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Currently, CTSI-Global is doing a great deal of work with parcel offerings, Brown says. Through its freight bill audit process and its business intelligence solution, CTSI-Global is helping its clients identify and leverage least-cost, small-parcel carriers as much as they can. “We’re investing a lot in the parcel arena, especially around parcel manifesting,” she adds. CTSI-Global’s business intelligence capabilities are another area of focus, Brown says. CTSI-Global partnered with an apparel brand that retails in more than 110 countries, including over 3,000 branded shops. The retailer’s outbound U.S. domestic service includes primarily shipments from four regionally based distribution centers; these travel to wholesale, retail, and online customers. Improving The Audit Process The goals of the partnership were to improve the retailer’s freight audit process and data management capabilities. To achieve this, CTSI- Global performs a pre-audit, three-way match against the shipment le, carrier invoice, and rate, and then conducts cost allocations and generates a weekly pay le on all approved invoices, customized to shipper speci cations. These steps create a seamless integration to the retailer’s business processes. Among other bene ts, this allows management to monitor key metrics like freight accruals, freight spend, and expected versus actual cost. The retailer also can track carrier performance across multiple metrics, including on-time performance, billing accuracy, and price.
FreitRater, the proprietary and global freight bill audit and payment platform developed by CT Logistics, identifies gross savings between the billed amount and the paid amount. –Allan J. Miner President CT Logistics
an ef cient way for them to continue to submit their freight bills. Each day, between 6,000 and 8,000 invoices move through the portal. Once shippers upload their invoices, they can track them through the system. “It’s a very sweet tool we developed,” says Kristy Brown, vice president, freight payment operations. CTSI-Global processes 5 million freight transactions every day, which together total more than $15 billion in freight dollars annually. The company’s multi-modal audit technology automates audits, checking all duplicate, rate, discount, ancillary, and performance metrics, and generates refund processing for exceptions. The company’s audit staff boasts more than 400 years of combined experience across all modes of transportation, and in functions ranging from audit and analysis to contract management, and from exception management to payment processing. Employees stationed in facilities throughout the world speak the local language and understand cultural nuances, and can leverage their experience to quickly address any challenges.
That led to the implementation of a preferred carrier program. First year savings topped $4 million. Best Practice Audit Controls Another client, a global energy company, struggled to audit and pay its domestic and international carriers, due to limited resources. Its extensive roster of suppliers also made it dif cult for the company to consolidate less-than- truckload shipments. CT Logistics worked with the company to implement best practice audit controls and data capturing. Among other results, the company now can internally audit 40 locations, as well as distribution operations in more than 140 countries. It’s also able to generate allocation and reporting at the stock- keeping unit (SKU) level for all pool points (regional terminals that accept consolidated LTL shipments) and nal destinations. Results such as these help explain why CT will celebrate 100 years in business in 2023. Not only that, it has been owned by the same family since 1965.
CTSI-GLOBAL: Boosting Business Intelligence Capabilities Around the onset of COVID-19,
We continue to see shippers examining the vulnerabilities in their supply chains. To manage those vulnerabilities, shippers are craving visibility and automation.
Memphis-based CTSI-Global rolled out its invoice upload portal. The move, an indication of the company’s focus on both technology and customer service, proved fortuitous. The volume of spot quotes jumped during the pandemic. With more shippers and carriers working remotely, the portal provided
-Kristy Brown Vice President Freight Payment Operations, CTSI-Global
84 Inbound Logistics • September 2022
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