2021 has been unpredictable and many anticipate that it will remain so for supply chains for the foreseeable future. In response, it’s imperative for teams to focus on the must-haves and to execute them as seamlessly as possible. Things like proactive customer communication, leveraging data to make informed decisions and cross-collaboration are table stakes. However, companies would be hard-pressed to effortlessly and efficiently execute these best practices without supply chain visibility.
Leading the way in supply chain operations and visibility are FourKites’ 2021 Golden Kite Winners.
This year marked FourKites’ third annual Golden Kite Awards, a FourKites exclusive customer program that celebrates how Shippers, 3PLs and Carriers are incorporating supply chain visibility into their operations to go beyond and reach the next level of service and operations. Winners are selected based on measured results and creative solutions in five categories. The categories are selected based on topical themes we see in our customers and within the market – this year’s categories were: Improved Customer Experience, End-to-End Optimization, Supply Chain Agility, Collaboration, and Green Earth.
Leveraging data to make strategic decisions, both in real-time and to analyze their networks for operational improvements, Armada and T-Mobile took home a coveted Golden Kite trophy in Supply Chain Agility and End-to-End Optimization, respectively. Armada can now predict disruptions for their customers with 96% accuracy and triage order resolutions 75% faster than pre-implementation.
Kimberly-Clark and Ingredion improved internal collaboration to reduce response times to customers significantly. Their teams were able to make informed decisions using data much quicker in 2021. Ingredion reduced their customer response time from 60 minutes to 60 seconds! And last but not least, GlobalTranz worked with their customers to achieve aggressive sustainability goals in a tight market by reducing truckload shipments by an estimated 30%.
To date, we have 16 winners who have taken home the coveted Golden Kite trophy. And in three years, FourKites has seen a 200% increase in submissions. This jump comes as no surprise given the trends and headwinds in recent years. As a McKinsey report noted, “Digitization and integration with stakeholders from end to end provide the foundation for building more resilient operations. Successful organizations will gain the ability to respond to changing conditions with greater speed and agility, thereby mitigating the impact of unexpected events.”
Not only did the Golden Kite winners prioritize digitization, integration and collaboration – but they did it with a customer-first mentality. I am thrilled to have them join the elite company of previous Golden Kite winners, and cannot wait to see what is in store for 2022 and beyond.