Webinar Recording - Get Stronger Supply Chains Now Heading Into Q4

[Webinar Recording] Learn how to rate-shop, track, and avoid supply chain disruption heading into Q4 with powerful tools and integrations through NetSuite and FreightPOP.

A few members of our FreightPOP team had an informative discussion and live demonstration late last month with Aarialife Technologies' President, Chirag Joshi. One of our Co-founders and CRO Justin Dickson, and Account Exec Mathew Debilio joined the webinar to talk about the benefits of combining NetSuite's ERP with a leading TMS system like FreightPOP.

The players

The webinar's discussion began by orienting listeners on the depth of functionality NetSuite's ERP has, which includes powerful business tools for:

• finance
• manufacturing
• distribution
• professional services
• automation
• and much more 

While FreightPOP was credited as a strong digital supply chain hub for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers that integrates seamlessly with NetSuite through a robust plug and play connection.

Chirag explains that he is hosting the webinar as Aarialife has been consulting and supporting the NetSuite ecosystem for over a decade, and they have a high priority on continually improving solution offerings to customers that bring real business benefits.

Aarilife Technologies' NetSuite & FreightPOP Webinar

The webinar guests agree that highlighting how well NetSuite and FreightPOP perform together is timely. Q4 is here, and many of us are about to have a sharp increase in volume for the holiday season.

What holds shippers back?

Whatever your business, if you ship goods to customers, you should strive to create a truly integrated customer workflow—from customer orders to shipping and invoicing across multiple freight and shipping modes. 

Shippers really need:

• Rate shopping and tracking tools with ALL the details
• Data in a single place/platform for a "one source of truth" that enables comprehensive auditing and informed business decisions 

In the course of the webinar, Justin discusses shipper pain points noting that separate or disconnected processes, where ordering systems are not "talking" to shipping software, just waste a lot of time. From the beginning of an order through to delivery, many steps require double entry into disparate systems when you fail to integrate. And complexity only expounds as an order tacks on more requirements—say, international orders that must go through more steps. And with more steps comes an increase in data entry and subsequent error rates.

Integration benefits do not stop after delivery either. As invoices funnel through from multiple carriers, integration can prevent you from laboriously compiling information from numerous carrier websites to process and audit data.  

ERP and Shipping Software Integration

Well-defined shipping processes that integrate seamlessly across business sectors reduce friction between your various departments—from purchasing and operations to accounting and customer service. 

At one point during the webinar, Justin shares an eye-opening point about how integrating and optimizing your shipping and ordering processes can have huge implications for how your customers perceive your business:

"You know, we've all been on review sites like Amazon or other e-commerce solutions. And we've read through a one or two-star review, maybe a three-star review, only to find out when you read further, the customer received a late package, or they received a damaged box or a damaged item. 

The negative review, in fact, had nothing to do with the company itself. And it had everything to do with the impact that the carrier had on the customer's experience. So whether this was a repeat buyer, or this was a one-and-done customer...the damage in the review from the negative delivery experience is done. And it's hard to quantify the true overall impact that that can really have on a business. 

What we have found is that companies that seek to automate (shipping) efficiencies are ultimately able to avoid (or) significantly reduce many avoidable components of what we're referring to as supply chain disruption."

Leverage Technology for Powerful Visibility

Justin also discusses the power of supply chain visibility, particularly in our current climate where customers have insatiable shipping demands—and we are suffering from severe carrier constraints, with more and more fees charged on that last mile of delivery.

He explains that if you do not have visibility into all your rate options, you are likely paying quite more than necessary. And you may also be coming up short on your ability to deliver shipping consistency to your customers.

He says the best way to serve your customers is to leverage technology that gives you visibility into your negotiated carrier and real-time marketplace rates.

Strongly Negotiate Carrier Contracts

Zero Down Supply Chain Solutions CEO Brad McBride said it very well in a recent post about carrier bidding trends and digitizing logistics:

"Typically, our clients will negotiate once a year with major carriers. And one of the analogies I use with them is that, okay, you're going into a 'big game' with FedEx and UPS to negotiate rates. A game you've 'practiced' once in the past 12-24 months. But the opponent practices five-ten times a day each day. It's not difficult to figure out who's going to come out on top in that game. You need to use technology to balance that scale." 

As we frequently like to point out, carriers use technology to negotiate with you - you should use technology too!

Shipping Software Demo

The webinar concludes with a thorough visual demonstration by Mathew on how you, your shippers (if you're a 3PL), or your clients would use FreightPOP's platform. This is a terrific recording for those who want to compare FreightPOP's solution to their current manual booking processes or alternative TMS solution.  

Aarilife Technologies' NetSuite & FreightPOP Webinar

The recorded webinar is free to stream. Check it out to learn more!