EMO-TRANS Germany navigates to a secure future switching from Procars to Scope
EMO-TRANS' reputation with their customers rests solidly on 50 years of global logistics solutions customized to individual requirements. Being a privately owned mid-market company with more than 250 branches and 7,000 employees in more than 120 countries, EMO-TRANS provides customer focus and fast accessibility. This leading supplier of tailor-made logistic services is also acknowledged as a stellar partner in supply chain management. Skilled experts always find a way to increase values and benefits within the supply chain – simple things like shorter delivery times at reduced cost. Long-term strategic partnerships ensure secure fulfillment and once again at less cost. What started in 1965 with an air freight shipment of 10 kg evolved into a leading forwarding company for air and sea freight with an annual turnover of more than 400m USD.
Changeover without large-scale changes
Back in 1993 EMO-TRANS took a chance on Procars from Riege Software, a product which in those days was still entirely innovative. This Transport Management System enabled EMO-TRANS to meet the high demands of their customers for the many years that followed. In 2013, EMO-TRANS decided to switch to Procars' successor, Scope, after they had checked and discarded other possible solutions. The decision to continue the collaboration was not based purely on the possibilities offered by Scope but also on the long-term relationship that enabled Riege to easily understand the requirements of EMO-TRANS, enabling a smooth and undisturbed transition. No new familiarization with the company was required.
Demand turns into challenge
The challenges though, were huge: 5 entities with 13 branches had to be switched within a defined period of time. In addition, the development of a special program for the consolidation department turned out to be more difficult than expected and it took more than one test phase to deliver a solution that convinced EMO-TRANS. With this hard nut finally cracked, EMO-TRANS staff were extremely satisfied with the performance of Scope, and even longstanding Procars users became enthusiastic about the newly delivered options and abilities. The structured architecture and the clear user interface convinced them in short order. Thomas Klinkhammer, Director Sales and Marketing at EMO-TRANS, looks back with satisfaction and ahead in confidence.
“If we had few little problems with others as we have with Riege and Scope, we'd be completely happy.”
Results ensure feelings of success
Thanks to the SaaS concept of Scope, in-house hardware and maintenance became redundant, improving ongoing maintenance costs. Resilience has increased while simultaneously there were no onsite backup obligations. EMO-TRANS noted other successes, the daily import of rates, the new quotation module, the enhancement of the CRM module as well as interfaces to diverse partners such as their accounting system "egeko".
“What can I say about Scope? It works and doesn't hold you back.”
EMO-TRANS also makes use of Scope's web applications. While the track and trace app Scope Connect is only in use with a few customers, the management highly appreciates the dashboards. Displaying the key figures of entrepreneurial activities in real time, they provide substantial insight into activities with or for customers, and open new and effective ways to recognize untapped potential and to adjust strategies.
A new start with old acquaintances
In the end, the entire transition caused as little disturbance and noise as possible, this is owed to the dedication and active monitoring of the diligent people in charge. Under the lead management of Randolph Reichel, CIO at EMO-TRANS, Sandra Stütz (air freight and customs), Maria Carcanella (IT-department) and Thorsten Peters (sea freight), all have done a great deal contributing significantly to the success of the project. When all is said and done, the team of the Riege Helpdesk provided astute training to open new perspectives in dealing with air freight, sea freight and customs in Scope. Consequently, the restart didn't cause any problems for either newbies or for experienced old hands. On the contrary, the already high acceptance of Scope grew by the day.
“We've known most of the participants for ages which eased the entire introduction. Training them on Scope made it even easier.”
Pleasure meets satisfaction
After the seamless implementation and successful training the first branch of EMO-TRANS went live in summer 2014, the last one in spring 2015. Currently, 187 employees in 14 branches do their daily work with Scope, to their own satisfaction and to the satisfaction of their customers both of which fills us with joy and spurs us to achieve more improvements and greater satisfaction.