Profit has to be constantly kept in mind by Martin Mödden. The dispatcher of Benway Marine & Logistics from Papenburg works with the Transport Management System MAXFLEX, which gives him a permanent overview of the profit situation. An entire column of the order list is marked either green or red depending on the profit margin. The actual expenses which are incurred by Benway per kilometer and hour are incorporated into the system. These are then collated with the revenues.
However at Benway everything is fine. “We specialize in various types of bulk material, containers and up to three meters wide machine parts. “There the freight rates have not yet hit the rock-bottom as in freight transport with tilt trailers, “explains Mödden, who has only been operating with MAXFLEX since October 2015. This was preceded by a just under four-week project phase for the introduction and training of the software, which replaced the manual dispatching with Excel lists at Benway.
The Benway Group has been active for more than 50 years in the field of logistics. In 2013, the transport division was established as a profit center in the form of a self-owned forwarding agent. “This step was the basis for further rapid growth for us”, Holger Sinningen, who is responsible for controlling at Benway Marine & Logistics, remembers. Following the acquisition of a small logistics service provider from Papenburg, the young company immediately had over nine trucks with Martin Mödden the first dispatcher.
Powerful Tool
“Given our rapid growth, it was no longer possible to cope with Excel,” says Sinningen and adds: “We needed a solution where we can directly monitor our earnings.” This solution was found by Benway at the transport logistic trade fair in Munich. After a thorough on-site research among the many present providers of freight forwarding/shipping software the company decided to use MAXFLEX. With its functions the software covers the complete order management. These include the sections quoting, billing, order entry, dispatching, feedback and control. Even vacation planning and fleet management can be done with MAXFLEX. “MAXFLEX is a powerful tool that offers us almost unlimited possibilities,” Mödden states.
Once captured in MAXFLEX orders are now sent and processed at Benway Marine & Logistics via telematics interface directly to the mobile terminal of the corresponding driver. Subsequently MAXFLEX immediately accepts automated billing, resulting in an accelerated payment by the customers. Simultaneously, the outgoing invoices are routed through the DATEV interface to the financial accounting of the Benway-Group. “The entire billing process runs now much more easily and faster with MAXFLEX,” stresses Sinningen.
Billed in a flexible way
The staff of Benway especially liked “the individually adjustable screens, the clear dispatching and user-friendly operation,” on the software said Mödden. In addition, the connection to DATEV and to the telematics solution from TomTom used in Benway Marine & Logistics was possible without problems. “Our requirements had also been fulfilled by other transport management systems”, Sinningen admits. However, with MAXFLEX the “chemistry” with the employees was clear from the outset and above all Maxflex is the only available rental solution on the market.
The advantages for you: MAXFLEX reduces costs and keeps you totally flexible. From 5.25 Euros per month and per truck you can rely on a sophisticated and field-tested solution, which allows you to control your shipping agency perfectly. Another advantage: you have no contractual obligation, you can cancel monthly at any time or add services. Try it, without any risk for you. An overview of the prices you will find here. MAXFLEX – Shipping is as easy as that.
“Especially in the initial phase of a transportation company it is a great relief when you do not have to buy the software immediately, but can rent it very flexibly” emphasizes Sinningen. Flexible means: At MAXFLEX customers do not enter a contractual obligation and only pay for the actually accessed services. The costs thereby comply with the number of trucks, and not – as usual – with the number of workplaces in the company. Should the fleet once have to be reduced the monthly rental costs, which are calculated per vehicle by 5.75 EUR, would reduce as well.
Further expansion
At Benway Marine & Logistics however there is no sign of a fleet reduction. Quite the contrary: on November 1, 2015, the company acquired another forwarding company from Bremen with 12 tractors together with cooling trailers. In January 2016 another logistics provider from Rostock with 25 trucks followed. Both companies were already in the possession of the Benway partners, so that the acquisitions were in the first place more a consolidation of existing activities. Anyway, the fleet consists now of 46 vehicles, which will soon completely be dispatched by MAXFLEX.
Against this background, it is quite possible that Benway will soon decide to buy a software. In this case, we would “definitely opt for cargo support dispo” Mödden says. This solution is technically and functionally related with MAXFLEX and has an identical operating concept. Switching to cargo support dispo would therefore be possible without further training and adjustments for the employees.
Background: Benway Marine & Logistics GmbH & Co. KG
Benway Marine & Logistics GmbH & Co. KG based in Papenburg is active in the fields of ship interior dismantling, photovoltaics and logistics. The subsidiary of the Benway Group employs a total of 90 employees, including warehouse clerks, forklift drivers and truck drivers. Moreover Benway Marine & Logistics operates its own warehouse space, of which 60,000 square meters are covered. In 2015, the activities in transport and storage were outsourced in its own shipping company, which has been growing rapidly since then.
Upon request, Benway Marine & Logistics offers its customers the entire inventory management from warehouse control over warehouse processing to transportation. Services include international Door to Door shipments from inbound to outbound logistics including customs clearance. Its own fleet includes amongst other things, tractors, trailers, articulated trains and roll-on/off containers. Ship unloading can be conducted on its own 200-meter long wharf in Papenburg harbour.
Background: MAXFLEX Software
MAXFLEX Software GmbH & Co. KG specializes in the rental of consistent shipping software and is thus aimed at transport companies with smaller fleets. The MAXFLEX solution is based on the proven, widely used software cargo support dispo and supports the complete order processing from order entry through dispatching, feedback, to invoicing.
MAXFLEX Shipping software for rent
- Cancelation on a monthly basis
- Fair prices
- No binding contract