RIO continues to pursue its plan to bundle digital services for logistics: For the first time, the company unites more than 50 partners on its platform. Customers can book 23 different partner services on the RIO Marketplace at any time. In addition, 31 innovative solutions can be integrated on request via the partner management of the TRATON GROUP digital brand.
“From the outset, we have rigorously pursued the following two premises: Firstly, RIO wants to link all of the participants in the logistics chain in a straightforward manner. Secondly, there is absolutely no doubt that we are unable to develop all of the solutions ourselves. Instead, we need to rely on strong partners,” says Jan Kaumanns, CEO of RIO. “This 50th partnership milestone shows that our approach is the right one – and that we take collaboration seriously.”
Keeping customer requirements in mind when selecting partners.
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought something to light in society that can be applied to the world of logistics and the efficient flow of goods in the digital age: Firstly, transparency is fundamentally important if we are to make fact-based decisions within supply chain management; in this case, we are talking about real-time vehicle tracking. Secondly, optimum planning reliability in the transport industry paves the way for greater flexibility, for example in terms of production processes or deliveries to end customers. Thirdly, tachograph and time management solutions ensure that the road haulage operations in the transport industry are carried out in a legally compliant manner.
“Our choice of partners is based on the organisational processes and the value creation chain that forwarders and transport companies deal with every day. We integrate and share the data collected from the truck fleets: Thanks to our standardised interfaces, or what are known as APIs, the customer can have the data consolidated in a partner system of their choice – and this does not necessarily have to be the RIO interface; ultimately, they only have to work with one IT system,” explains Johan Carlberg, Head of Partner Management at the digital brand of the TRATON GROUP.
Familiar names are on the books at RIO
RIO partners from the field of vehicle tracking include industry giants TIMOCOM, Trans.eu and Sixfold. With their solutions, they answer the obvious yet very important questions of where a truck is currently located and when it is expected to arrive at its destination. The tracker from the partner LOSTnFOUND facilitates the tracking of vehicles that do not have their own telematics system, as well as construction machines and even loading equipment such as pallets, all on the RIO platform. In the route and order management segment, well-known names and products such as CarLo from Soloplan, WinSped from LIS and also Translogica from InfPro IT Solutions are among the headline partners. When it comes to freight carriers and materials requirement planners, it is precisely these logistics, forwarding and transport management systems that are responsible for the bulk of the processes. Automated expense accounts and not least, of course, software modules for monitoring and archiving driving and rest times, constitute the most important tools in tachograph and time management. Providers such as VDO TIS-Web, TachoWeb from DAKO and modulon SPESEN can be found on the RIO Marketplace for these purposes.
“We will continue to keep our eye out for potential new partners that will help not only RIO, but more importantly our customers, grow in terms of efficiency. In 2021, we want to unite the often-independent transport and logistics ecosystems. Beyond that, we will be working hard to make it even easier to exchange data bidirectionally between RIO and our partners,” Jan Kaumanns concludes.
