C. H. Robinson Worldwide - Technology

Technology

The rapidly expanding global capabilities of C.H. Robinson allow customers of all sizes to serve and source markets anywhere in the world. The company has become known as a global transportation leader largely because of institutional knowledge and worldwide carrier partnerships.

A significant element in the company's globalization is its industry-leading online reporting capabilities, available through CHRWOnline. This technology gives customers complete visibility to all C.H. Robinson shipments, domestically and globally, across all services. Customers can access their global shipping data and create reports.

Another significant element of the company's global capabilities is a proprietary technology that provides Managed TMS. Serviced by a division of C.H. Robinson called TMC, this technology gives customers the resources, visibility and information needed to lower costs, raise efficiencies and elevate overall management to a more strategic level. The technology provides a single view of shipments, business intelligence and freight payments throughout the integrated international supply chain, which can be shared across carriers, factories, and warehouses throughout the world.

The company's 2011 acquisition of Timco Worldwide, brought with it technological advances, including the patented TX-5TM sorting system that weighs each fruit to guarantee uniform size and weight. Timco also maintains an exclusive relationship with Origene Seeds Ltd., enabling the development and introduction of innovative new products in the melon category.

In 2011, the company also launched an application called CHRWtrucks.com mobile. This application allows a motor carrier to enter pick up information, check calls, and access delivery information on a smartphone or other device. Additionally, carriers can post empty equipment locations where C.H. Robinson employees can look for load matches to help fill empty trucks and reduce empty miles.

C.H. Robinson's Payment Services comprises its subsidiary, T-Chek Systems, Inc., (T-Chek). T-Chek is a business-to-business provider of spend management and payment processing services. The T-Chek platform supports open and closed loop networks that facilitate a variety of fuel management services, funds transferring, spend management reporting, driver payroll services, vendor payments, fuel purchasing, permits and online expense management.

These systems enable customers to track and manage expenses, including fuel and maintenance. For several companies and truck stop chains, T-Chek captures the data of sales and fuel costs, provides management information to the seller, and invoices the carrier for fuel, cash advances and fees.

C.H. Robinson has internally developed the majority of its operating systems. Branch employees use these information systems to identify freight matching opportunities, communicate and coordinate activity with other branches, and 'cross-cover' or find equipment for other branches' freight. These systems also help salespeople service customer orders, select the optimal modes of transportation, build and consolidate shipments, and select routes — all based on customer-specific service parameters. The systems make shipment data visible to the entire sales team, as well as to customers and contracted carriers. This allows salespeople to select contracted carriers and track shipments in progress. The company's systems automatically provide alerts to potential problems and deliver performance and productivity reports.

In addition to this day-to-day "transactional" support, C.H. Robinson applies assessment tools to help customers design more efficient transportation models. This can involve strategic decisions as simple as carrier selection or as complex as the design of global transportation models (which include specialized expertise for taxes, tariffs, border crossing and other key considerations).