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Using Descartes’ Carrier Allocation Management Capabilities to Optimize Booked Space

GEODIS

Alan Lee, Global Allocation Manager, and Carsten Meyer, Global Head of Ocean Freight, Less Than Container Load (LCL) from GEODIS explain how the Descartes Global Price Management™ (Descartes GPM™) allocation functionality is helping the company reduce time and labor to book shipments, maintain carrier contract obligations, and improve customer satisfaction.

Carsten Meyer
Global Head of Ocean Freight

"With Descartes GPM, the booking process has evolved from a labor-intensive approach to a more automated and centralized system. The solution provides visibility into available carrier capacity, allowing our team to make ‘one-shot’ bookings instead of multiple attempts."

Company Profile

GEODIS
Industry Vertical: Logistics service provider

About the Client

GEODIS is a leading global logistics provider acknowledged for its expertise across all aspects of the supply chain. As a growth partner to its clients, GEODIS specializes in four lines of business: Global Freight Forwarding, Global Contract Logistics, Distribution & Express Transport, and European Road Network. The Group operates a global network spanning nearly 170 countries, and 50,000 employees.

Quick Overview

Results

Challenge

An email-based and labor-intensive approach to allocation management

“Prior to implementing Descartes GPM, we had a manual, email-based approach to carrier allocation management,” said Alan Lee. “For example, during peak season, we had use cases where over 10 emails were being sent between the origin and destination partners’ offices to secure the booking space. There was also a lack of visibility into what was being released, what was booked, as well as reconciling our carrier and key customer commitments. We knew we needed to optimize the use of the booked space on carriers to meet customer needs, and adhere to service-level agreements (SLAs).”

“With Descartes GPM, the booking process has evolved from a labor-intensive approach to a more automated and centralized system,” explains Carsten Meyer. “The solution provides visibility into available carrier capacity, allowing our team to make ‘one-shot’ bookings instead of multiple attempts. This helps us pinpoint issues more effectively, such as identifying whether a challenge lies with a carrier’s capacity or the customer’s booking patterns. In addition, the faster booking process is particularly beneficial for our Freight All Kinds (FAK) customers who need to remain nimble.”

“The solution also enables us to be agile amid varying carrier capacity scenarios as they fluctuate over time. For example, when carrier capacity was tight, the technology helped guide the right space allocation for customers while bolstering the bottom-line,” added Alan. “Conversely, during slack market seasons, Descartes GPM helped GEODIS identify gaps and shift space requirements accordingly. This has allowed us to work more closely with procurement and carriers to manage capacity. Beyond this, we have optimized our planning and overall business growth which has led to better customer satisfaction and bolstered our long-term carrier relationships.”

“Finally, one additional benefit of the solution is to optimize contract use. For example, if we have a carrier commitment for a key account, the Descartes solution flags any potential bookings to ensure that space remains available for our enterprise client base. The Descartes GPM tool is a fundamental part of our long-term vision to deliver seamless customer booking and quoting with complete carrier allocation management.”

Results: