Archive for Intermodal Industry

Reduce the workload associated with depot invoices by up to 75%

One of the most time consuming jobs for intermodal leasing companies is to manually verify depot and vendor invoices against internal data.  Time spent on each invoice can vary from anything between 15 to 30 minutes during the lifecycle of checking and resolving issues.

Real Asset Management has released a Depot4000 module to dramatically reduce this administration time to an average of 5 minutes per invoice or even less, saving £££’s in administration costs.  This module is being welcomed by customers as a crucial time saving tool.

Also by using this module, leasing companies no longer have to estimate accruals and wait up to 2-3 months for depots and vendors to send final invoices for verification.  An accurate calculation of costs per unit is always obtainable and information is ready to be exported to the accounts system.

By self billing and producing pro-forma invoicing, companies can anticipate costs more accurately and calculate precise accruals with ease.  Over time, users can build up operational data to be analysed such as cost per location, cost per customer, etc.

Depot4000 works as an add-on module to RAM’s core Rental4000 solution, designed to help container leasing companies of all sizes manage their daily business activities. 

For more information, please call Nicola Byers on +44 (0)1689 892153 or email solution@realassetmgt.co.uk

Workflow4000 – A new module for Business Activity Monitoring

Workflow4000 is an add-on module that can add extra value to Real Asset Management’s core transport solutions.  Much like having a dedicated employee watching over the fleet and its associated business activities 24/7, it can be used to act on any situation or condition to pre-set time cycles, ensuring that both critical and non-critical triggers get the attention that business managers want.  

Workflow4000 immediately issues email report alerts or takes action when user-specified data relationships occur, such as when a unit’s test date is due, when a quotation is about to expire or when a unit has been damaged on a job or on hire.  Alerts come in a variety of formats including HTML, PDF, Excel and Word and they can be delivered via email, fax, pop-up message, PDA, mobile phone, etc.

There are so many benefits to Workflow.  Here are just a few of the scenarios it can help with:

Never miss critical action dates again

Examples – Managers or administration staff can ensure all target dates and deadlines are met, such as contract expiry dates, test due dates and quotation expiry dates.
Benefits – New rates can be negotiated, units are not left idle awaiting tests and sales staff can use quotation deadlines to close deals.  Profitability increases due to efficient business processes.

Reduce manual tasks

Examples – Any unpaid invoices are automatically flagged by alerts, job sections with no transport attached are highlighted and orders not invoiced are reported on.
Benefits – Credit control and cash-flow improves, daily operations are more efficient and administration staff can concentrate on jobs that improve profitability rather than manually checking for errors and outstanding issues.

Send exception reports

Examples – Alerts can be sent to management to highlight jobs, units or contracts that fall below minimum profit levels.
Benefits – Immediate action can be taken to ensure that financial targets are met and to reduce the number of transactions which incur loss or low profit margins.

To find out more about Workflow4000, please contact Nicola Byers at solution@realassetmgt.com or call +44 (0)1689 892153.

How to ensure your transport plan is completed on time and to budget.

Tank operators can manage anything from 10’s to 1000’s of jobs each month.  For each one a transport plan must be produced to schedule out costs and highlight profitability.  Many in-house systems record these financial details but can often miss items from the transport plan because it is not produced automatically using the stored costs.  Even missing small charges can have a significant impact.  If a $50 cleaning charge is overlooked on 100 jobs, it equates to $5,000 of lost income.  Monitor4000, on the other hand, automatically produces transport plans based on pre-calculated costs.  This has numerous benefits for the end user as it assists with planning and ensures that jobs are performed on time and to the quoted amount. 

In addition, Monitor4000 has a built in vendor tariffs database to record all of the charges from external suppliers, saving time when preparing a quotation and improving accuracy.  If this accuracy is improved by 10% at the quotation stage then this can result in a greater improvement in profitability
To generate these plans manually for each job would take an average of one hour to complete.  Using a system like Monitor could therefore save you around $10,000 per 1000 jobs and can allow companies to increase their activity without recruiting extra staff.
To find out more about Monitor4000, please contact Nicola on +44 (0)1689 892111 or at solution@realassetmgt.com.

RAM Combines Modules to Provide Container Trading System.

Real Asset Management (RAM), the leading provider of Intermodal Leasing and Operating software has combined its Sales Order and Work Order Management modules to provide a new container trading system. The new Trade4000 solution manages both the acquisition and sale of equipment.    Extracting procurement and sales data from multiple systems or spreadsheets can incur expensive administration costs and wastes valuable management time.  Trade4000, on the other hand, saves companies money by providing access to detailed information within one specialised system.  Profit & Loss calculations on equipment trading are recorded and reported on accurately, allowing timely adjustments to be made to future sales prices and purchase negotiations.

For customers using Rental4000, RAM’s container and tank leasing solution, both the sales order and work order elements are available separately and as additional modules.

