCo’s requirements. Upon further deep-dive, three platforms were selected for critical analysis and benchmarked as per the following criteria: real time depth, carrier coverage, predictive capability, solution portfolio and business model.

Results

SprintlyWorks team provided ChemicalCo. with:

1. An in-depth understanding of its key cost levers
2. A detailed landscape of the real-time solution market
3. Information about the internal structuring needed for a solution to be implemented

These solutions reduced the time needed for ChemicalCo. to progress towards the next step items by 6 months.