This Point of Sale recap is from the FreightWaves 3PL Summit.
POINT OF SALE TOPIC: Delivering a better digital freight experience through human-centered design and technology
DETAILS: Digitization and automation are often thought of as creating more distant relationships between 3PLs and carriers. Lily Shen and Andrew Cox discuss how digitization can create closer relationships between 3PLs and their carrier and shipper partners.
SPEAKER: Shen is president and CEO of Transfix
BIO: With more than two decades of experience in Silicon Valley, Shen has led Transfix, a digital brokerage and logistics software company, to build what is hailed as the world’s most connected and intelligent freight platform. Her experience from advising global platforms like WeChat, Coupang and Mercari has enabled Transfix to develop an innovative carrier strategy. Her contributions have attracted customers like Unilever, Staples and Target to Transfix’s suite of digital freight tools.
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KEY QUOTES FROM SHEN
“When we bring on talent, we think about T-shaped people, folks who are incredibly deep at what they do but also very broad. What that really brings to the table is very strong expertise in particular functions, but people who are constantly thinking about systems. [They are] constantly thinking about how things should work, end to end, across all the functions so that ultimately you are delivering a platform that is end to end and really holistic in thinking.”
“Human-centered design is at the heart of what we do. … A lot of it comes down to the culture, so what are the ways in which you work, what are the ways in which you collaborate, how do you think about analysis research so you are bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table? That is really going to drive innovation and really reimagine the way things should work.”
“We spent years automating the core platform … but not in a silo, truly integrated and connecting [shippers] to our marketplace. Similarly on the carrier side, building out and launching and providing to them a fleet management tool that is free … also enables us to provide more automation and accessibility to loads for them so they can grow their business.”