In logistics today, real-time visibility and control are key to efficient supply chain management. Descartes MacroPoint™ is a real-time visibility platform implemented by businesses to enhance connectivity, reduce costs, and enable real-time collaboration. Integrating advanced tracking technology into your supply chain will optimize logistics processes and improve customer satisfaction. 

In this article, you can explore the benefits that Descartes MacroPoint can bring to your supply chain, the advantages users benefit from, customer feedback from manufacturing leader Steelcase, and more. 

Enhanced Visibility Across the Supply Chain 

Real-time visibility is key in today’s interconnected business environment. By leveraging advanced technologies such as IoT and AI, companies can benefit from informed, real-time insights for every aspect of their supply chain operations. This improved transparency not only helps identify potential bottlenecks and inefficiencies but also enables proactive decision-making.  

Supply chain companies generally have four main business goals: 

If you’re scrambling to meet Kroger’s new requirements—or simply looking to streamline visibility across your network—Descartes MacroPoint is a proven, all-in-one global, multi-modal platform for real-time visibility with AI-powered predictive ETAs, custom alerts, temperature tracking, capacity sourcing, fraud prevention, carrier vetting/onboarding/ monitoring, and analytics for continuous improvement. Here’s how: 

  • Reduce administrative labor time spent on tracking shipments for the customer support and logistics departments. 
  • Improve operating efficiencies at both internal and external customer facilities by providing real-time shipment visibility and predictive ETA information. 
  • Avoid penalties for late deliveries and detention. 
  • Find the right technology partners to meet business requirements, offering real-time visibility, control, proactive communication, and user-friendly training resources. 

Descartes MacroPoint was created to equip users with real-time data in an industry where timely information is vital. Achieving visibility and control across the supply chain comes with challenges, like fragmented data sources, lack of real-time updates, and difficulties tracking shipments across multiple carriers. Without reliable transportation visibility software, businesses can struggle to respond to disruptions, risking potential losses and customer dissatisfaction.  

Descartes MacroPoint has the advanced capabilities to address these challenges, allowing companies to monitor their goods’ location and status at any moment. This solution integrates seamlessly with your logistics partners, your customers, and your existing systems, consolidating all the data from various sources into a single, user-friendly platform. 

What are the benefits of Descartes MacroPoint? 

Descartes MacroPoint offers multiple benefits that significantly enhance user experience and operational efficiency. These benefits involve real-time visibility into your supply chain, features to keep users informed, and a user-friendly and customizable portals so customers and transportation providers can always have the information they need. Let’s dive into the benefits of Descartes MacroPoint. 

Cost Savings

Implementing real-time visibility software into your business operations will reduce unnecessary expenditures and boost profitability. With  Descartes MacroPoint, teams spend less time tracking shipments and answering calls about the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of orders, which saves time and money. 

Lower Freight Costs

Accurate information enables users to make informed decisions, resulting in more cost-effective freight management. Consequently, businesses save demurrage and detention costs, minimize shipping expenses, and improve customer service. 

Access to Descartes MacroPoint Academy

Customers can also access the dedicated platform that provides training and other resources to ensure that users have all the knowledge they need at their fingertips to get the maximum benefit from the solution.

Unlimited Number of Users

One significant advantage of Descartes MacroPoint is the potential for unlimited users, which leads to enhanced efficiency and collaboration within the company. With no restrictions on the number of users, all stakeholders can access real-time shipment data and associated updates. 

This accessibility ensures that everyone involved in the supply chain has the necessary information, allowing them to make informed decisions, respond quickly to issues, and maintain transparent communication.  

Customized Portals

Every company has unique requirements when looking for real-time visibility. This personalized approach enables organizations to prioritize the features that are most important to them, such as alerting options, notifications, and control tower functionalities. The custom portal capability ensures that all essential information is easily accessible even for partners and customers whose systems are not directly integrated into Descartes MacroPoint, saving users time when checking their shipment status or seeking information. 

Success Story: Steelcase 

Steelcase, a leader in office furniture and manufacturing, sought to accelerate response time, increase efficiency speed, and ease communications between multiple parties in its logistic networks. Their goal: improve customer experience. 

Steelcase’s homegrown manual processes and reliance on carriers for status updates led to inefficiencies, late shipments, costly chargebacks, and compromised customer service.  To address these issues, Steelcase implemented Descartes MacroPoint. As a result, Steelcase reduced the time it spent tracking by 50%, cut internal track-and-trace costs in half, reduced disruptions and customer penalties, and brought real-time visibility across the entire business. 

“Descartes MacroPoint has been a massive time saver for us. Prior to implementing the solution, we spent in the neighborhood of four to five hours per day tracking and receiving updates on loads. Now that most of the information is pushed from Descartes MacroPoint, we’re down to the two-hour mark for tracking loads—and we can always stay steps ahead of any shipment issue.” 

Keegan McCready, Sr. Project Manager, Steelcase Inc. 

Why should shippers use Descartes MacroPoint? 

Up-to-date information is key to real-time visibility, and shippers are constantly looking for ways to improve their operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Descartes MacroPoint allows shippers to track loads in real-time, reducing uncertainty and facilitating proactive decision-making.  

Shippers have access to a multimodal visibility platform and automated status updates at every step of the journey gathered in one system. The platform’s advanced analytics capabilities also enable shippers to gain valuable insights. This analysis allows users to identify inefficiencies and adjust to improve their performance. 

The financial benefits from enhanced supply chain performance continue to increase over time. With Descartes MacroPoint, businesses can expect more control and visibility throughout the supply chain with reliable, real-time data. Descartes MacroPoint is the largest multimodal transport tracking network available. It provides automated communication and real-time visibility, with over 20 billion transactions annually. 

Let Descartes be the one stop shop for all your connections with external parties. Get in touch today!