The Challenge

Viking's customers ranged from Fortune 100 companies to smaller businesses with revenues under $2 million. The former required highly integrated information exchange while the smaller enterprises were comfortable with rapid and frequent communications. With such varying information needs, the IT challenge was to provide a solution that met the needs of customers at all levels. Web-based applications became the undeniable solution.

The Solution

They realized that a data storage center that provided a consolidated view of all customer activities and was universally and instantaneously accessible was essential. A net-based infrastructure seemed to be the answer and therefore Viking collaborated with Sun Microsystems and deployed their iForce initiative to leverage the power of the Internet. Sun helped them strategize their services and forge a well-defined supply chain, entirely dictated by customer requirements.

Satisfying customers in newfangled ways gave them a competitive edge, not to mention the added benefits of reduced costs and the seamless flow of data within heterogeneous levels in the company. Web-based transactions afforded greater efficiency levels that ensured a tighter supply chain.

EDI helped record freight invoices, shipment status and load tenders thereby eliminating severe backlog. Data marts and Data warehousing were thus made more proficient, but static data wasn't of much use. In an era where the customer is king, critical data delivery to customers over the web using state-of-the-art technologies was imperative. Satellite tracking, bar coding helped their customers track shipments with pinpoint accuracy on a real-time basis.

Establishing more than a simple web presence meant dynamic and interactive web pages. IShipViking.com was launched with this in mind. More than just a pretty web site, it was a mini data center that gave customers immediate access to all transactions. It allowed proactive tracking of the pipeline, the kind of tracking that helped decipher problems much before they disrupted a shipment. On the whole it was a site that furnished greater visibility.

All that a customer needed to do was enter a password and then travel with his shipment, albeit virtually! A drop-down address book helped users enter information about their shipments and destinations. This eliminated both the need for reentering data and also the introduction of errors. A customer could create, print and email bills of lading using the bill of lading generator and send these forms to multiple consignees at remote sites.

Instant access to shipping activity reports, collective summary reports and email delivery notifications helped improve operations and inventory thus achieving an optimal value chain. Visibility of the product at all levels meant a greater degree of transparency in all operations. Employees performed more efficiently and shipments began reaching destinations in record time.

All shipments could be traced and tracked until their delivery. Trucks were equipped with satellite modems to ensure 100% nationwide coverage. Calculation of customized rates and customer-scheduled pickups became more of a reality. On arrival, the driver scans the bar code on the package with his handheld computer that transmits this information to the company's headquarters from where an email message with the dates and times of delivery and receiver's signature are sent automatically to the customer. To quote Keith E. Lovetro, Viking's VP of marketing, the iShipViking.com web site "gives customers an integrated set of account-level information tools that help simplify their daily work processes."

Internal access and relay of real-time information - package, driver and routing information and then linking this information to their freight tracking system ensured that shipments reached on time. New Internet technologies using XML or eXtensible Markup Language helped in the smooth flow of data between disparate systems both within and outside the organization.

The company could now respond with off-hour pickup and delivery systems and build 24-hour terminals to handle freight at a moment's notice. Fostering an intimate and long - term relationship with customers helped them offer a string of services that weren't possible before.

Armed with the new e-business model, a trucking company that moved goods from one point of the highway to another strategically transformed itself into a dominant provider of a large piece of the supply chain. Incidentally, in August this year, they extended their second-day delivery areas thus shortening the supply chain!

What does this confirm? That Internet ROI isn't an oxymoron. It is dependent on your customers and how well you treat them