Manufacturing
First Solar — Reimagining Logistics with Tracy AI Across a Global Network
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First Solar — Reimagining Logistics with Tracy AI Across a Global Network
The Challenge
Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, the Düsseldorf-based maker whose Adhesive Technologies unit serves aerospace, automotive, healthcare and more, relies on numerous logistics service providers (LSPs) for OTR, LTL and FTL delivery. Like many manufacturers dependent on LSPs, Henkel lacked visibility into the location of in-transit shipments, leading to manual processes and difficulty helping customers manage tight deadlines. It also needed better monitoring and benchmarking of partner LSPs and the ability to accurately track and troubleshoot late shipments to minimize fees and penalties.
Our Solution
Henkel and FourKites began collaborating in 2018, with Henkel Adhesives selecting FourKites as its visibility provider in 2020, citing industry leadership, platform strength and customer-service orientation. The rollout was staged internally and with customers worldwide: project managers showed LSPs how data-sharing was key to the Track & Trace program, and the team secured internal buy-in before giving customers access. The collective team monitored coverage and quality, expanding only when at least 85% of loads tracked with sufficient quality. Integration runs shipments from Henkel's Oracle TMS into FourKites, with eURL and ATA sent to SAP and live tracking visualized on the platform.
The Result
Henkel realized measurable efficiency improvements in dispute resolution, crisis management, time savings and cost savings. The burden on customer service to manually track shipments was eliminated, yielding substantial time and cost savings. Accurate LSP performance data lets Henkel proactively address service issues and reward providers meeting SLAs, while accurate delivery data lets finance verify or dispute late-arrival claims quickly, reducing fees and penalties. ATA data is now available in minutes vs. hours.
