Success Story High Tech

Multi-modal, Logistics Company Modernizes 3PL Platform

Our client is a third-party logistics provider offering a global network of freight forwarding solutions with a multi-modal platform serving more than 10,000 Clients and producing revenues of over $700 million annually.

The company’s non-asset business model depended on a locally-based network of over 130 Agent Stations. This enables it to provide a one-stop solution for all of its client’s logistics needs including 24/7 support. However, this model also required the company to interact with multiple transportation management systems (TMS), creating fragmentation that made it more difficult to manage, and created a sub-optimal customer experience. It also made the company’s back-office processes very cumbersome.

  • 3rd party logistics services

    3rd party logistics services

  • Nationwide network of 130+ agents

    Nationwide network of 130+ agents

  • More than 10,000 clients

    More than 10,000 clients

3PL EDI Platform Modernization Services

The company wanted to reduce its dependency on these multiple external TMS systems and provide an integrated solution to improve service levels and drive efficiencies in its back-office. Apexon was engaged to help the company create a single application for all 3PL services. This included migrating from its existing on-premise application to the cloud and enabling self-service on the platform for customers and partners.

The customer journey

2014

2015

2017

2018

2019

2021

2022

2014
  • Greenfield project (at RRD) with 4 Scrum teams + Onsite UX & tech leads

2015
  • Go-live with MVP

2017
  • Additional Scrum team and onsite tech lead

2018
  • Configurable Rating logic

2019
  • Payment gateway

2021
  • Azure migration (spin off from RRD) from on-premise

2022
  • TMS Solution started with 4 additional Scrum teams + 3 onsite resources

The challenge

Consolidating Multiple 3PL Services onto a Single Platform

The company offers a comprehensive set of logistics services to its customers that deliver significant economies of scale, the customer’s choice of carriers, and access to all transportation modes. Its full menu of services include:

LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload)

LTL (Less Than Truckload) and TL (Truckload)

Airfreight (Domestic and International)

Airfreight (Domestic and International)

Ocean freight

Ocean freight

Trade show services

Trade show services

White glove services

White glove services

Parcel

Parcel

Intermodal (IMD)

Intermodal (IMD)

Expedited ground

Expedited ground

To coordinate these different services across its agent network, our client was dependent on multiple external TMS systems. This complexity made it more difficult to manage these services and compromised the solutions and user experience it could offer its customers and partners. It also created a number of inefficiencies in its back-office operations.

The company wanted to reduce its dependency on these external TMS systems and provide a one-stop solution to improve service levels for customers while also making its back-office operations more efficient. This would require expertise and focus in several key areas:

Building a modern digital platform

Building a modern digital platform while easing the transition from its existing legacy-based systems

Upgrading its IT infrastructure

Upgrading its IT infrastructure to support new market demands across a range of stations and customers

Building a flexible, self-service platform

Building a flexible, self-service platform for its customers that would add transparency

Ensuring ease of implementation and use

Ensuring ease of implementation and use

Enabling the easy addition of new functionality

Enabling the easy addition of new functionality to address evolving customer requirements

Streamlining internal operations

Streamlining internal operations to make the company more agile and efficient

The Solution

Best-in-Class 3PL Services in the Cloud

The engagement was built around a managed services contract that leveraged Apexon’s expertise across multiple technologies and methodologies:

The company engaged with Apexon to design and engineer a single, best-in-class application that integrated for all of its 3PL services onto a common platform including Transportation (Rating, Quote & Shipments, Tracking), Admin and Financial (Invoice & Online Payments), and a flexible rating engine. It also had to manage customer and agent stations onboarding and maintenance, and provide detailed reporting and analysis dashboards.

Migration from on-premise to Azure cloudDevOps

Migration from on-premise to Azure cloudDevOps

Agile – Scrum for delivery process

Agile – Scrum for delivery process

Azure DevOps for backlog and repository management

Azure DevOps for backlog and repository management

Azure cloud native solutions

Azure cloud native solutions

BDD – User acceptance criteria for business requirements

BDD – User acceptance criteria for business requirements

TDD and SOLID principles for development methodology

TDD and SOLID principles for development methodology

Side-by-side feature migration

Side-by-side feature migration

Trunk-based branching for source control

Trunk-based branching for source control

OAuth 2.0 for security

OAuth 2.0 for security

Cannery release/Dark launch using claim-based feature flags

Cannery release/Dark launch using claim-based feature flags

Continues integration and Continues delivery for deployment process

Continues integration and Continues delivery for deployment process

Selenium and Spec-flow for automation scripts

Selenium and Spec-flow for automation scripts

Apexon essentially operated as the company’s IT team with 60+ team members delivering highly maintainable, scalable and testable software to production every 3 weeks.

Outcomes

The one-stop solution for all of company’s 3PL services was called company-Connect and it delivered a whole host of advantages for the company, its customers and its partners:

Outstanding User Experience

Outstanding User Experience for all 3PL service needs

Scalable Architecture

Scalable Architecture To support exponential growth

Higher Service Levels

Higher Service Levels reduced customer onboarding time

Ease of Configuration

Ease of Configuration robust and flexible rating engine

Faster Time to Market for New Ideas

Faster Time to Market for New Ideas through iterative and continuous delivery

Reduced Costs

Reduced Costs through the increased use of automation

Increased Agility & Scale

Increased Agility & Scale Through the use of automation

Easy Access to Performance Data

Easy Access to Performance Data Via intuitive reporting dashboards