Automate your documentation to save money

Manually producing the vast amount of documentation required during the intermodal leasing and operating process can be a laborious task.   Using software that automatically generates documents saves valuable time and reduces resource costs.

Intermodal operating requires documents from quotation to order, including quotation offer, order loading, bill of lading and trucking advice.  Manually producing ten documents for one order would take an average of 15 minutes each (total 2.5 hours) costing around $30 per job.  Automating the process could therefore save $30,000 over 1,000 jobs.

Intermodal Leasing requires documents for on hire, off hire, repair authorisation, test due notification, invoice generation and total loss value notification.  Manually producing 1000 documents per month would take an average of 15 minutes each (total 250 hours), saving over $36,000 annually.

To find out more about how documentation is produced through Monitor4000 and Rental4000, please call +44 (0)1689 892111 or email solution@realassetmgt.com

EDI has a huge financial impact on the M&R process – massive cost savings to be made

Real Asset Management’s Repair4000 module fully supports incoming EDI messages and is helping customers to make substantial cost savings across the entire Maintenance & Repair process.

Without EDI, maintenance and repair lines must be entered manually using faxes or emails from various depots.  This is a labour intensive process and relies upon an administrator to summarise tens or often hundreds of lines because it is too costly to type out every single line of detail.

If on the other hand the information is imported via EDI, every single line of detailed information is automatically entered into the system.  The benefits of this process are significant.  It reduces costs by cutting administration time and enables companies to re-bill their customers more quickly and accurately.  As the information is updated at the point of the EDI transaction, off-hired units are immediately flagged as available, allowing a quicker turnaround time and more efficient fleet utilisation.  The manual process has a delay between the time the information is received and the input of data into the system.

The improved level of information stored in the system as a result of EDI allows managers to drill down amongst the cost data for detailed analysis.  Turnaround time and repair costs can then be reviewed and badly performing depots are highlighted.  Appropriate action can then be taken to improve efficiency once again.

EDI is now common place in the intermodal industry but is it important to have systems in place with functionality that can take full advantage of its benefits.  For more information on Real Asset Management’s Repair4000, please contact solution@realassetmgt.com

Reducing costs associated with the maintenance and repair process

Using a specialist system to manage the maintenance and repair (M&R) of equipment such as tanks, containers, trailers, reefers and IBC’s will promote efficiency by minimising the downtime of both leased and owned units.

There are many ways that operators and lessors can reduce costs using this type of software.  The process of monitoring the turn time of equipment is completely automated, ensuring that units are ready promptly for the next lease or job.  One RAM customer estimated that to capture and report on turn time manually took 5 days per month, wasting around $5,000 per year.

These automated reports can flag up and automatically re-allocate costs from third party suppliers and highlight depots or repair workshops that provide the most efficient turnaround of units.  Importantly, they ensure that all costs are charged to the end customer.  Some examples of the impact on unit revenues reported include over $10,000 per year on recharges that would otherwise have been missed and a similar amount saved in administration costs.

It is also estimated that one out of ten contracts has missed DPP (Damage Protection Plan) coverage. As this is automatically transferred from the contract part of the Rental4000 module to Repair4000, RAM’s customers have reported savings of $1,000 for every ten contracts.

Furthermore, effective management of the M&R process reduces the chances of unknown manufacturing defects. If just 2% of a 10,000 unit fleet had a $50 repair defect, the elimination of such defects would save $10,000 per year.

By implementing an effective maintenance and repair system, users can boost unit profitability in an increasingly competitive market.

Look out for further M&R cost saving examples on the intermodal blog.  To find out more about Repair4000, please request a brochure by contacting Nicola Byers at solution@realassetmgt.com

Reduce costs by eliminating the need for manual procedures and checking.

In a previous article on the intermodal blog, RAM discussed how automatic billing can save days of manual procedures and checking.  Rental4000 for intermodal leasing uses stored contract terms to bill customers accurately and calculates every charge applicable such as early return options, damage protection, post build down rates, time and volume stepped charges, handling fees and penalties.  Built in warnings also operate within the system when minimum contract terms are not met. 

This accuracy in the billing process not only has a huge impact on the profitability of each unit but it cuts administration costs.  The reduction of manual procedures can help companies to reduce their costs.  For example, an estimate to manually monitor and enforce just two types of contract restriction would be 30 minutes for every unit returned.  If 100 units are returned in a month, there would be 50 hours of cost savings totalling an average of $6,000 per year.

Another example of cost reduction is found within the task of processing purchase invoices.  Without an automated system, the verification of such invoices can take around 5 days each month.  This could not only cause a delay in collecting revenue but could cost companies an average of $5,000 per year.  With Rental4000 able to offer further cost reductions in many other areas, companies can concentrate on raising profits rather than wading through administration.

Top Leasing companies can save around $2.1 million over five years

Most companies are looking to reduce costs in the current economic climate and RAM’s Return On Investment white paper may be a valuable tool to help companies reduce unnecessary staff and recruitment costs. The paper lists savings that can be made by implementing a specialist intermodal management system as opposed to maintaining an expensive in house development team.

