Seko Logistics wins technology award for innovative, cost saving solutions for global brands

SEKO Logistics has won the Technology Award in The Irish Logistics & Transport Awards 2017 for its delivery of innovative, cost-saving supply chain solutions for three leading global brands.

In its submission to the panel of independent judges, SEKO outlined its technology solutions for EMC, a global leader in cloud computing that was acquired by Dell in 2016 in the biggest deal in the history of the technology sector; Kellogg’s, the multinational food manufacturer; and Xerox, the global document solutions and services corporation. The benefits delivered by SEKO included:

• Consolidating existing logistics supporting systems, reducing the number of steps to carrier bookings and removing the need to manually key data;
• Providing access to real-time carrier quotes, automated document creation such as Bills of Lading as well as shipping labels, resulting in significant opportunities for cost reductions and productivity gains;   
• Visibility of goods at Merge-in-Transit (MIT) facilities, including visibility for MIT partner operators to assist in improved inbound and Final Mile planning;   
• Integration with 3rd Party MIT facilities and international carriers, including the potential for tax savings using Virtual Merge-in-Transit;
• Enabling ‘Super’ users and freight users to create, book and track shipments from origin to destination, streamlining processes and creating total traceability;
• Allowing users to run pre-built reports on a subscription basis and create customized reports at their convenience;
• Improving the management and distribution of in-store point of sale (POS) materials; 
• Reclassification of all stock keeping units (SKUs) with simplified codes as well as designing a photographic product booklet to simplify choice for the customer;  
• Redesigning product-ordering processes to reduce errors, duplicates and returns;
• Faster turnaround time on orders, with reduced returns and lower costs;
• Implementation of SEKO’s Warehouse Management System (WMS) to control inbound inventory and manage the flow of inventory from warehouse to the production floor.

The judges commented: “SEKO Logistics has the ability to offer customers a single global IT platform. This means that customers can use their technology solutions to manage their global supply chains wherever in the world they are doing business. We were very impressed by the sheer scope, competitiveness, and efficiency of their offer, hence this award recognition.’ Terry Allen, Director of SEKO Logistics in Ireland, commented: “We are extremely proud to have been recognised for the scope of the technology solutions we now provide to customers of all sizes. They enable us to compete successfully at the ‘top table’ of global logistics service providers and often surpass the capabilities of much bigger competitors. Through our ability to offer fast-to-implement, customizable and scalable software, our customers can use the same technology solution to manage their global supply chains whether they are doing business in Dublin, New York, Hong Kong or Sydney.   “Much of our growth is now being driven by our ability to demonstrate measurable benefits to customers looking for a highly integrated and highly sophisticated 3PL partner which offers bundled software and shipping solutions.” SEKO Logistics’ technology has helped the company earn a series of global awards in the past 12 months. Last year, SEKO was ranked ‘Best for IT’ in an annual survey of 4,725 qualified buyers of logistics and transportation services conducted by the highly-respected Logistics Management magazine to measure customer satisfaction and  performance excellence. The company also earned a third consecutive Top 10 ranking in Internet Retailer magazine’s Top 100 3PL Provider list of leading vendors to the Top 1,000 e-retailers in the U.S, and at the start of 2017, its ability to deliver money saving supply chain solutions for customers saw SEKO listed as a ‘Top 3PL’ by  Multichannel Merchant.  In recognition of market demand for best-in-class technology solutions, in 2016 SEKO also launched a dedicated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) division.