As with all industries in the modern world, the field of transportation has changed greatly as new technology enters into general usage. Though these new tech options have affected every company operating in shipping, the biggest changes have been seen amongst the leaders in the field, who use technological advancement to help them better serve a wide range of customer needs. A great example of this trend is Custom Companies, a full-service transportation company that has a consistent history of employing cutting-edge technology to maximize shipping time and efficiency. For anyone interested in the world of transportation, or who has shipping needs of their own, a closer look at the company shows some of the fascinating ways in which this industry is changing.
The company at a Glance
Custom Companies has been known for utilizing the latest technologies since its founding in 1986 by CEO Perry Mandera (https://www.customco.com/careers.html). At that time, the company had a fleet of only two trucks but it was still able to make the most of the technological options at its disposal. Using these technologies it made significant strides towards accomplishing its goal of providing a broad base of transportation solutions under a single roof to its customers. This commitment to service and forward-thinking solutions earned the company notice throughout the world of transportation and it is now recognized as one of the premier options in the industry, with a fleet of over two thousand pieces of equipment at present.
Warehouse Solutions
One of the primary pieces of technology that the company uses is a wide-ranging network that helps to tie together its many domestic warehouses. These warehouses, which help to store and distribute goods across the country, allow the company’s customers to benefit from a cohesive solution to their needs to ship goods quickly and on minimal notice. This ability to distribute shipping nodes also helps to reduce spoilage of perishable products.
In order to accomplish this distributed solution to storing and shipping parcels, the company relies on an all-encompassing warehouse management system that provides customers with complete visibility of their inventory throughout all stages of the shipping process. This visibility begins when a parcel enters the warehouse system and continues until the time it is delivered to its recipient. The system works collaboratively with the company’s fulfillment and pick & pack services while also offering an electronic inventory of each item so that customers can pinpoint exactly where their parcels are in the system (Yelp).
Dock Management System
When a shipment is released from the warehouse management system, it flows seamlessly into the dock management system to allow for web tracking of the shipment throughout delivery. The dock management system utilizes unique barcodes for each shipment, which are tied into destination zip codes, to allow customers to have complete information of shipment status at each stage of the delivery process. The system is completely paperless, which not only helps to improve customer experience through increased efficiency and usability but also helps to reduce the system’s impact on the environment. The system’s efficiency also helps to ensure that items in transit move quickly and in a manner that minimizes errors, claims, and delays.
Web-Based Services
Web services supply the foundation of the customer experience for the company’s many transportation options. Seamlessly connected to both the dock and warehouse management systems, online tools help customers control and monitor every aspect of the transportation process. Usable through the company’s website, these tools have been designed directly from customer needs and feedback. The resultant web-based platform is composed of a variety of features that work in real time to provide some of the most up to date information of any company operating in the industry today.
Customers use the web services for a variety of aspects of the shipping process. Some of the areas that can be controlled and monitored through the platform include tracking and tracing, customized online reporting, and robust accounting. Additionally, reports and accounting can be automated and scheduled to be sent daily, weekly, or monthly. There is also an analytics feature that can provide comprehensive breakdowns of shipments by destination, customer, and time period requested. The platform also has additional XML capabilities and real-time document viewing to further customize customer usability.
Cheetah Dispatch
A large part of what makes the company’s integrated suite of systems work seamlessly together to achieve customer objectives is the custom-made cheetah dispatch software that drives many aspects of the collaboration. The software, which is designed to be a comprehensive and dynamic system which is optimized for intelligent route pickup and delivery, is widely distributed throughout all aspects of the company’s operations. Drivers are equipped with tablets that are connected to the system via satellite to take advantage of the software’s benefits in terms of route planning and parcel handling.
The software, which has earned praise across the field, allows for a more seamless experience that coordinates all aspects of the transportation process. By streamlining delivery and storage efforts, the system is able to assist in the reduction of delivery times and costs, while also helping to diminish or eliminate errors along the shipping pipeline. Along with a host of location-based features stemming from its connection to global positioning networks, the software is also able to provide proof of delivery for each and every parcel in a driver’s itinerary. Routing this information back to the dock and warehouse management systems, along with the company’s web services, helps to provide customers with real-time information that allows them to better plan their own operations in conjunction with the delivery of their parcels.
As technology throughout the world continuously improves, so too does the state of technological usage throughout the transportation industry. While different companies have adopted new technologies to varying degrees, the leaders in the field are those that consistently seek to better serve their customers by utilizing new systems that are tailored to their needs. By maintaining a strong focus on technology, Custom Companies is able to not only better serve their customers through new and improved methods, but also cement their ongoing reputation as one of the most effective transportation companies operating throughout the world today.
More about Custom Companies on Crunchbase
