CargoWise has been helping logistics professionals improve speed and efficiency in their freight operations for decades. Since the first version of CargoWise was launched in 1994, it’s grown to serve over 18,000 organizations across 165 countries.
However, in the new age of logistics digitization, using a strong TMS is no longer enough to compete and win new business. In fact, in a FreightWaves/Logixboard survey, 46% of shippers said they stopped working with one freight forwarder in favor of another with better technology.
That’s where Logixboard comes in. Let’s talk about how a customer experience (CX) platform like Logixboard can take your tech stack to the next level to improve efficiency, accelerate new business, and boost customer satisfaction.
CargoWise vs. Logixboard: Understanding the differences
If you’re not intimately familiar with the concept of a CX platform, it can be difficult to grasp how it relates to a TMS solution– and why both are critical to success.
In a nutshell, a transport management system (TMS) is a software built to help logistics providers execute and improve the process of moving goods from point A to B. Contrastingly, a CX platform aims to elevate the customer experience by giving your shippers a user-friendly system to manage their shipment processes.
CargoWise is a cloud-based TMS solution that offers countless features to optimize a variety of logistics specialties, from International Forwarding to Geo Compliance. Logistics providers leverage CargoWise to streamline their operations in a single system with features to manage and automate day-to-day tasks.
Logixboard, on the other hand, is a CX platform that forwarders use to improve the shipping experience for their customers. By providing customer-facing features like bookings, payments, automated container tracking, and analytics, Logixboard allows shippers full transparency and enhanced capabilities throughout the transit process. This, in turn, improves satisfaction and strengthens relationships by providing your customers with the same visibility and control that you’ve created internally.
How Logixboard enhances CargoWise
The main advantages of onboarding with Logixboard are enhancing customer experience and improving efficiency. When a CargoWise user signs up with Logixboard, they’ll undergo a comprehensive onboarding process in which the support team will implement and advise on the software with virtually no involvement from the user’s IT department.
In a series of meetings with various stakeholders at your organization, Logixboard will facilitate data transfer, operations team training, key customer education, sales team training, and more. The average company completes onboarding over the course of a few weeks. However, the actual length is driven by the customer, with some teams onboarding much quicker.
Upon setup completion, they’ll get access to a suite of new capabilities, all in addition to their existing CargoWise functionality. Since the Logixboard software integrates directly with TMS solutions, your account will sit on top of your CargoWise instance to expand visibility and collaboration for your team and customers through a variety of features.
All-in-one platform for customers
One of the biggest advantages of using Logixboard is providing your customers with a centralized platform to check in on their shipments. Upon logging into their account, they’ll be able to view all of their relevant details on a single dashboard, including the shipment status, exceptions alerts, estimated arrivals times, related documents, and more.
This user-friendly interface gives shippers a snapshot view of their shipments, enabling them to quickly manage projects and spot potential issues– and without any additional digging or effort on their part.
Enhanced shipper capabilities
In addition to getting a more cohesive view of their shipments, shippers can also use Logixboard to streamline their day-to-day responsibilities. For instance, the platform cuts down tedious administrative tasks with features like document management, invoice tracking, and payments.
By leveraging these functionalities, users can transition away from conducting operations across a mix of emails, spreadsheets, onsite file systems, and banking applications– instead executing tasks directly in the system. Through these capabilities, shippers can gain a more active role in the shipping process, saving time and improving efficiency for all parties involved.
Real-time visibility
Another major benefit of adopting Logixboard as a CargoWise user is unlocking unmatched visibility into your shipments. By providing customers with real-time visibility on the Logixboard platform, you can answer the question, “Where’s my shipment?” without long email threads and constant phone calls.
Not only will Logixboard give shippers access to vessel-level statuses from CargoWise, but forwarders can also decide to pull in an additional data feed to offer container-level information– enabling shippers to resolve issues before they result in fees or delays.
In addition to providing location visibility, forwarders can also give their customers a view into other aspects of the shipping process. For example, the Logixboard Bookings feature enables shippers to see the status of the requests they’ve submitted. This and other functionalities allow shippers a better sense of control throughout the process without the need to contact their forwarder for updates.
Using CargoWise without Logixboard
Customer experience has become a hot topic in freight forwarding over the past few years, and Logixboard isn’t the only solution on the table. Without Logixboard, CargoWise users can still give their customers greater access through WiseTech’s WebTracker or similar third-party solutions.
Like Logixboard, many of these applications aim to empower shippers with expanded functionality and enhanced visibility. However, these applications span a wide range. Many tend to lean into specific areas of the process like quoting or booking, in turn falling short in other aspects like customer experience and visibility.
These shortcomings can frustrate customers, who in turn may opt to continue to use calls and emails instead of adopting the new platform. Therefore, if you’re making a decision between multiple solutions, try to get a demo to compare the interfaces, features, and pricing to figure out the best fit for your business.
Final thoughts
CargoWise is a robust system with a wide range of features to level up your internal efficiency. However, optimizing the end-to-end shipping process requires a CX platform like Logixboard to help you improve visibility and better collaborate with customers.
Want to find out more ways to get the most out of CargoWise? Check out our recent white papers to dive into key modules.
