3PL news: Transplace expands service offerings for small and mid-sized shippers
Jeff Berman, Group News Editor -- Logistics Management, 10/21/2009
DALLAS-Transplace, a non-asset based third-party logistics provider of transportation management and logistics technology services, recently announced it is expanding its service offerings for the small and mid-sized business market.
Company officials said through these offerings, Transplace will provide small and mid-sized shippers manage procurement spend, negotiate better rates with carriers and meet sustainability mandates from larger customers. They added the timing for this is right, as small and mid-sized shippers are frequently supplying to Transplace's larger enterprise customers.
"Transplace is committed to continue to offer its existing clientele new services, so when we asked our customers what they wanted, they said: Less-Than-Truckload (LTL), Ground Expedite and Intermodal," said Steve Robinson, Transplace Senior Vice President of Operations. "As we reviewed the overall market, we also discovered that the small and medium sized shippers were spending in aggregate over $100 billion in these and other modes of domestic ground transportation so we realized there was a considerable market opportunity. In addition, as a top 20 buyer of U.S. transportation, we were hearing more and more requests from our core install base for increased support in the areas of supplier enablement and supplier compliance."
Based on these factors, Robinson explained Transplace thought it was well worth a closer look and inventoried its existing capabilities. After this assessment, he said the company realized that it had a real value proposition to small to medium sized customers in the form of its robust industry best practices, award-winning supply chain technologies, and solid supply chain professionals who have embodied its Lean Six Sigma driven culture and drive customer service.
"We believe we can deliver real value to this segment of the market," he said, "[and] we've been researching this for over 18 months."
When asked for specific examples of ways in which Transplace will be working with small and mid-sized businesses, Robinson cited: a non-asset based "valet service" that quotes, tenders, and manages the shippers entire transportation portfolio; flexible services where for one shipper Transplace can provide a "Self Service option," while for others, its Supply Chain Coordinators will do the work); and working with shippers to establish the best approach to Transportation Procurement Sourcing, help manage it and provide the execution required to ensure our customers succeed.
And for some customers, Robinson explained Transplace will help them to aggregate their spend and negotiate for secure better transport capacity, service levels, and rates.
While for others, it will secure flexible/seasonal capacity to help steer them through the unknown market corrections ahead.
Through this offering, Robinson said Transplace will arrange transport for the "full spectrum" of transport modes, including: less-than-truckload and truckload; dry van and refrigerated truck; national and metro ground expedited; intermodal and specialized (flatbed, liftgate); Mexico and Canada; and international freight forwarding.
He added Transplace will also other "freight services," including: appointment scheduling; EDI van services; BOL Generation; reporting and analytics for executive dashboards; and cargo claims management.
A prominent industry analyst noted in a recent blog posting that penetrating the small and mid-sized enterprises segment is the next big growth opportunity for logistics service providers.
"For many LSPs, their existing IT infrastructure-which may be outdated, inflexible and/or non-scalable-has been a key constraint in achieving this goal," wrote Adrian Gonzalez, director of the ARC Advisory Group's Logistics Council, in his "Logistics Viewpoints" blog. "Transplace, however, is well positioned to exploit this market opportunity by leveraging its ongoing investment and innovation in IT, along with the transportation expertise of its employees."
"Penetrating the small and mid-sized enterprises segment is the next big growth opportunity for logistics service providers," said Adrian Gonzalez, director, Logistics Viewpoints, www.logisticsviewpoints.com, ARC Advisory Group. "For many LSPs, their existing IT infrastructure - which may be outdated, inflexible and/or non-scalable - has been a key constraint in achieving this goal. Transplace, however, is well positioned to exploit this market opportunity by leveraging its ongoing investment and innovation in IT, along with the transportation expertise of its employees."
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