A single source for your supply chain goals
May 5, 2017
Since 1996 when Accenture registered 3PL as a trademark till the present day, the logistics industry has witnessed many changes. To begin with, it is no longer a trademarked identity. Much of the Logistics’ evolution can traced to the dawn of this millenium when technology started infiltrating this industry on a larger-than-ever scale. As a result of the thrust provided by technology the industry today stands valued at around $700 billion. Amidst all the high velocity changes, Insight Group Technologies stands as a witness to the industry’s dynamic evolution over the 15 years.
Founded in 2003, Ontario, Canada, based Insight Group Technologies is a 3PL operations solutions and strategic consulting services provider which has been a forerunner in the industry since its early days. Through over a decade long journey Insight has made, the company has matured as a 3PL solutions provider, adding not only functionalities to its platform but also upgrading to newer platforms using newer technology and client experiences.
“Our tools can deliver tangible return-on-investments in few weeks rather than months or years,” says Lee Rector, President, Insight Group Technologies. The tools can help 3PLs to drive out costs and maximize profits, and to onbroad new clients on rapid delivery contracts, getting it right the first time. Its advanced optimization and slotting solutions provide customers with a continuous improvement platform that can be adopted across the 3PL network, using common language and metrics with less than consistent data.
Insight’s DC Expert software is a warehousing and supply chain management solution which is designed as a ‘one-size fits-all’ platform. Adopted by blue-chip companies around the world such as Unilever, Nestle and, Nissin, DC Expert enables a business to plan quickly and adopt required changes within its operations. Divided into five core modules—benchmark, dock planner, rack selection, warehouse layout, and slot master—the platform has minimal data requirement. This enables any 3PL company to deduce a robust plan and design even with a smaller data pool; the same way a tier-1 global 3PL can with an extended set of data and parameters. DC Expert can decrease total travel distance by up to 15 percent and handling by up to 10 percent, and increase cubic utilization by up to 25 percent.
Insight has matured as a 3PL solutions provider, adding not only functionalities to its platform but also upgrading to newer platforms using newer technology and client experiences.
As a corroboration to DC Expert’s abilities, Rector highlights an instance of resolving overtime and performance issues for a 3PL partner and its major client. Leveraging the DC Expert software and operational analysis, the clients saved significant monetary resources by identifying the root cause of the overtime issue, and areas of opportunity within the operations.
Aiming to stay nimble, Insight strives to closely collaborate with its clients to identify market needs, and explores emerging technologies to satisfy those requirements. As a result of its endeavor to maintain industry relevance, the company plans to add real-time slotting and optimization tools with operational dashboards to its offerings which it says will provide the e-commerce market with a solution that reduces costs, SKUs, and inventory, focusing on the cost of moves. “For our Asian clients we are soon going to include a market leading WMS solution into our portfolio,” Rector concludes.