#CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
AcceleRail speeds-up digital transformation at FORWARDIS
FORWARDIS is an international rail and multimodal freight forwarding company. It specializes in the transportation of industrial liquids, solid bulk materials, and manufactured products. The company actively encourages and facilitates a shift towards environmentally friendly transportation modes (mainly rail) by offering innovative logistics solutions. Their goal is to be the preferred partner for any business-to-business logistics endeavor.
In late 2019, FORWARDIS embarked on a transformative journey with the project FIT-PRO to digitize their business processes in France & Germany. This decision was driven by the need to streamline operations and provide enhanced services to customers. The project was as ambitious as it was visionary, with the aim of setting up single interfaces with shippers, regardless of the railway undertaking or wagon owner. This is in line with Forwardis’ ambition to become the gateway offering the best sustainable and green logistics for bulk and other mass transport.
Summary of the FORWARDIS Customer Success Story
- FORWARDIS partnered with RAMCO, a leading Indian enterprise software player, for their digital transformation needs. This includes CRM, quoting, implementing a Transport Management System, and integrating with finance operations.
- AcceleRail provided support to FORWARDIS by bringing in their expertise from the rail industry and IT project management, and handling over 30 interfaces with various stakeholders.
- The AcceleRail team established structured meetings to track progress and ensure alignment with the ambitions of FORWARDIS.
- With joint efforts, the business processes could be implemented in the new software, and the first go lives of the Transport Management System succeeded.
“With limited internal resources and every facet of our company undergoing transformation, our small team faced shifting timelines and the need for additional support. That’s when we turned to AcceleRail, a company we trusted.”
Philippe Golder
Managing Director
FORWARDIS
A visionary project
FORWARDIS Managing Director Philippe Golder takes us back to the start of this digital transformation: “Our needs spanned various aspects, from quoting to our customers, implementing an efficient Transport Management System, to seamlessly integrating with our finance operations. After careful consideration, we made the choice to partner with a leading Indian enterprise software player RAMCO, reputed for its excellence and innovation capabilities. We were impressed by their capabilities and advanced features, despite being new in the rail industry and European market. Therefore, we were also looking for a project partner who could bring relevant rail experience to the table.”
Rail business specialist
“With limited internal resources and every facet of our company undergoing transformation, our small team faced shifting timelines and the need for additional support. That’s when we turned to AcceleRail, a company we trusted. Our goal was clear: to successfully conclude this project. Their expertise was the vital support we were seeking to deliver our ambitions. AcceleRail is specialized in the rail business: they understand the difference between operators and forwarders. The team was not only interested in helping us achieve our objectives but also eager to learn from the project themselves. AcceleRail was able to help us with the change management. Such a project has fundamental impact on everything within the company”, Philippe explains.
Project Management Officer
AcceleRail took the role of a Project Management Officer in order to align the project with the ambitions. Setting up such a structure with regular meetings per module in order to track progress is of vital importance.
“Our project team was doing a great job but was lacking the experience to manage such a large and complex project. It really has a direct impact on all the processes of the company. To streamline our efforts and ensure efficient project management, we engaged AcceleRail as our PMO, providing crucial support for project management, timelines, and internal reporting. They were able to speed-up the project within a couple of weeks. As in many IT-related projects there was a huge pressure to go-live, while the tasks to do were numerous. AcceleRail helped us to prioritize and communicate effectively with RAMCO, bridging the gap between the business and the IT supplier.”
Managing Director
FORWARDIS
A perfect cooperation
“To optimize our project outcomes, the skilled business analysts of AcceleRail and RAMCO integrated our business processes into the new software. Additionally, we relied on AcceleRail’s support for our CRM modules and managing over 30 interfaces with various stakeholders, including rail operators, SAP, CO2 calculation systems, and Microsoft Teams. AcceleRail’s expertise was essential in navigating these complexities, contributing significantly to our project’s success. Looking back, I can truly say that the cooperation between RAMCO, AcceleRail and FORWARDIS proved to be a perfect fit. Together, we were able to deliver our vision.”
Driving results
“In our nine-month partnership, AcceleRail played a crucial role in our project. They began with a software analysis, focusing on quick wins and user satisfaction. Their primary strength lay in scoping in order to reduce the complexity of this ambitious project. This was led by Olivier Genkin of AcceleRail, who was able to inform the steering committee with to the point presentations. He balanced the need for detailed understanding with simplified explanations for senior management and shareholders. A key achievement. AcceleRail really helped communicating to the board and keep aligned with the overall vision. I am particularly proud that a major customer in the chemical business was the first to go live with a business case including TMS and finance. We now progressively go live with various businesses and new features enhancing services to customers. It is exciting to see our vision becoming a reality.”
About AcceleRail
AcceleRail plays an important role in the progress of the project. They know how to convert our business requirements into IT requirements, which makes communication between the teams and with the IT supplier easier and smoother. They also help us streamline the internal processes and facilitate our decision-making processes especially while prioritizing requirements and finalizing the scope.
AcceleRail supports on all the project management tasks, thereby reducing unnecessary risks and delays, and the stress on the internal project managers. When it comes to rollout in multiple steps of all modules across all countries, AcceleRail supports driving the change with the orchestration of all the preparatory tasks. The rollout process is very complex and needs skillful support, which is where AcceleRail came in and provided their expertise.
