Mapping a better path to growth
United Logistics & Distribution (ULD) Singapore found a route to new customers through digitalisation
Built on a foundation of strong business relationships, logistics company ULD paid careful attention to every aspect of its business; whether it was meticulously charting transporter routes for parcel fulfilment or tending to every call when the phone rang.
That personal touch delivered success, albeit in an old economy way.
As the company started to gain new customers, however, the strain of using pen-and-paper to chart routes and the constantly ringing phone lines made it obvious that their manual methods could not keep up with this pace of growth.
Turning to his friends and business associates for help, Managing Director Benson See soon heard about VersaFleet’s solution – a digitalised transport management system enabled by artificial intelligence. As a result, Mr See adopted the transport management software-as-a-service (SaaS) in hopes of eliminating its problems.
The solution performed well beyond the company’s expectations. Besides resolving the firm’s logistical issues, digitalisation has also helped to accelerate the company’s growth.
Mr See shares his experience about embracing technological transformation.
United Logistics & Distribution’s Managing Director, Benson See
What did you like about the VersaFleet solution?
Their transport management system caught our eye because it digitalises the planning of transporter routes and is able to provide online parcel tracking updates for our customers.
As a growing enterprise, the funding available to help us go digital was another important factor in our consideration. We knew that VersaFleet was a pre-approved solution under the SMEs Go Digital programme and with the Productivity Solutions Grant, we could digitalise our business within our budget.
How did your team adapt to the new system?
We prepared the team by telling them about the switch in advance. We spoke about the changes in processes with the new system, as well as potential benefits in going digital. They were excited when they heard that the VersaFleet solution would replace a large portion of manual work, such as picking up calls from customers asking about their delivery status and creating proof of delivery slips.
The actual adoption itself was a simple process. It only took a couple of meetings before we were able to start using the system.
What has been the main benefit of using VersaFleet?
It has to be its impact on our revenue. We have seen a four-fold increase in revenue in our e-commerce segment since using VersaFleet!
While we expected VersaFleet to solve our administrative issues, we did not expect it to have such a huge impact on the bottom line. What we have noticed is that our clients have given us more delivery points after they had increased visibility on their items, mainly due to the real-time online tracking within VersaFleet.
We have also gained new clients who were impressed by our competitive pricing and great service, enabled by the digitalised route planning and automated tracking statuses.
How will VersaFleet help ULD Logistics chart a new route to greater success?
It has revealed the need for businesses like ours to go digital, even if it means that it may be uncomfortable at the beginning to adopt such changes.
With the online tracking system, we have reduced calls and WhatsApp texts by 75%. The online proof of delivery slips has reduced the number of man hours required to process the documents.
Overall, the returns we have received have been encouraging and has motivated the team, removing many pain points that employees were facing prior to using VersaFleet.
As such, we are able to continue delivering on our promise to provide strong customer service with competitive pricing.
e-Commerce continues to change the retail sector. How will ULD play a part in this?
Being a total logistics provider, we cover all aspects of the logistics journey for our clients. Having more businesses adopt e-commerce means that they will look for a logistics fulfillment partner, and we would like to partner with them to fulfill their deliveries.
With the VersaFleet solution, we are also able to partner the large e-commerce retailers to offer fulfilment services for their products.
ULD is also looking to expand into the region. We are confident that VersaFleet can enable us to expand into Southeast Asia!
ABOUT SMEs GO DIGITAL PROGRAMME
The SMEs Go Digital Programme makes going digital simple for SMEs.
Under the programme, SMEs can gain access to a number of pre-approved solutions to take their businesses to the next level. There are pre-approved solutions for a range of sectors, including environmental services, food services, retail, security, wholesale trade and logistics.
There is funding support for SMEs that adopt eligible pre-approved solutions. Visit the SMEs Go Digital Programme page for more information.
For more information on pre-approved solutions supported under the Productivity Solutions Grant, visit Tech Depot at SME Portal.
This article is published with permission from IMDA.
