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Saving time and money with accurate, real-time shipping rates and packing optimization: How Power-Pole maker JL Marine has improved margins, boosted efficiencies, and even found a way to expand into new markets
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Marine & Shipping
Applicable Functions
- Logistics & Transportation
Use Cases
- Fleet Management
- Supply Chain Visibility
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
JL Marine Systems, a designer of industry-leading boat control technology, including the Power-Pole® shallow-water anchors, was facing major packing and shipping headaches that were affecting the company’s bottom line. With a catalog featuring hundreds of diverse products — some oddly shaped and large, some loose, others pre-packed — order shipping costs were often difficult to estimate upfront, which often resulted in dimensional discrepancies and price adjustments from carriers. This meant that JL Marine had to either absorb these costs or rebill their customers - neither a good option. In addition, JL Marine sells both directly to customers and through its network of 3,500 dealers around the world - which means the company receives a constant stream of unique orders — from single-item purchases to bulk orders of large, difficult-to-package items. With the manual processes they were using for packing and shipping, JL Marine was spending too many man-hours fulfilling orders and leaving margin on the table because they lacked the automation tools to accurately estimate costs. They needed an intelligent logistics solution that would provide real-time rates and packing optimization.
About The Customer
JL Marine Systems is an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of boat control technology. The Tampa, Florida-based company’s Power-Pole was named the Official Shallow Water Anchor of the 2016 Bass Champs Season and has earned numerous additional accolades from professionals and boating enthusiasts. JL Marine’s Power-Pole anchors and accessories are distributed through the company’s network of more than 1,500 US-based dealerships and more than 3,500 dealers throughout the world.
The Solution
When they deployed ShipHawk, JL Marine’s Power-Pole team solved these problems immediately. With ShipHawk’s state-of-the-art shipping algorithm, the company was able to generate highly accurate, on-demand pricing for customers and dealers — pricing that was based on ShipHawk’s intelligent, multi-carrier rating algorithm that accurately estimated packing costs. With ShipHawk’s shipping API, JL Marine was also able to integrate its new logistics solution directly into its existing ERP platform, Everest. This has created a seamless, automated logistics experience for the Power-Pole team, helping to streamline the packing of their products. Plus, it’s now boosting the ROI on every shipment that goes out the door.
Operational Impact
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