SimpliShip Ties Up with TMS Provider Kuebix
The ocean and air freight marketplace will integrate with Kuebix to provide users of the transportation management system with direct access to international rates via SimpliShip’s API.
American Shipper, July 18 2017 by Eric Johnson
The cloud-based transportation management software provider Kuebix has created a direct integration with the international freight marketplace SimpliShip, the companies said Tuesday.
The integration allows Kuebix users to pull air and ocean freight rates from SimpliShip directly into Kuebix’s planning and execution platform. Kuebix will utilize SimpliShip’s international freight rate application programming interface (API).
The integration allows Kuebix to provide procurement capability in international modes to complement its existing capability in domestic modes, and gives SimpliShip access to Kuebix customers that require international rates.
SimpliShip Chief Executive Officer Cory Margand called the integration the “first step in unlocking the true potential for APIs in international logistics. The days of having to access multiple platforms to manage domestic and international shipments are over.”
Margand is a former logistics executive with Adidas, and founded SimpliShip to provide a platform to make the procurement of freight forwarding services easier for shippers.
The use of APIs to connect logistics and freight transportation systems is steadily growing, especially among the newer breeds of systems providers. APIs are essentially a way for two systems to communicate with one another in a more flexible, real-time, two-way manner, relative to electronic data interchange (EDI). EDI is a more standardized method of conveying information like rates, transit times and invoice information, but that standardization can be perceived as rigidity for some uses. EDI messages are also sent in batches, creating data latency, and EDI integrations can be costly and time-consuming.
Kuebix President Dan Clark called the SimpliShip integration “a great addition to the Kuebix ecosystem as we continue to expand our global network of providers to maximize visibility and efficiency for domestic and international shippers.
Kuebix is a fast-growing TMS provider primarily focused on the small- and medium-sized enterprise segment, but with growing revenue from larger enterprises.
“The [Kuebix] TMS was built on the Salesforce platform and allows clients to implement the solution very quickly with the core TMS, then seamlessly add premier apps and integrations as needed,” Gartner analyst Bart De Muynck wrote about the company in a TMS market study in March.
“Kuebix focuses on both the SMB and the enterprise market and has over 1,500 customers. Although 90 percent of Kuebix’s customers are small (less than $25 million in freight under management), the company is growing on the large enterprise TMS client side. Kuebix offers managed service programs to businesses looking to partially or fully outsource transportation management.”
Read the full article from American Shipper here: http://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/9247b2fb-d056-4c9c-80c4-b46ee79b55bd.aspx#hide
