Illinois-based RIM Logistics is working with Seattle technology company Logixboard to empower users with real-time data and visibility.

RIM, a privately owned freight forwarder, has announced a digital platform to provide clients with shipment data and visibility. Logixboard provides freight forwarding technology.

The platform will provide RIM’s customers and internal operations team with round-the-clock access to real-time shipment tracking, turnkey analytics and centralised communications.

“At the end of the day, freight forwarding is a service industry where the primary responsibility of every provider is to get goods from A to B,” said Jason Steinke, executive vice president at RIM. “Companies are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves and make that a better, more reliable experience. One of our approaches to that is focusing on getting more accurate data and providing those data to our customers in a modern, easy and always-available interface.”

Steinke led an initiative to push RIM to the forefront of data, visibility and transparency. Over the past two years, RIM has been investing heavily in building integration with partners to make sure there’s a central, standardised reliable data foundation.

“RIM had a record year of growth in 2020 and felt it could have been even better, knowing there was a handful of lost opportunities related to technology,” said Steinke. “At the end of 2019, we began looking at what next-gen digitisation was going to look like and those lost opportunities set the edge for where we needed to go. We quickly realised that making data actionable and impactful for our customers was key. To accomplish this, RIM would need a best-in-class engagement platform for our customers and internal operations teams. Several different solutions were evaluated and Logixboard was ultimately chosen for their speed to launch, easy user-interface and continued push towards innovation.”

Logixboard provides a white-labelled engagement platform that gives freight forwarders and their customers digital tools to track shipments, share documents, view analytics, send messages and more. Integrating directly with the freight forwarder’s existing system-of-record, Logixboard takes the workflows and information that are typically shared via email, phone calls and text messages, and packages them into a user-friendly online platform.

“If a customer has to call me to ask for updates or information, we aren’t servicing them properly,” said Steinke. “The goal of our new platform is to ensure our customers have instant and continuous access to see where specific items are, how many there are, and when they will ship or arrive. They also want to understand their trends and spend. This in turn allows them to plan and prepare better, communicate with internal and external parties more effectively, and hopefully increase their sales.”

Logixboard is a venture backed technology company that empowers freight forwarders with digital tools to provide a better experience for their customers. Freight forwarders globally used Logixboard to modernise and digitise their customer experience.

“We love working with innovative and customer-obsessed freight forwarders,” said Julian Alvarez, CEO of Logixboard. “The investment RIM has made in collecting and standardising data truly shows their commitment to supporting their customers with world-class service, and we’re excited to be able to play a role in that.”

Founded in 1997, RIM Logistics has a global presence and more than 300 employees specialising in air and ocean domestic and international freight forwarding, warehousing and distribution, domestic operations, project management, customs brokerage, cargo insurance, consolidation, cross trade, and compliance consulting.