This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Domestic Supply Chain Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Tech crossroads: The buy-vs.-build dilemma in 3PLs
DETAILS: As 3PLs look ahead to 2024, Walter “Mitch” Mitchell, CEO of Tai Software, and FreightWaves’ Mary O’Connell break down the pros and cons of buying or building a transportation management system. Tai, headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, is a fully integrated freight broker platform for freight management and transportation.
KEY QUOTES FROM MITCHELL:
“There’s two real big factors that we’ve got to think about: One is security and number two is, are we building something that’s part of our core business? And so as a freight broker, I think it applies to a customer relationship management (CRM), as well as a TMS or even an email client.”
“When we think about build versus buy, what I think we want to be really talking about is, is there a real added value to spending that many resources and distracting my business from its core work to building something that’s a TMS that I can buy off the shelf. And that even applies to us as a technology company. We don’t build a CRM, we buy a CRM, and then we adapt it to our needs.”
“We as a software company want to focus our time and energy on building products that help our customers. And as a freight broker, I think they should do the same thing. Focus your energy on building things and building your business in areas that benefit your customer, and then allow technology to come in to help you out and then supplement it.”