Business Model of Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation - Term Paper Example

Business Model Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation is the U.S. and worldwide provider of outsourced logistics and transportation management services to the chemical and process industries. The company provides global logistics management services to its clients allowing them to selectively or completely outsource the management and transportation of raw materials and finished goods. Odyssey's value proposition is the consistent delivery of cost savings through reduced transportation and infrastructure costs, leading technology applications, measurable customer service and process improvements, and improved data quality and management. Details About the Company Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation provides global logistics management services to the chemical industry and other process manufacturers. Odyssey provides its customers the ability to outsource any part of the management and transportation of their raw materials and finished goods, helping these companies save money through reduced transportation and infrastructure costs, measurable customer service and process improvements, and enhanced data quality and management. The Odyssey team of chemical engineers and logisticians brings unparalleled expertise to the logistics supply chain in all modes of transport. The Odyssey Global Logistics Platform is a transportation management infrastructure that serves as the technology backbone to Odyssey's service offering. Odyssey International LLC is a licensed export freight forwarder and wholly owned subsidiary of Odyssey Logistics & Technology, managing exports to more than 80 countries. Odyssey Overland LLC is a wholly owned affiliate of Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation operating as a broker and domestic freight forwarder for bulk and package truck shipments in North America. The company is backed by investors Trident Capital, LogiSpring, Boston Millennia Partners, CMEA Ventures and RRE Ventures. Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation has a team of experts in Supply Chain and Logistics Management, commercial carrier management, logistics operations and execution, and supply chain technology. They use Supply Chain Management (SCM) system to support these processes called the Odyssey Solution based on the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform that provides a single interface to the chemical and process industry logistics markets. Odyssey Solution is a Business Information System that stores information about complete suite of logistics services in all modes of transport, globally. The company tailors its service offerings to meet its clients' needs, leveraging its technology platform and information systems to provide any service from a single point solution to a complete logistics solution. They own no transportation equipment or warehouses, allowing them to negotiate as an independent, neutral party in the marketplace, acting in the best interests of the customers. The Business Information System Odyssey Solution manages all aspects of the supply chain from inbound sourcing and delivery logistics through outbound shipment, handling, consolidation, deconsolidation, distribution, and delivery of end products. Odyssey can, through its integrated transportation management system, provide its clients with cargo planning, tendering, shipment visibility and configurable event management, freight audit and payment, and management reporting. Business "Value Added" Odyssey Logistics & Technology produces its value as a third-party logistics provider (3PL). This term means that the company provides outsourced or "third party" logistics services to companies for part or sometimes all of their Supply Chain Management function. Third party logistics providers typically specialize in integrated warehousing and transportation services that can be scaled and customized to customer's needs based on market conditions and the demands and delivery service requirements for their products and materials. For example, recently chemical distributor Univar announced it was hiring 3PL Odyssey Logistics and Technology to handle all of its inbound bulk and package transportation management including carrier selection, contracting, management and payment. Odyssey said it plans to "deploy its transportation management technology in order to improve efficiencies and provide the functionality necessary to manage this very complex network. The information will be available to Univar in real-time with visibility and sophisticated data management." Odyssey Logistics & Technology is a type of 3PL called Service Developer. This type of 3PL provider will offer their customers advanced value-added services such as: tracking and tracing, cross-docking, specific packaging, or providing a unique security system. A solid IT foundation and a focus on economies of scale and scope will enable this type of 3PL provider to perform these types of tasks. The services of Odyssey include: Network Design - Odyssey assesses, and adjusts (as necessary) a customer's logistics network, including the modes of transport used, carriers, and warehouse and terminal locations. The company creates a routing guide that leverages our network and considers each customer's unique requirements. Commercial Carrier Management - Odyssey's commercial