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How to Go From $20k in Damages to $0 Using the Picture Documentation App - LoadProof


Back in the good old days, when I had just arrived in the working world, supply chain management was still a new field. I was working at a new company and we learned new things every day. It was like drinking out of a fire hose, both exciting and challenging. Time just flew by.
Soon, we hit the end of the year and with it the holiday party, complete with all the normal festivities, music, and food. The best part was hanging out with the founder and CEO of the company. We would ask him questions about the promise of the then newly emerging .com boom. The Internet was the big buzz in the Silicon Valley then. It was a time when small companies raised millions of dollars with a PowerPoint presentation.
Meanwhile, he was focused on figuring out the formula, not just for acquiring new customers, but also for delivering in terms of execution. He wanted every deployment to be a huge success, with customers getting measurable return on investment (ROI) and a clear path to solving business problems.
We asked him “What’s our secret sauce? What really contributed to the adoption of our system in the market?” He was clear: it’s the people. He said that the people made sure the systems were installed correctly. They built strong connections with customers, making them feel comfortable with on-boarding the new system. He added that the real reason the company took off was by solving a problem of suppliers to retailers. The biggest retailers (Target, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Nordstrom, etc.) created thick and complex compliance manuals. For a small seller, managing the requirements of the various retailers was a nightmare.
Labelling was a critical factor. If the wrong label was applied or it was applied in the wrong place, the boxes would not be processed and the supplier wouldn’t be paid.  Suppliers, then, have programmers tasked with programming the necessary labels for each retail outlet. Staying up to date with shifting requirement was no easy task. Our system, out of the box, was compliant with the top 100 retailers—so it was an easy sell.
These companies understood the high cost of mistakes. Retailers would routinely apply chargebacks, a penalty or fine applied when a supplier doesn’t company to some requirement. Large retailers process billions dollars of merchandise through their supply chain, so compliance is critical to efficiency.  Misapplied labels translate to good being delivered to an incorrect location, as well as increased delays, labor, and costs. Other times, the transportation provider or someone else in the chain dropped the ball and a shipment was delayed. In those cases, a chargeback on the supplier was levied.
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