CarrierNetOnline - The Interview
Do You Really Want To Buy Transport & Logistics Software?
 Piyush Shah, CEO of Deltion does not want you to buy his Transport Management Solution, CarrierNetOnline! In fact, he is convinced you would be wasting money. You would not only be wasting money on buying a software licence; you would be wasting even more in the capital expenditure needed for the hardware and annual maintenance and upgrades.
"But the problems with buying a software licence do not stop there" Mr Shah said. "There is always an extended time needed to deploy the software, and this causes considerable disruption to businesses, with all of the related cost and customer service problems."
If logistics companies are not going to buy software licences, what is the alternative solution? "There is a new model for accessing software, known as On-Demand, and also Software as a Service" Mr Shah said. "At Deltion - www.deltion.co.uk - we have developed a powerful transport solution based on this model called CarrierNetOnline (CNO) and our users pay on a transaction basis. Because CNO is instantly accessible from anywhere, at anytime by anyone using standard browser technology, this makes it possible for organisations to introduce company wide standard systems very rapidly."
This revolutionary approach to providing logistics and transport software resulted in Deltion winning the Institute of Transport Management award for the Web Based Transport Management System of 2007.
A Complete Solution for Transport Operations of All Sizes
Most companies are still lagging behind in the use of information technology to manage their supply chains and logistics. The leaders in IT are usually the very big companies who have spent millions to buy or to develop major customised systems. However, this is not always as beneficial as intended. Upgrades and enhancements are expensive and changing systems can cause major business disruption. But, changing market requirements and customer demands mean that regular changes and upgrades are essential.
Because CNO is web-based and accessible anytime, anywhere by anyone with log-in rights, it has major advantages - including cost factors - over traditional logistics and transport management systems. "Perhaps the key plus is that companies with fleets of all sizes can now take advantage of the most sophisticated software available", Mr Shah told us.
 The Chemicals Division of TDG, one of Britain's largest logistics service providers, has recently selected CarrierNetOnline for tracking pallets throughout their network. TDG chose CarrierNetOnline for its capability to manage orders, scan at every point along the supply chain, and track consignments and resources across depots. Another important factor is that CarrierNetOnline has been specially adapted for operations involving the movement and storage of hazardous goods.
In addition, two major pallet networks using CNO are HazChem (www.hazchemnetwork.co.uk) and Fortec (www.fortecpallet.com). The HazChem service is hosted by Deltion but the Fortec service is hosted by Fortec parent company Geodis. This shows the flexibility of CNO.
Users with Smaller Fleets
"However, many of our users have much smaller fleets but they have the same features as larger users. As their business grows they do not have to change or upgrade the software. It is there waiting for them."
A good example of a CNO customer who is benefiting from the flexibility of the solution is Hurst Transport of Stallingborough in Lincolnshire. Hurst is a member of both the Fortec and HazChem networks, but was so convinced of the benefits that they have now taken the CNO service to run their whole operation, where it is used by their own customers as well as an access point to Fortec and HazChem. Managing Director Graham Hunt is in no doubt about the benefits of CNO. "We are growing largely as a result of being able to offer our customers better information than our competitors, using CNO web technology," Mr Hunt said.
"We offer our customers complete visibility of order progress, full track and trace capability, and the ability to print consignment notes and barcode labels anywhere. We know exactly where a consignment is at any time and when it will be delivered. So do our customers - online anytime."
Another company which is a user in its own right and also a member of Fortec is News Transport. MD David Footitt commented "Our customers have the best of both worlds: visibility in real-time from a system that only the largest companies could afford; coupled with personal service from a small and customer-focused organisation."
Fear of hidden costs
Mr Shah believes that many logistics service providers and other fleet operators are quite rightly afraid of hidden cost and complexity of acquiring logistics management software. Mr Shah said "They fear major disruption to their business during extensive implementation processes. These fears are in fact unfounded because the latest developments in Software as a Service on the web are designed to avoid exactly these problems."
"Because payment is transaction based, this new service model means that for users there is no capital expenditure for software licences, no hardware, no maintenance fees and no upgrade fees. This all means that our customers see an extremely rapid return on their investment."
