Convey introduces updated carrier scorecard and exception management tools

Convey, an Austin, Texas-based provider of cloud-based technology that helps shippers connect disparate data and processes from parcel to freight and first to last mile, announced today it has rolled out new carrier scorecards and exception management tools for its shipper customers.

The company said these new capabilities provide shippers a comprehensive analysis of carrier delivery and transit issues, including performance at the individual carrier, service level and network level—with user interface capabilities that can be customized to prioritize the most important incidents.

Convey CEO Rob Taylor told LM that Convey customers were already using data produced by the platform to measure performance across their networks and to manage exceptions.

“These upgraded features have simplified that process by making it easier to drill down to the metrics and shipments that matter most to the specific client,” he explained.

That part is key, especially when considering that shippers are held to increasingly higher service standards, which Convey noted requires them to review and collaborate with carriers to optimize performance, coupled with how self-reported data has been the norm for shippers to report on performance metrics from disparate systems and providers. That data, it explained, can be incomplete, outdated, and disconnected from carrier to carrier. Prior to Convey, carrier performance was largely self-reported and clients had to manually normalize and combine to compare. Similarly, exceptions were not managed in real-time, and the process of doing so often involved thousands of emails and spreadsheets shared back and forth with carriers.

This new offering provides a more direct and efficient way of going about these things.

“Convey customers use the performance reporting feature to benchmark their carrier performance across the entire network, across modes, and service levels in a standardized way,” said Taylor. “Additionally, this reporting does not obscure performance issues (such as unavoidable delays) that might not be counted as part of standard reporting from carriers or auditing platforms but that still impact the customer experience. One key example of this is reporting against the promise-by date given to the customer at purchase.”

Addressing the upgraded exception management views, Taylor said it benefit shippers by allowing them to organize and prioritize shipments into customized lists that fit the way their team operates.

“We’ve seen customers use these to create groupings of everything from returns, exception types, high value clients, specific carriers and even shipments originating from specific distribution centers. For example, suppose a shipper wanted to instantly see all damaged shipments over $2000 in Houston TX, these features allow that shipper to quickly filter to see those shipments for both present and historical damaged statuses. These criteria can then be saved for future use.”

When asked what the biggest competitive advantages of the new carrier performance and exception management offerings are, Taylor pointed to many things, including how these features allow customers to see performance in real-time so that they can prioritize exceptions, create custom workflows, and proactively take action before it impacts the end consumer.

“They save Convey clients valuable time and are helping shippers and carriers to become more productive at improving the end customer experience and resolving more issues in-transit,” he said. “Additionally, the real-time view into performance allows shippers to quickly identify areas to work with their carrier partners to improve and in turn measure that improvement.”