Rubber Track Solutions Case Study
Case Study:
RUBBER TRACK SOLUTIONS
Overview
Rubber Track Solutions (RTS) is an aftermarket parts distributor specializing in high-quality rubber tracks and undercarriage systems for agricultural and construction equipment. Headquartered in Texas, RTS has three warehouses running ShipHawk TMS, and utilizes four additional 3PL facilities. Established in 2001, RTS has quickly grown into one of the world’s largest independent distributors for rubber track replacement parts.
Industry
Rubber Track
Replacement Parts
Automated complex LTL
packing for heavy,
flexible products
ERP
NetSuite
Website
www.rtstracks.com
Highlighted Solution:
ShipHawk Shipping
!
Benefits & Key Outcomes
Challenge
After moving from a legacy ERP system to NetSuite, RTS quickly recognized that the company’s legacy shipping process was at odds with its plans for rapid growth. Workflows were highly fragmented and manual, with each order involving multiple steps, manual carrier quoting, and frequent communication between departments that slowed fulfillment.
Streamlined processes
enabled a greater focus
on customer service
The nature of RTS’ products added another layer of complexity to its shipping processes. Nearly all orders are shipped via pallets or less-than-truckload (LTL), and its rubber track products are large and flexible, weighing anywhere from 200 to 2,200 pounds. As a result, they’re difficult to dimension and custom logic is essential for stacking and packing efficiently.
“Every customer transaction was essentially three internal transactions. It was a pain. And then you’d have to reach out to each individual carrier and try to quote with them, limiting our ability at a multi-carrier set-up,” explained Maxwell Buettner, Vice.
Solution
Rubber Track Solutions implemented ShipHawk Advanced Shipping to bring speed and accuracy to its LTL operations, and the switch couldn’t have come at a better time. With continued growth, RTS achieved a 65% increase in order volume and successfully met demand by reducing ordering processing time by more than 55%.
“It used to be a 20-minute process to book a customer order and shipment, and now we’re not just booking a shipment, but we have picking, packing, and shipping completed within a few minutes,” shared Buettner.
ShipHawk made a good partner for RTS to scale with ease because not only did it automate shipping, but also adapted to RTS’ unique business needs. Standard shipping tools are not designed to handle complex products like rubber tracks, which are heavy, flexible and difficult to measure. With ShipHawk’s Smart Packing™ cartonization feature and configurable rules, RTS found a system that was up to the challenge.
RTS created specific pallet configurations, height limits and developed eight to ten business rules to match the unique characteristics of its products. “ShipHawk Smart Packing was definitely a game changer for us,” shared Greg Gillespie, Customer Solutions Manager at Rubber Track Solutions. “That, accompanied by the rules, made it a lot easier for us. Booking a shipment has gotten so simple that it’s virtually just a couple of pushes of a button.”
“We're always trying to drive efficiency, and we want to keep growing. We know that ShipHawk will be a good partner along the way.”
The efficiencies RTS gained through ShipHawk don’t just stay behind the scenes; they directly improve service for RTS customers. With orders fulfilled faster and more reliably, customers receive what they need, when they need it—fueling growth for both companies. “One of the biggest operational efficiencies was finally being able to put our customer solutions team more in front of the customer experience, not just in order fulfillment, which is what they were doing a lot previously,” said Buettner.