Hercules Inc. is on a mission to eliminate packaging supplier headaches and simplify outdoor amenity projects. Founded in 1993, Hercules provides playground equipment, pet equipment, packaging and food service distribution to other businesses.
With a multi-modal network including three shipping locations, Hercules needed a solution to complement their existing transportation strategy across less-than-truckload (LTL), truckload and small parcel. As they anticipated significant business growth, they connected with several managed transportation providers to assist with optimization of their transportation network, in addition to implementing a Transportation Management System (TMS) and strategy along with audit and payment of carrier invoices.
Solution:
Transportation Insight was selected due to their ability to provide a collaborative, tailored solution compared to other providers’ one-size-fits-all approach. For technology, Hercules sought a TMS solution that could be modified to fit their unique needs based on each of their divisions. Along with the ability to support contracted rates across truckload and LTL, they also needed a bid board to support spot shipments.
TI’s Insight TMS was implemented to help Hercules support all shipments across modes. They had no Freight Audit and Payment program, requiring their own Accounting team to support the payment of over 40 carrier invoices weekly. TI began Freight Audit and Payment of all Hercules invoices to provide a single weekly invoice to Hercules and audit the invoices for any corrections. With the data from Insight TMS and the Freight Audit and Payment data, Beon Insight, TI’s proprietary reporting technology, was able to give the Hercules team a holistic view of their transportation spend and the ability to uncover areas of opportunity. This data is then leveraged by the entire supply chain team at Hercules to keep their strategy on track.
Benefit:
The implementation of Transportation Insight’s comprehensive solution led to significant benefits for Hercules. The consolidation of freight invoices from 42 per week to just one per week streamlined the accounting process and improved operational efficiency. Moreover, the Freight Audit and Payment initiative alone resulted in a cost reduction of 1.5% over 12 months.
As Hercules’s business grew by 4X in a single year, their transportation strategy was not a bottleneck to future growth. Transportation Insight’s tailored approach and comprehensive transportation solutions enabled Hercules to address their specific challenges, streamline their transportation operations, and realize significant cost savings, ultimately contributing to the optimization of their supply chain.
“To say I am enthusiastic about Transportation Insight is an understatement. For us, a lot of the technology out there is a flash in the pan and not built for logistics teams that use it day in and day out. But that’s the difference with TI, it was built for the people who have to use it daily. It also can be customized and isn’t one size fits all.” – Tim Dewald, Director of Supply Chain
