Customer Success Story: IFF, Inc.

IFF, Inc. is a privately-owned US-based customs broker, international freight forwarder, and Non-vessel Operating-Common Carrier (NVOCC). The company was looking to achieve a higher level of freight visibility within the Descartes OneView back-office platform.

“One of the core challenges facing forwarders is that others in the supply chain manage the information,” explains Chris Lochamy, Director of Strategic Solutions at IFF, Inc. “For example, if you want to know where your shipment is, forwarders would have to connect to a carrier portal. Then, once the shipment arrives at a port, they would need to switch gears and platforms to go to a terminal website. For the rail mode of transport, the scenario is similar with at least three platforms required to track a shipment. All of this takes time, effort, and employee bandwidth. There was a clear need for information to be consolidated in a useful manner.”

“Descartes collects all of the information together. It gathers information from carriers, terminals, as well as rail carriers, and brings that data back to populate the Descartes OneView platform. This means that internal employees do not have to log-in to each website or input the information in our back-office system.”

“From within the Descartes OneView solution, all of the shipment events are consolidated in an easy to navigate platform. The technology provides an overview of shipments at a container level. For example, employees can view at-a-glance when a container in-gated or out-gated. This means that staff can see that free time expires on a given date. They can view this without having to navigate to a terminal’s website.”

“Customers also have real-time visibility to their shipments since the information feeds directly into Descartes customer-facing portal. It’s easy to customize what customers view so they can see key events along their shipment journey. As a result, inbound phone calls and emails are reduced for day-to-day shipment status updates. Employees are freed to build relationships with our customer base and to focus on exceptions to speed freight to its final destination. It is game changing for our operations.”

The technology provides an overview of shipments at a container level. For example, employees can view at-a-glance when a container in-gated or out-gated. This means that staff can see that free time expires on a given date."

Chris Lochamy, Director of Strategic Solutions, IFF, Inc.

IFF customers can now view freight location and status on-demand in a web-based portal

Data from multiple sources seamlessly populates Descartes forwarder back-office platform

With customers using the online portal, labor is freed from manual and labor-intensive tracking

With status messages feeding directly into the Descartes OneView platform, processes are automated which increases efficiency

IFF, Inc., is a end-to-end customs broker, international freight forwarder, and NVOCC in the United States. IFF was established and founded in Atlanta Georgia in 1983, with a vision to become a force in the import and export market. The company's has been a testimony to these founding business principals that IFF continues to demonstrate today. IFF partners with businesses worldwide to provide innovative logistics solutions around the globe. This, combined with strong purchasing power and a dedicated team, is the key to the company's high level of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Learn more at www.iffusa.com.