STANDARDIZING TRANSPORT COORDINATION FOR A GLOBAL HOME AND BUILDING SOLUTIONS GROUP WITH STM

With a portfolio ranging from architectural and furniture fittings to kitchen and home appliances, our customer manages approximately 1,000–2,000 transportation trips per month across different transport resources. Before Smartlog, operations teams spent around 3–5 hours coordinating orders and allocating shipments to carriers, while vehicle selection, shipment tracking and freight reconciliation remained heavily dependent on Excel. Smartlog Transportation Management (STM) was implemented to centralize transport coordination, support better planning decisions and strengthen control over carriers, delivery progress and transportation costs.

ABOUT OUR CUSTOMER

Our customer is the Vietnamese member of a German-origin international group with more than 100 years of history, serving customers across more than 150 countries worldwide.

The group provides solutions for homes and buildings, with a broad portfolio spanning architectural hardware, furniture fittings, kitchen and home appliances, lighting and sanitary solutions.

In Vietnam, distribution operations are supported by two major centers in Dong Nai and Bac Ninh, together with an owned fleet, external carriers and inland waterway transportation. The network handles approximately 1,000–2,000 trips per month, creating significant requirements for transport coordination, carrier management and freight-cost control.

OPERATING CONTEXT

Before Smartlog STM, transportation coordination relied primarily on Excel.

Products varied significantly in size, weight, volume and packaging requirements, requiring operations teams to calculate shipment characteristics manually before selecting the appropriate vehicle. Without a centralized planning tool, inaccurate calculations could result in unsuitable vehicle bookings, capacity issues or replanning.

Shipment visibility was also fragmented across different carriers, while outsourced freight costs, documents and billing reconciliation required significant manual processing.

KEY CHALLENGES

Transport coordination required significant manual effort

Operations teams spent around 3–5 hours coordinating orders and allocating shipments to carriers, excluding the additional work required for documentation and freight reconciliation.

Vehicle selection depended on manual calculations

Weight, volume and packaging characteristics had to be evaluated manually, increasing the risk of unsuitable vehicle selection or inefficient capacity usage.

Carrier visibility and freight costs were fragmented

Shipment status was distributed across different tracking sources, while transport rates, surcharges and freight reconciliation remained highly manual.

SMARTLOG’S APPROACH

Smartlog implemented STM as a centralized transportation management platform, connecting processes that had previously been handled separately through spreadsheets and different communication channels.

Centralizing transport resources

STM provides a common management environment for owned vehicles and external carriers, giving operations teams a more consolidated view of transport plans and trip status.

Supporting vehicle and transport-plan selection

Shipment weight, volume and packaging information can be incorporated into planning decisions, providing a stronger basis for selecting appropriate vehicles and transport options.

Consolidating shipment visibility

Instead of monitoring each carrier separately, STM creates a foundation for bringing shipment status into a more centralized view, helping teams identify delays or missed deliveries earlier.

Strengthening freight-cost control

Freight rates, surcharges and carrier information can be managed within the same operating flow, helping teams compare options and select more cost-appropriate carriers.

RESULTS

Following implementation, the business has moved toward a more centralized transportation model in which planning, shipment visibility and freight-cost management are managed within a more connected environment.

Project records indicate improved on-time delivery performance and a stronger ability to select carriers based on transportation cost.

Manual effort related to transportation management and freight reconciliation has also been reduced, enabling operations teams to spend more time on execution control and exception management.

BUSINESS VALUE

For a distributor managing thousands of monthly trips and products with very different sizes, weights and packaging requirements, the quality of transport-planning decisions directly affects operational performance.

Smartlog STM connects orders, vehicles, carriers, delivery status and transportation costs within a more consistent workflow.

This provides a stronger foundation for transport decisions, carrier management and cost control as the distribution network continues to scale.