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RateLinx’s Intelligent Invoice Management (IIM) DaaS,
which captures freight data from a company’s invoices and
runs it through a modeling environment that produces
information that analysts and technicians can use to make
more precise shipping decisions—all in real time and without a traditional TMS.
“Once we gathered all that information, we were able
to help Rockwell,” said RateLinx Founder and President
Shannon Vaillancourt. “They were trying to see if there is
a better way to buy their freight. We have a modeling envi-
ronment where we can put in all of that history, with all
the details, and it tells you, ‘Here are the discounts that you
need to have while still adhering to your business rules.’”
One of those details is the base rate used for calculating
shipping costs, and this is where Rockwell Automation
and RateLinx made a big change by going from using
a common base rate for all carriers to using individual
carriers’ base rates for shipping quotes. RateLinx built a
tool that allows it to normalize carrier base rates, which is
difficult for shippers to do on their own because it involves
analyzing detailed information such as ZIP code, freight
class, and similar factors and matching it against individual
carriers’ strengths and service capabilities. Doing so not
only allows the shipper to get more accurate pricing from
a carrier, but it also enables the carrier to be more strategic
in its operations, said Vaillancourt and Dudzik.
“By having all this detailed data and each carrier’s base
rate, we merge all that together so that out of your six
carriers, for example, you can see which one should be
used,” explained Vaillancourt. “Rockwell saves money, and
Rockwell’s carriers make more money—because they haul
in the lanes they are more efficient in.”
Added Dudzik: “This has allowed us to … gain better
insight into our rating and freight profile with the carriers,
allowing both sides to be more strategic.”
He used a regional example to illustrate the point:
Using its common base rate model, Rockwell Automation
would get the same quote to ship anywhere in New York,
including New York City, where rates are often consider-
ably higher than in other parts of the state. With its DaaS
model, Rockwell Automation can provide the carrier with
more detailed routing information—down to the five-digit
ZIP code—allowing the carrier to provide more accurate
quotes for the areas it serves and potentially reducing ship-
ping costs.
“Now, I can drill down to every region of the state, so
they will price it down to the correct ZIP code,” Dudzik
said. “It allows any carrier to get much more strategically
priced in the markets where they want to provide service,
while avoiding the markets they do not want to [serve].”
REAPING THE REWARDS
Rockwell Automation won’t disclose the savings from its
implementation. However, Dudzik said the project has
yielded considerable benefits in the company’s transportation execution. He pointed to inbound freight as a key
example: Real-time access to cleaner, more precise data has
produced more accurate monthly reports of missed savings
opportunities and routing guide violations, which Dudzik
said allows his team to make more strategic long-term
decisions and work more collaboratively with its suppliers.
A smoother workflow has made a difference in employees’ lives as well: RateLinx’s DaaS provides a single interface
for research and quoting activities, compared with the
multiple screens and websites the team formerly had to
navigate to produce a single quote.
Rockwell plans to leverage the DaaS platform to move
into other modes beyond LTL, Dudzik said. Rockwell uses
truckload (TL), parcel, and heavy air for domestic shipments, and heavy air, ocean, and parcel for international
shipments.
Dudzik remains a strong advocate of TMS and says he
has not given up on his hope for using the software at
Rockwell Automation. For now, however, the RateLinx
software serves as a more-than-adequate bridge along the
journey.
“It allows me to get post-TMS data without the heavy
burden and investment,” he said. “Will I want a TMS in
the future? Yes. But this allows me to do something that fits
within my freight profile now.”