"Deployment is almost immediate and therefore there is no disruption to the business. Within a matter of days - rather than many months with traditional software implementation - companies have the most advanced software up and running, with a single source of information for company managers, customers and suppliers. This applies to both single and multiple site operations."
CarrierNetOnline Features Lead the Way
With all of these price and cost advantages, do users have to sacrifice features? "Far from it" Mr Shah commented. "Deltion's CarrierNetOnline service is helping forward looking companies of all sizes boost customer service, win new customers and improve profitability - basically, the tools to move ahead of the pack and stay there."
"Using one system, our customers are benefiting from the power to manage sub-contractors, work seamlessly with their customers, partners and networks, use routing and mapping tools to facilitate planning, enable drivers to POD and report exceptions with a standard mobile phone, track vehicles with GPS, bill, and gauge performance of drivers, partners and sub-contractors - across different depots, countries and languages."
"Not only do we compare favourably with traditional software, but because we employ the latest features of Web 2.0 we can do things which other software simply cannot."
"The key to both effectiveness and efficiency in the extended supply chain is the achievement of visibility and the establishment of collaboration," Mr Shah says. He adds, "To achieve this, it is critical that supply chain partners are able to work together in real time and exchange information and resolve problems as they happen - or in some cases even before customers are aware there is a problem."
"CNO already offers this ability to all of its users. This is truly advanced use of 24x7 web access for end-to-end order management and customers are now coming to expect this level of service as a standard - not a nice-to-have extra. We are changing the way that people and companies do business with each other."
So what other features does CNO include? To meet exacting customer service standards, it is essential to be pro-active and either avoid problems or let customers know if something unplanned has occurred. "We have developed a series of management dashboards and exception alerts as standard in CNO. For instance, if a delivery vehicle is held up because of traffic problems a report is generated automatically indicating the knock-on affect on the rest of the day's deliveries. Traffic managers can warn customers of the problem and make alternative arrangements."
New Mobile Technology
Ted Horton, Deltion's Operations Director says that CNO uses existing and emerging forms of mobile technology, including the latest GPS mobile phones. "We are using GPS phone technology to provide real time 24 x 7 track and trace for CNO users" Mr Horton told us. "This provides users with a remarkably cost effective solution providing the most advanced features."
 "We have also developed other mobile phone features, including automatic multi-lingual alerts for drivers. The most popular language for users has been Polish, but we have developed other languages to meet the need of Britain's immigrant driver population", Mr Horton added. "Mobiles are also utilised to provide electronic PoD reporting."
"Most companies work in partnership with other logistics or transport organisations to meet customer needs. It is a difficult task to monitor these partners to identify who is performing best and which ones need to improve their performance. CNO has a built-in solution to this."
"Through a series of customer defined KPIs, it is possible to see which sub-contractors are meeting agreed standards and which are failing. The system also provides for the management of own and contracted resources, both people and vehicles, to track and correct performance."
"We offer a variety of planning tools, including simple map-based planning, time and distance route calculations with driver's hours, or advanced vehicle routing and scheduling."
The Web is the Future for Applications Software
Piyush Shah told us that Software as a Service (SaaS) has been talked about for several years and was originally fanfared as "the end of the desktop PC". Within the transport and logistics sector, Deltion's CarrierNetOnline is one of only a few leading SaaS providers internationally.
Mr Shah said, "Our solution provides access to business functionality remotely as a service, with costs that are aligned with usage, minimal upfront expense, rapid implementation and swift time to value. The investment to get up and running is very low, and very quick. The return on this investment (RoI) is almost instant! However, even better, the service is charged on a transaction basis. This means that you do not have to pay for tomorrow's needs today, you can wait until the business expands and you need more capacity or additional features. In other words not just a case of pay-as-you-go, but you also pay-as-you-grow."
"The Internet is the future for virtually all applications software, with industry giants like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft lining up to support and develop Software as a Service applications" Mr Shah said. "The major developments in these applications are web based and with the new technologies coming along with Web 2.0 there will be major new opportunities for advanced features. The great thing about SaaS is that these developments and features get seamlessly included in your existing software as soon as they become available."
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For further information about this company's activities in the warehouse and logistics industry please contact:
CarrierNetOnline
Tel: 020 8894 3200
www.carriernet.co.uk |
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