management team has a wealth of experience in all modes, including tank truck, less-than-truckload, truckload, rail, and international container and parcel tanker ships. The company is continuously in the marketplace, assessing the strengths of various carriers and the prevailing market freight rates. Odyssey manages all carrier relationships on behalf of its customers, including freight procurement, regulatory and insurance compliance, carrier performance, and complaints and claims resolution. Transactional Execution - Odyssey's Customer Service Center allows you to outsource the execution of your logistics transactions. Using the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform Solution, carriers are selected in accordance with each customer's routing guide, shipments are optimized when possible, and loads are tendered to the appropriate carriers. The Platform's auditing system checks every carrier invoice at the line item level, and uncovers discrepancies. The company's freight audit staff determines the legitimacy of charges and resolves any issues without creating a burden for our clients. Odyssey then invoices our customer and manages the carrier payment process on behalf of the customer. International Freight Forwarding - Odyssey International LLC is a licensed export freight forwarder, handling international ocean and air shipments. Using the Odyssey International Forwarding system, their specialists book your international shipments with carriers, create the required international documents for each shipment, and file the shipment electronically with government agencies such as US Customs and Border Protection. Technology Deployment - All of Odyssey's services are supported by the Odyssey Global Logistics Platform, a custom-designed software system tailored especially for the chemical and process industries. IT Environment The Odyssey Global Logistics Platform Solution has been specifically designed to meet the logistics needs of chemical and process manufacturers. Nobody else offers a comparable footprint of customer-proven functionality with a focus on meeting the needs of process manufacturers. While Odyssey staff use a number of these applications, staff of Odyssey's customer and even their end customers may also interact with these applications. Key Odyssey applications include: Odyssey Planning and Execution Odyssey Planning and Execution allows Customer Service Center staff to plan and execute customer's Tank Truck, Rail, TL, and LTL shipments. Odyssey Planning and Execution receives orders from customer's ERP system (e.g., SAP) and translates these into shippable loads. It then creates optimized shipment plans that take into account required delivery dates, preferred carriers, product compatibility and other business rules. Odyssey Planning and Execution then schedules transportation services with customer's carriers and finds alternative carriers when necessary. Authorized users within customers can access Odyssey's online routing guide and rates database, enabling customers to get rate quotes and determine the preferred carrier for a shipment over the web. Odyssey can also give customer's suppliers the ability to select a carrier from Odyssey's routing database over the Internet, allowing Odyssey to manage customer's inbound logistics. Odyssey Visibility and Event Management As the primary application that Odyssey's customers interact with on a day-to-day basis, Odyssey Visibility and Event Management is a tremendous customer service tool. It provides web-based visibility into all of customer's orders and shipments - all on a single screen - regardless of the carrier or mode of transport. And customer can provide a login ID and password to its own customers, giving them secure access to visibility on their incoming shipments. Customer can also configure Odyssey Visibility and Event Management to send intelligent notifications based on events occurring in supply chain. Within Odyssey, Odyssey Visibility and Event Management is used to proactively monitor customers' shipments and to monitor its own internal processes. Odyssey Tendering and Scheduling Odyssey Tendering & Scheduling allows carriers to respond to their tenders over the web. Additionally, Odyssey can manage pick-up appointments at loading facilities such as chemical loading racks. Carriers sign up for appointments on appropriate loading racks based on customer-specific and product-specific rules. Odyssey staff members oversee the entire process and manage exceptions. Odyssey customers have real-time access to the tool over the web, allowing staff to view all of their loading facilities on one screen, understand which carriers are coming in today, and ensure that they have the right products ready when they arrive. Odyssey International Forwarding Odyssey Logistics & Technology has created an industry-leading system that allows Odyssey International's forwarders to provide superior freight forwarding services to their customers. The system uses Internet-native technology to enable Odyssey to perform tasks such as document generation, AES submission, and document distribution in a highly automated fashion. Depending on the characteristics of customer's supply chain, Odyssey's Internet-based forwarding technology can facilitate entirely paperless forwarding transactions, where documents are distributed over the Internet. Because Odyssey International Forwarding is fully integrated with