Cornelissen Transport chooses Filogic OpenTMS

A strategic choice for modern technology

The selection of Filogic OpenTMS is the final link in Cornelissen’s ambitious IT transformation. ‘This transport management system is the last on-premise application we are replacing with a SaaS infrastructure. That is still uncommon in our industry, but within a year we will be ready for the future: scalability, connectivity and everything connected through an integration platform,’ says Leo Rouw, ICT Manager at Cornelissen Transport.

In 2019, Cornelissen Transport decided to consistently choose SaaS solutions for every replacement or new implementation. ‘Experience has taught us that building custom software always looks favourable in the short term, but in the long term it is almost fatal in terms of manageability, knowledge and updates. Modern SaaS solutions also allow us to organise our IT differently, with functional administrators from logistics and supply chain rather than only technical specialists,’ Rouw explains.

A strict selection in a limited SaaS market

Cornelissen Transport ran an extensive selection process with a detailed set of requirements covering organisational, technical and functional areas. ‘We quickly noticed that the market for genuine SaaS solutions is very limited. Of all the parties that responded, only three ultimately remained that actually offer pure SaaS,’ Rouw recalls.

Marinus Brink, CTO of Filogic, recognises this picture: ‘The transport market is still full of legacy systems and hybrid solutions that call themselves SaaS. From day one we chose a pure cloud architecture. The fact that we ended up in such a select group confirms that there is still a lot of work to do to truly modernise the industry.’

After extensive demos using specific Cornelissen data and reference visits, Filogic emerged as the best choice. ‘Mainly on the basis of functionality. That is really underestimated in the market, because Filogic actually offers complete and extensive functionality. They have grown into a mature and sustainable solution,’ says Rouw.

Data sharing and integration as decisive factors

The modern technical architecture and open character of the OpenTMS were decisive. ‘Of all the SaaS solutions we reviewed, Filogic’s is one of the most modern. On top of that, they have a truly open system in which data sharing is central. Data, and the use of data in the supply chain, only becomes more important, and that fits our strategy perfectly,’ Rouw explains.

For Cornelissen Transport, this is not a theoretical consideration: they already process around 600,000 messages between applications and customers every month through their integration platform. ‘That is exactly why the open architecture was so important. We needed a system that integrates seamlessly into this ecosystem of data flows,’ Rouw clarifies.