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A CUSTOM ERP THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

QSL

QSL is a world-class marine terminal operator and stevedore with over 60 terminals from Chicago to St. John’s. Every year, the company handles over 20 million tons of cargo, making it a major player in the North American maritime sector.

Marine terminal administration and storage is the bread and butter of this still traditional and relatively unstandardized sector. The industry is no stranger to uncertainty, from the vagaries of the sea to complex intermodal logistics (coordinating transportation from boats to trains to trucks), coupled with the endless variety of products that come through ports every day (sugar, 40-foot steel beams, explosives, etc.). Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are few turnkey software solutions that can adapt to the ever-changing needs of this industry.

Statistics

Terminals in North America

60

Million square feet of outdoor and indoor storage

+21

Challenge

To stay competitive and facilitate information sharing between terminals and stakeholders, QSL launched a large-scale project to modernize its systems.

The company wanted to overhaul its tender process to make it more structured, flexible and comprehensive. Because QSL had as many operational and administrative processes as sites (40), standardizing the processes was a tall order. On top of that, QSL wanted to integrate the sales application with its financial, HR and equipment management systems to get the most out of their business intelligence.

Solution

  

QSL asked us to develop the Tracking Cargo 3 (TC3) application. This custom ERP integrates the company’s financial and equipment management systems, the sales team can now set tenders based on QSL’s exact resource costs (HR, equipment, maintenance, etc.). With the TC3 application, QSL can automatically generate contracts, calculate profit margins in real time, and more, substantially increasing the efficiency of the sales force.

Taking the tender process digital has given QSL an undeniable edge over the competition in the form of more consistent pricing and higher profit margins. The application has also improved client retention and its ratio of successful tenders. In addition, QSL has been able to use TC3 to digitize their entire range of customer services, from tenders to inventory tracking to billing. Because it is now able to access customer purchase histories, QSL has a better understanding of its customers’ needs and can offer them an unparalleled customer experience.