Florida-based logistics provider improves customer service, overall productivity with best-selling trucking software
Bloomfield, Connecticut (Vocus) November 5, 2009 -- Prophesy Transportation Solutions, Inc., an Accellos company, provider of trucking and logistics software solutions to the transportation industry, today released a case study of its customer ICS Logistics. This profile describes the improvements in customer service, efficiency, and productivity experienced by the Florida-based logistics provider after investing in Prophesy trucking software.
ICS Logistics is a full-service asset-based logistics provider based in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 1985, ICS has since evolved into a nationwide supplier of temperature-sensitive and ambient warehousing, stevedoring, intermodal container drayage, TL and LTL transportation with flatbed, dry van, and specialty cargo freight services, and much more. From locations in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Ohio, ICS serves the temperature-sensitive food industry throughout the US, including Wal-Mart distribution centers, major grocery chains, club stores, food service, and military operations.
Steady growth led ICS Logistics to automate portions of its operations using a solution from one leading software provider. However, dissatisfied with the system’s reporting capabilities as well as the amount of training required to make efficient use of it, Transportation Director and Chief Information Officer Dennis Rhodes set out to find a more suitable solution for his company.
After reviewing several major software systems, Rhodes received an in-depth demonstration of Prophesy Dispatch trucking software with Prophesy National Sales Manager Kevin Pasternack and was impressed with the functionality the Prophesy solution offered. “To meet our goal of better managing our assets, I needed software that would provide more accurate information,” said Rhodes. “We also needed to make use of a platform and infrastructure that would support additional growth without the need to add staff. After thoroughly reviewing several leading software packages, we were sure that Prophesy provided the perfect blend of solutions for our business.”
Working with Pasternack, Rhodes configured a Prophesy system tailored to the specific needs of his company. He invested in Prophesy Dispatch with enhanced SQL database technology, in conjunction with modules for fuel tax reporting, commercial mileage and routing, log auditing, and driver management. Rhodes also added the popular Prophesy Document Imaging for document scanning, storage, and retrieval, as well as Prophesy Pulse business intelligence software to keep tabs on key areas of his business via real-time data.
To get up and running, ICS Logistics employees enrolled in the comprehensive training program at the University of Prophesy. “The quality of training we received was excellent,” said Rhodes. “In just a few short sessions we learned everything we needed to use the system effectively, and we did it all by phone so we were able to carry on business as usual between sessions and never had to leave the office.” The implementation of the software was completed exclusively by ICS staff with only minimal phone-based assistance from their Prophesy Implementation Consultant.
Since going live with Prophesy, Rhodes has noticed incredible gains in staff productivity and customer service. “It is our priority to provide accurate and timely information to our customers, and using Prophesy we are able to achieve this goal, every time,” said Rhodes.
Computer Operations Supervisor Joey Van Duzee, as well as Rhodes and others, use Prophesy Pulse business intelligence software daily to stay abreast of the key performance indicators, or KPIs, of the company’s operations. “Pulse is an amazing intelligence tool,” said Van Duzee. “It was easy to install and we were able to run with it right away, using KPIs right out of the box. Over time we got a sense of what our specific needs were, and I found it very easy to customize KPIs and even create several new ones from scratch.”
Paul Stykitus, the company’s transportation manager, reflected on the numerous systems he has used in his career and said Prophesy was able to provide the timely information needed to efficiently run his transportation department. Stykitus covers the transportation KPI’s in his weekly staff meetings to make sure everyone knows the current status of the business.
The company’s Pulse users employ several KPIs such as deadhead percentage, on-time percentage, order accuracy, un-invoiced completed loads, average days to invoice, and more. Customizations have been made to timeframes, sorting and grouping, and even the underlying calculations used to pull data.
“One useful KPI we created for ourselves is what we call User Activity,” said Van Duzee. “We are able to track the amount of orders and other data each user has entered and then set a threshold for users to meet. This was especially helpful when we first rolled out Prophesy Dispatch, since it allowed us to see who was using the new system most effectively and who needed extra help or training.”
“Prophesy Dispatch and Pulse has been an excellent investment for ICS,” said Rhodes. “Utilizing these solutions together has enabled us to monitor those items that we feel will most affect productivity, customer service, and profitability, which is invaluable in accommodating our customers as well as increasing overall company efficiency.”
For more information about Prophesy’s Total Solution for Trucking, email moreinfo @ mile.com or call 800-776-6706.
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