RAM’s white paper was researched using information from customers and explains how a top intermodal organisation could save as much as $2.1 million over a five year period. The main way to achieve these savings is to remove the need for expensive IT development staff (example above is based on a team of six) and to either reduce the number of administrators working with inhouse software or to reallocate their time towards more productive activities and new business generation (example above re-allocates four administrators). Specialist software can help companies to achieve such savings even taking into account the initial purchase cost. Payback can be as little as five months with a Return on Investment of 51%.

The paper also contains scenarios for start-up, small and medium sized intermodal companies.

To receive your free copy of the white paper, please email your details to solution@realassetmgt.co.uk or call +44(0)1689 892111

How accurate are your customer re-bills?

Substantial cost savings can be made from effective Maintenance & Repair software

Real Asset Management’s (”RAM”) Repair4000 module is helping its customers to make substantial cost savings when re-billing customers for maintenance and repairs to equipment. 

Many companies are still using spreadsheet based systems to store M&R costs.  This method has significant drawbacks.  It is very difficult to extract customer re-billing data accurately and if revisions from depots occur regularly, the data cannot be easily updated and invoices to customers may not reflect all the relevant costs.  The administration time needed to improve this manual process is not always available and often invoices are estimated or left to the discretion of the depot.

The following calculations are based on an analysis of RAM’s customer data where the average re-bill invoice was found to be $150.  By identifying and then blocking the potential negative 5.2% variance,  customers that averaged 150 re-bills per year were saving $14,040 in that time.  Larger customers that handled 750 re-bills per year were achieving a staggering $70,200.

RAM’s Repair4000 system, which fully integrates with the Rental4000 lease management package enables the automatic generation of customer re-bill invoices and allows centralised billing for control over both costs and invoicing.  A dedicated M&R system will also reduce costs by cutting administration time and enabling managers to drill down amongst the cost data for detailed analysis, allowing them to monitor variances and make crucial adjustments.

The margin improvement that can be made by more accurate re-billing is just one element of the M&R process where intermodal customers are increasing unit profits.  By implementing a dedicated solution, organisations are also saving money by reducing turnaround time, cutting administration and using EDI transactions.  Look out for future articles on these topics for valuable cost savings.

For more information on Real Asset Management’s Repair4000 and Rental4000 modules, please contact solution@realassetmgt.co.uk

Lack of system functionality can slow down marketing efforts

Start up container leasing companies sometimes delay the implementation of an IT system.  This is usually because they either overestimate its cost or because managers hold back funds until the time when their in-house or spreadsheet systems can no longer cope.  It may be the case that these companies can currently operate with a spreadsheet based solution to manage their long term leasing contracts. Going forward, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to take on Master Lease Agreements (MLAs) without the support of a specialist container lease management solution.

It is crucial to plan ahead and have a system in place ready for growth and new business developments.  The sales and marketing of MLAs and other more complicated business transactions will inevitably be inhibited by delays within the IT process.  Project timescales must be incorporated into the business plan so that marketers know when they have the green light to start new campaigns that may result in more complex lease contracts.  In addition, the acquisition of a new IT system is much easier without complex data to convert and best practice can be adopted from day one, working in harmony with the IT programme.

The Billing process can be a drain on resources

Companies that use multiple systems to gather billing information could be missing out on vital cost savings according to many of RAM’s customers. In-house systems often contain several elements that are not centralised causing the billing process to be heavy on administration and requiring manual input. The following comments were put forward by RAM’s customers when asked to comment on their experience with previous in-house systems:

• Operational, contractual and billing elements are not always in one central system, adding uncessary cost.
• No electronic billing options and the entire billing process is slow and reliant on data from multiple systems.
• Billing can only be produced in one format.
• Data entry is slow and subject to user error.
• Reports are limited and there is no report-writer option or query tool.
• No net book values are available to instantly monitor the true cost of equipment and its replacement.
• Posting transactions to the accounts system is manual, duplicating data entry.
• Key Performance Indicators, such as with unit profitability, are difficult to measure.

Calculating the Return On Investment on a Specialist Intermodal IT System

To maximise profits and compete in a demanding market, forward thinking intermodal companies must take full advantage of the latest technology, continually review their business processes and upgrade or replace front-office systems.  Decision makers should compile detailed information in order to assess the benefits of implementing a specialist software package such as:

• Reasons for change
• Current system issues
• Strategic benefits of both types of system
• Predicted costs over next five years for both systems

When calculating the Return On Investment of a prospective new IT system, it is just as important to calculate the cost of not implementing a system, i.e will current systems incur more costs over time than new software.

Real Asset Management has recently released a white paper to provide a template for comparison, including sample calculations and suggested areas of consideration.  The paper focuses on companies of all sizes within the intermodal leasing or tank/container operator markets.  To receive a free copy, please contact Nicola Byers on +44 (0)1689 892153 or at solution@realassetmgt.co.uk