With about 19,000 employees, this global chemical company maintains operations in 50 countries and has research centers in Asia, Europe, and North America. With leadership positions in all its markets with a portfolio of internationally recognized brands, it has built a mature, industry-leading global logistics organization to address its highly complex mix of logistics and transportation requirements.

Request

Historically, the company had used the Kewill Transport (TMS) solution in North America while relying on basic capabilities in its ERP system for transportation management in other regions. This shipper identified the need for a single, global solution. It also recognized the value of a SaaS-based transportation management system (TMS) that could optimize freight flows across regions and modes of transportation. Following an extensive evaluation of the TMS market, the company identified that just one solution could meet all of its requirements: the Kewill-Transport solution as proposed and deployed by CLX Logistics.

Approach

The selection was made in mid-2014 in conjunction with the firm’s decision to deploy the SAP Supply Chain Management suite throughout its global operations. Indeed, the company’s information technology (IT) strategy mirrors its corporate strategy of integrating global processes and management teams. The overarching goal: to streamline its supply chain across multiple, interconnected business units and across multiple geographies. The new CLX Logistics solution went live just months later, in the winter of 2014.

Results

Today, this global shipper is using the Kewill-CLX Logistics solution enterprise wide—across all business units, all modes of transportations, and in and across all global regions. The solution is supporting a number of key business outcomes:

• Automation of freight planning, execution, accounting, and freight payment processes is driving significant efficiencies across all transport-related activities, improved adherence to procurement strategies, highly accurate freight cost accruals, and tight control over freight payment accuracy.
• Close integration between its SAP supply chain planning solution and transportation planning and execution creates transparency and visibility—in a single platform and on a global scale—to freight planning, shipments in transit, carrier performance, and freight costs.
• This shipper is now able to optimize the application of its contracts and relationships with transport providers, generate system-wide cost and performance reporting and KPIs, and realize economies of scale across businesses and geographies.