Odyssey Visibility and Event Management, the customers can have full visibility into the forwarding process and into in-transit shipments using an ordinary web browser. And the software can trigger notifications on events in the forwarding process to both company's own staff and customers, assuring that any exceptions are dealt with quickly and allowing customers to accurately measure Odyssey's performance. Odyssey Freight Audit and Payment Odyssey Freight Audit and Payment lets company's freight auditors provide customers with the most effective freight audit solution available. The software audits customer's freight invoices and ensures that are charged correctly for every shipment, considering contracted rates, freight terms and accessorial charges. Odyssey then sends electronic invoices to customer's accounts payable system (e.g., SAP), streamlining customer's payment process and assuring that the customer receives only freight invoices that have passed the auditing process. After customer pays Odyssey's invoices, Odyssey automatically release payment to its carriers. Odyssey Analytics Odyssey Analytics puts sophisticated web-based reporting tools in the hands of both customers and Odyssey team members. This allows tracking customer's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or customer may track them himself if prefers. Odyssey is capable of monitoring any key performance criteria required by a client including traditional areas such as carrier performance, adherence to plan, transportation spending, volume patterns and much more. Business/Information Technology Synergies Odyssey Logistics & Technology makes a significant investment in technology each year, including both packaged applications provided by best-of-breed vendors as well as custom applications created by company's in-house team. They treat the information technology as an important differentiator that provides the following significant benefits to company's customers: Focus is on Chemical and Process Manufacturers Odyssey's applications are built with chemical and process manufacturers in mind, providing their customers with value they can't find from other logistics service providers who lack the technology expertise required to create these applications, or from packaged application software vendors who have neglected this vertical market. Hosted Applications Reduce Up-front Investment and Ongoing Costs Odyssey does not need to worry about installing and managing complex supply chain applications at customers' hosts. All support is done at Odyssey's server, reducing both up-front and ongoing costs. Integration Platform Provides You with a Fast "On Ramp" Odyssey's integration tools permit rapid implementation of Odyssey's services and provide a single integration point to carriers, carrier portals, third-party software applications, and government agencies. Internet-Native Architecture Permits Efficient Scaling and Worldwide Collaboration Odyssey's technology is built on a modern internet-native architecture, allowing Odyssey to scale its business efficiently and to securely open up our systems to the customers, the customers' customers, the customers' suppliers, and carriers. Recommendations for Future Use of IT The Odyssey Global Logistics Platform Solution meets current company's objectives well enough. But taking into consideration Odyssey's growth and increase of customers' base, new challenges for information technology improve occur. For example, the Solution was created to operate mostly with outbound shipments. But new customer Univar gives Odyssey a new challenge for providing inbound services to customers that expands market opportunity for Odyssey services. According to this, the Supply Chain Management system needs to be expanded and therefore new functionality is required, such as: Shipment confirmation Pass-through data on invoices Multiple accrual messages Hazmat transportation management systems improvements Inbound Rack Scheduling Next, development of information technology in the world makes new requirements to business information system's compatibility, reliability and integration issues. Further collaboration of Odyssey Solution with carriers and government agencies is expected via secured data-exchange mechanism such as IP-tunneling or Web services. Conclusion Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation is large provider of outsourced logistics and transportation management services to the chemical and process industries. Business Information System of the company stores information about complete suite of logistics services in all types of transportation that gives Odyssey competitive advantage over other third-party logistics providers. The Supply Change Management solution has been specifically designed to meet the logistics needs of chemical and process manufacturers. No one 3PL provider else offers a comparable set of customer-proven functionality with a focus on meeting the needs of chemical and process manufacturers. The Odyssey Solution meets current company's objectives but further improvement may be achieved in the nearest future. Firstly, the SCM system should be expanded to work with inbound as well as it does with outbound shipments. Secondly, more extensive collaboration of the system with other agents should be completed. References Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation Website http://portal.odysseylogistics.com Read More