Travel Expense
Even though consumers recognize its brand name in an instant, the Polaroid Corporation, known for its instant film and cameras, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and re-appeared as a new, privately held company when One Equity Partners bought a majority of its assets (including its trademark name) in 2002. The restructuring plan worked, and now Polaroid's I-Zone instant camera is the nation's top-selling camera.
A small part of Polaroid's successful restructuring can be attributed to the cost-savings and reliability it is capturing in its logistics department. The company's North American distribution center in Norton Massachusetts, for instance, relies on a transportation management system from FreightLogic to direct the shipment of various Polaroid products between manufacturing plants and to retailers throughout the United States and Canada. Since its introduction to the company two years ago, the Web-enabled tool has become a reliable workhorse application.
"We've realized many operational advantages and savings, but the greatest benefit has been reliability," says Elaine Savage, domestic traffic operations manager for Polaroid Corporation. Savage says FreightLogic enables Polaroid to obtain the lowest-cost transportation mode while meeting specific customer requirements.
"Polaroid realizes savings when we optimize the transportation management process and obtain the least-cost carrier and method, while we also maximize dynamic pool distribution features of the software."
Pinnacle Distribution Concepts, who claims to be the first transportation management system provider to offer a completely Web-enabled version, developed FrightLogic. FreightLogic simplifies the complex and tedious routing task by utilizing sophisticated optimization algorithms to ensure a least-cost solution while meeting customer requirements. The system is designed to accommodate a wide array of customer exceptions, facility configurations, business rules, distribution strategies and user preferences.
Emerging From the Shadows
Savage compares the advantages of FreightLogic's Web-enabled capabilities to the DOS-based system that was its predecessor. The old system was maintained in-house and suffered serious support problems.
"FreightLogic shadows us and we can expect a response within five to ten minutes," says Savage. The ability to shadow the user is one of FrieghtLogic's greatest attributes. The support staff can see exactly what the user is working on, which enables instant feedback.
"We do much of our load planning 5:30 p.m. without much 'after hours support before we tapped into FreightLogic," says Savage. "Now, even after 5:00 p.m., their support staff can shadow us at any time of the day or night. A person always answers the phone; there is never a recording anytime. We have been most pleased with the professionalism and the high caliber of their staff."
Due to FrieghtLogic's ease-of-use, Savage says Polaroid has also realized human resources benefits. Instead of dedicating one person entirely to the load planning function, the responsibility is now divided among five employees, each of whom takes one night per week. Polaroid also takes advantage of FrieghtLogic's integrated Loss and Damage claims module, which automates the entire claims process, reducing clerical support. Operationally, Savage says that the ability to set and maintain rates easily is also a welcome advantage.
"The ease of running a variety of reports and getting them customized very quickly to our requirements has been great," says Savage. "The learning curve is very short. Within just a couple of days you can master the basic functions."
Clearly, Polaroid's logistics plan is in focus. And thanks to its Web-enabled tool, the company is on the right track to achieving its goals of increased savings and operational efficiency.