Logistics Revolution On The World Wide Web
In 18 months what started as a quiet revolution in pay-as-you-use logistics management in real-time on-line has developed into a major multi-user service with almost ?250 million in goods moving through it annually. The service is Deltion’s collaborative and visibility platform CarrierNetOnline www.carriernet.co.uk .
CarrierNetOnline is now the number one pay-as-you use Internet service for collaboration, visibility and transport management.The first user of this service was The HazChem Network www.hazchemnetwork.co.uk . Deltion established and hosted a dedicated online operation for them which went live in October 2004.
Since then CarrierNet has grown to the point where in January 2006 there were seven customers operating collaborative networks with almost 650 shippers and transport companies around the UK. These companies now move more than 102,000 pieces of cargo a month using the network, ranging from small parcels to pallet loads and drums of hazardous chemicals.”The products moved are for all industry sectors, ranging from consumer goods to heavy industry and hazardous chemical materials” said David West, Business Development Director of Deltion www.deltion.co.
uk . “Logistics companies in particular are now aware of the tremendous benefits to be gained by participating in the collaborative supply chain. A particular challenge is the home deliveries market – the solution offers a wide range of benefits including carrier selection, service level choice and alerts of potential service problems.””These CarrierNet user companies do not have to make major investments in IT infrastructure and support.” Mr.
West added. “They log on over the Internet using standard browser technology and using their own secure password. They only pay for the system when they use it and they can link back to their own in-house customers and those of their customers.”Piyush Shah, CEO of Deltion, says that the CarrierNetOnline service allows multiple customers systems running on different servers to communicate in unison and real-time. “This provides the most advanced implementation of Deltion’s collaboration and visibility platform which allows companies to truly leverage the potential of the Internet to revolutionise the way in which companies and users trade and interact with each other” Mr. Shah said.
Deltion offers flexible approaches in ways to use the solution. In addition to the pay-as-you use service hosted for Deltion by hosting specialists, Rackspace, at their European data centre at Heathrow, customers can take the system in house as an intranet system or can sign up for a dedicated system hosted by Deltion. For example, Fortec Pallet www.fortecpallet.com systems are hosted by their European parent at their High Wycombe data centre.
Part of the giant French logistics group Geodis, Fortec uses an extensive network of over 50 independent transport specialists who are able to log on to their CarrierNetOnline dedicated service.The most recent customer for CarrierNetOnline is THB Caretakers, a division of TH Brown of Doncaster. The handling, storage and distribution of fragile and awkward goods – particularly those which are large, heavy or unwieldy – calls for specialist skills. Caretakers has developed the skills and experience required and is conveniently located close to the motorway network in the centre of the UK at Doncaster, South Yorkshire.”The fact that CarrierNetOnline is a web enabled pay-as-you-use system is vital” Mr`Shah said.
“It is simply a fantastic operational tool and invaluable as a business development tool for transport companies”. Mr Shah of Deltion describes the solution as achieving dynamic integration of differing systems used by multiple trading partners. This facilitates communications and inter-change of data between different systems in unison and in real-time.Mr. Shah explained that “The Deltion collaboration and visibility platform for the extended supply chain was designed and developed with over 150 man years of effort. At one stage, the team exceeded 50 engineers over a two and a half year period.
Very few companies can afford to invest in solutions with this amount of development and richness of functionality.”By providing a web based pay-as-you-use service, we have made it possible for the smallest users to take advantages of a solution which very few of the major 3PL companies can offer” Mr. Shah added.
