Customer Success Story: The AGL Group

Steve Zambo, CEO and Co-Founder from the AGL Group, explains how Descartes Global Price Management™ (Descartes GPM™) is helping the international freight forwarder improve efficiency, reduce labor, minimize invoicing discrepancies, and boost customer satisfaction with Descartes’ best-in-class technology.

“The Descartes solution that we're using in the international segment of our business is the Descartes GPM tool,” said Steve Zambo. “Prior to that, we were manually entering our rates into Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets. We had 90,000 line items, so [the previous process] was a challenge. When we were using Microsoft® Excel as our rate management tool, [rates] were being manually entered on a daily basis. One of our team members would come in every day, negotiate contracts, take those contracts, and plug away.”

Steve details how the Descartes solution is now helping to automate rate uploads and improve accuracy without adding labor, “Today [using Descartes GPM], we receive the contracts from our steamship lines while still negotiating contracts. Now we’re just forwarding [the data] along to the Descartes team, and within 24 hours, those rates are uploaded to the tool itself. We haven't had to add any more headcount, which is something that as a CEO you like to hear. Also, [since] we're leveraging software, we've had less discrepancies in pricing.”

Descartes GPM is a web-based solution that can manage freight rates from carriers to help automate the rate management process. The solution can manage both buy-side and sell-side rates to maximize shipment margins, increase quote accuracy, and reduce labor to manage rates.

Steve explains how the solution has improved efficiency and agility for The AGL Group, “[Descartes GPM] helped us get invoices out quicker and audit invoices quicker, which helps with cash flow. It also helped when we're going to market and servicing clients. [Since] we have a better speed of execution, it's allowed us to win more business.”

How Has Descartes Helped to Reduce Invoicing Discrepancies?

“Five years ago, we would have had five or six individuals running what we have now through Descartes GPM. Now, we only have one individual who is spearheading that program. That's a 17% reduction in [overall] headcount when it comes to invoicing and auditing.”

“Regarding rate discrepancies, of the 32,000 rates that we do per month, we see around 20 disputes. If you look at this on a percentage basis, it's 240 disputes throughout the year. We’re now less than 1% regarding rate disputes. Prior to that, around 15% of our invoices had discrepancies. That difference of 14% from a cash flow perspective is huge with our carrier partners.”

“We've implemented other software across our business in different verticals, and I can't say we've had the same level of satisfaction as we’ve had with the Descartes team… We're looking forward to utilizing Descartes throughout the entirety of our business.”

About the AGL Group

The AGL Group is a family-owned international freight forwarder and domestic 3PL, specializing in both domestic and international shipments. Since logistics can be challenging, the company executes to enable customers to focus on what really matters— growing business. From the moment you request a quote to final delivery, you deserve peace of mind that AGL’s experienced team is ready to deliver.

The AGL Group, making lives easier through simplifying your supply chain. Learn more at www.theaglgroup.com.