259: Transform How You Manage Your Supply Chain, with Prompt

Today I’m joined by Prompt, a customer-focused logistics software business who are on a mission to unlock your digitization and automation potential – to drive cost savings and revenue improvements – without changing your underlying software platforms. Prompt helps supply chain companies to easily expand the functionality of their Transportation Management Systems without changing or replacing any of their existing software. As the only logistics technology company with all the major global data privacy and security certifications, Prompt work with more than a third of the top 25 freight forwarders, providing visibility, automation, and payment processing solutions that all safely and seamlessly connect back to their system, or systems, of choice. Today Kai Timmermann, Chief Operating Officer at Prompt, joins me to chat all about the company: what they do; the biggest challenges in logistics today; putting customers at the core of their solutions; and the importance of visibility and data integration to the future of logistics.   IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:   [07.06] Prompt’s origin story, and how Rob and Kai’s background with Lading and CargoWise led them to develop this new software-based brand. “We’re about orienting for real outcomes – we’re not excited by jargon… we just want to get the job done.” [10.38] An overview of Prompt – what they do, and how they help their customers. “For users, we’re about moving time and attention… and from a management perspective, they benefit from that users time and attention, but now they also have process consistency.” [12.12] From managing talent to process inefficiency, a look at some of the key challenges Prompt’s customers are facing right now. “To win the talent war – which is a big deal these days – you want to get people out of that menial work.” [15.49] A  closer look at Prompt’s Automation solution: what it does, how can it help, the benefits – and Kai’s thoughts on the rising importance of automation within supply chain technology. [19.09] What visibility means to Prompt, and how their business intelligence solutions can help to address core inefficiencies. “There are a million people doing it, and visibility can be used to describe a huge span of things… when we talk about our Prompt visibility tool, it’s about better data and access to the information inside a company’s ERP.” [22.02] Prompt’s two-sided integration, how it helps to facilitate improved visibility, and how they work to expand a company’s TMS without impacting their existing software. [25.54] A closer look at Prompt’s evolving Payments solution. [26.46] Kai’s reflections on why we should be paying so much attention to issues like visibility and data integration; the difference it’s going to make, both on a business and on an industry level; and Kai’s predictions for when global logistics is finally going to return to normal. “Logistics technology has gotten so fragmented… our customers have invested heavily in freight management systems and they’ve got a strategic imperative to close the gap with digital freight forwarders – so we’re trying to provide the capabilities to close that gap.” [29.44] Why successful implementation is on an equal footing to the technology itself, and why customers are so important to Prompt. [32.01] The ideal client for Prompt. [32.53] Two key case studies, illustrating how Prompt Automate helped one customer to reduce a proposed integration time of five months down to three to four weeks, and another customer benefit from financial savings of around 40%, on average. [35.41] The future for Prompt.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   Head over to Prompt's website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Prompt and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, or you can connect with Kai on LinkedIn. Check out our other podcasts HERE.