With the launch of Reveel’s Shipping Intelligence® Platform, we gave our existing clients early access to the platform.
We first talked to Brandon Beasley, the VP of Operations at Gunner Kennels, last year. Driven to keep man’s-best-friend safe in vehicles, the company builds 5-star, crash-tested dog kennels and sells direct-to-consumer online.
We gave Brandon and Gunner Kennels early access to our Shipping Intelligence® Platform™ to see how it could support his operational efforts. Here’s how he used it to save money, save time and gain peace of mind knowing he’s getting the right discounts for Gunner Kennels.
Self-Auditing Made Easy
The shipment profile dashboard has become Brandon’s mission control. With a quick glance, he’s able to determine Gunner’s Reveel Peer Index and the health of their six VitalFactors™.
“We really do have to keep very close tabs on our shipping expenses,” said Brandon. “Reveel acts as that mission control center and provides that information in a really easy digestible format.”
Before using the platform, Brandon’s team could only look at their billing information in snapshots. They pulled the report from UPS and manipulated the data through macros and manual editing in order to get usable information. And even then, it didn’t have nearly the same depth of information that the platform has.
“Reveel does all that work for us on a continuous basis,” said Brandon. “The amount of time saved is really impressive.”
A Surcharge Surplus
Gunner Kennels’ biggest concern is keeping an eye on surcharges. With mostly residential deliveries and heavy, oversized packages, their surcharges can account for 50% of their shipping spend per year.
This makes it difficult to track surcharges against sales—and imperative to their bottom line.
After tracking their surcharges over a couple of months using the Surcharge Spend tab, they noticed they were incurring more oversized surcharge fees than they’d expect from the sales of their oversized items.
A deep dive into the Shipping Intelligence Platform revealed that one of their common kennel boxes was just under the oversized limit. In transit, boxes would get crushed and slightly bowed out, which led to half being categorized as oversized. Gunner Kennels were charged as a result.
Brandon and his team used the platform to identify a problem and analyze the data to pinpoint the issue. As a result, they went back to UPS and negotiated a variance to prevent that box from incurring an oversize charge.
Beyond the Actionable Insights the platform provides, Brandon enjoys the opportunity to dive into the data and gauge how they’re performing operationally.
The Agreement Management Tool
Groundbreaking new technology allows users to upload different carrier agreements and compare them side by side. You can also input different agreement scenarios to see potential savings. Learn about it by clicking the link below.
Brandon used this tool in the last round of negotiations to build what the ideal agreement would look like. This gave them a target to shoot for.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my career working in logistics and managing contracts,” said Brandon.
“The visibility gained by being able to quickly analyze multiple agreements and see the overall effect it will have on profitability and shipping spend is revolutionary,” said Brandon. “And please don’t take that comment as hyperbole. This tool is a game-changer.”
What Will the Platform Reveel for Your Business?
Dive into the free version of the Shipping Intelligence Platform and explore some of the features for yourself.
