Advanced ERP for a top US logistics company

We delivered this project for a well-known US transportation and logistics company. When the customer approached us with a request, they had around 60 employees, including truck drivers as well as office staff. Aristek united all the client’s processes in one convenient application. As a result, employee productivity was improved by 23% and fuel expenditure was decreased by 31%.

ERP Logistics

USA

Logistics/Transportation

6+ months

Challenge

There were several problems that had to be addressed.

Firstly, truck routing had to be automated. It used to be done with Excel spreadsheets and the optimization was as good as the people working on it.

Secondly, there was a matter of cargo consolidation. Planning the optimal load for each truck and the optimal transportation for each load. This should also take into account the fuel expenditure and possible idle time.

Thirdly, the client needed to monitor their trucks’ position wherever they may be and receive timely updates on the status of the delivery for each load.

Finally, the exchange of information and documents between the truckers and the office needed to be sped up.

Process

The customer’s strengths lay in business management and fleet operations, not IT. So we began with finding what the client needed and translating it into specific actionable requirements.

After the discovery phase was over, the business owner remained involved in the project as a subject matter expert, along with the Chief Business Development Officer.

Stages of the Development Process

1
Business Analysis
Studying all the aspects of the customer’s business to accurately transfer the existing processes into the new application.
2
Prototyping
Making a mock-up of a system allowed the client to get a feel of how it would work in real life and adjust the requirements accordingly.
3
Maintenance & Improvements
A major system like this can be tweaked and upgraded indefinitely, so we keep working on it, adding features that the client requests.
4
Scope of Work
Compiling a document that described the concept of the system, its parts, specific requirements it had to fit, and the timeline for the delivery of each.
5
Iterative Development
Each module of the system (Customer Relations, Fleet Management, etc.) was developed in turn and released when ready. This let the customer’s employees learn them without being overwhelmed, and allowed the company to start getting value sooner.

Solution

Step-by-step, we delivered a full-fledged ERP containing the following modules:

Customer Relations Management
Human Resource Management
Fleet Management
Transportation Management
Customer Module (to let them track their cargo and decrease the workload of the client’s employees)
Vendor Management
Finance & Accounting
Order Management
Mobile App

The system allowed role-based access to the features for better information security. In addition, it let the client abandon the multitude of applications in favor of one convenient solution.

Also, releasing each module separately allowed us to train the customer’s employees gradually, letting them get accustomed to the new system and appreciate its value. This both increased the customer’s ROI and decreased the internal resistance to change.