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Logiseye: Demystifying and Empowering Freight Procurement with Digital Solutions

LogisEye Solutions introduces a Smart Business Model, enabled by smart technology

Around the world, most companies still continue to follow manual and archaic business processes and documentation for their freight procurement and face enormous challenges. That, however, is set to change as the industry embraces and embarks on technology as a tool for change. The trillion-dollar freight industry now demands smart and evolving technologies with an increased focus on procurement and overall logistics and supply chain transformation to meet the unpredictable market developments and changing customer requirements.

Globally, the logistics procurement sector is not only getting increasingly digital, but also progressively pervasive as more and more customers gravitate to an emerging Digital Freight Marketplace. Enter LogisEye Solutions (LogisEye), the provider of breakthrough solutions for the industry through an eagleeyed, UAE-indigenously developed, sophisticated and user-friendly digital platform, by freight and IT professionals for freight professionals.

Initiated by C. M. Mathew, Founder and CEO, LogisEye provides access to competitive and benchmarked freight forwarding rates and ranks of potentially trusted and meticulously vetted Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) to accelerate freight procurement, empower the partnership, and maximize cost-savings.

Mathew, a logistics industry veteran with extensive experience, spanning over three decades, is committed to growing the network for all stakeholders involved in the value chain, while leveraging current connections for contract and spot freight rates.

According to Mathew, for a nominal subscription and transaction fee, customers can choose from hundreds of appropriately vetted LSP’s to source the ‘best-fit partner’ for their freight forwarding and clearance requirements.

Brand agnostic LogisEye is a brand agnostic cloud based digital logistics procurement platform, connecting shippers and consignees with Logistics Service Providers (LSP) and Cargo Insurance companies, powered by advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). LogisEye is the online international freight marketplace that uses a SaaSenabled marketplace model.

Seeking to drive digital transformation in Logistics Procurement, the portal was conceived in August 2019, and after painstaking efforts and meticulous research and planning, the portal went functional in the third quarter of 2021. Mathew affirms that LogisEye offers a state-of-the-art cloud-based digital freight procurement ecosystem, integrating with all parties on the value chain. With its multiple innovative solutions, the upstart aims to solve the key challenges in the procurement and payment of freight services.

Accelerating digital transformation He further asserts that LogisEye not only accelerates digital transformation in the logistics industry, but also adds value to each stakeholder across the value chain. “The platform aims to simplify and standardize the freight procurement processes and efficiently manage air freight, sea freight, road freight shipments, and provide even cargo insurance, resulting in substantial cost savings, real-time shipment tracking, and transparency,” he explained.

Mathew is the founder of LogisEye and holds a majority stake in the company. The remainder minority stake is held by co-founders and private investors. A strong professional logistics and finance background, and extensive expertise about the inside track on the functional aspects of freight and freightfinance issues prepared me into becoming an entrepreneur and set up LogisEye.

Exclusively with CM Mathew, the LogisEye supremo at his office in Scality, the fast-growing technology start-up housed in the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA).

Global Supply Chain (GSC): Provide us your brief professional profile. C. M. Mathew (CMM): I essentially come from a finance professional background with a prolonged 26-year stint with DHL, and more specifically its associate company Danzas, where I worked in multiple departments and was exposed to all major functional areas of the company.

Thereby, I gained extensive expertise and the inside track on the functional aspects of the freight and freight-finance issues, enormous challenges faced by customers and LSP’s and this prepared me into becoming an entrepreneur and set up LogisEye.

GSC: Why did you set up LogisEye?
CMM: Some of the major global challenges that confounded in freight procurement include poor response time to rate requests, non-comparable rates from LSP’s, errors in freight billing, and limited transparency and visibility. Pandemic shutdowns and slowdowns, capacity constraints and remote working caused more disruptions. As everyone knows, LSP’s and customers need to wade through a maze of perplexing parameters and manual tabulations for rate submission, analysis and decision making.

What customers (exporters and importers), and freight forwarders are looking for is transparency and efficiency throughout the freight procurement and payment process. The dilemma was both for customers and LSPs. There was clearly a need to automate and accelerate the freight procurement, routing, and payment processes to make it brand agnostic, fair, technologically savvy, transparent, and streamlined.

In early 2019, given my expertise in logistics and finance and experience gained from working with the largest integrated logistics services provider in the world, I sought to develop a digital ecosystem that would address most of the myriad issues at stake and address the challenges thereon.

GSC: How did your long professional career equip you to found LogisEye?
CMM : While attending a coaching session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) is where I conceived the idea of developing a digital freight procurement ecosystem. I was consulting with my peers, colleagues, customers and other LSP’s on the viability of the solution model and other challenges faced by them  during freight procurement and rate submission. Hands-on experience within logistics industry for over three decades, feedback from customers and LSP’s on the enormous problems globally faced in freight procurement and payment, and my passion for digital transformation equipped me to start LogisEye.

Shortly thereafter, I chose to turn entrepreneur and take off on my own at the initial stage. Considering the huge staff turnover in IT sector, I decided to partner with a software development company, and that in nutshell constitutes the genesis and conception of LogisEye.

The start of the pandemic clearly was a spoke in the wheel and proved to me a big challenge as we could not effectively meet many of the stakeholders in the business due to the shut down, slow down and severe social distancing measures enforced.

However, with the use of superior and proprietary technology, together with hand-picked executive team, who collectively have over 120 years of relevant experience, LogisEye was raring and ready to go in the second quarter of 2021 and there has been no turning back since.

GSC: Briefly, how is LogisEye enabling and empowering digital transformation in the area of the procurement of freight services?
CMM: In essence, what customers and LSP’s are looking for is transparency and efficiencies in the system. Professionalism and proficiency is a key watchword here. Generally speaking, there are three areas of concern for all stakeholders here. Firstly, how to reduce the delays and accelerate the pace of providing quotes and services quickly, reliably and dependably.

Secondly, how to reduce freight and associated costs and obtain competitive comparable pricing from multiple service providers and reducing all related administrative and handling costs. And finally, how to enhance transparency and visibility throughout the process.

At LogisEye, we are mindful of these benchmarks and user expectations and these have all been factored into our working mechanisms and systems. We can integrate with the different operating systems of LSP’s and customers using API’s (application programming interface). Our system provides realtime visibility for all their shipments that are routed through LogisEye irrespective of them using different LSP’s. Our AI enabled LogiBot, in-built 3-way chat feature, electronic document management (EDM) and interactive dashboard will provide a unique and
compelling customer experience.

 GSC: How is technology impacting the regional (and global) logistics and transportation industry, particularly in the procurement niche?
CMM: Digital transformation is still at its nascent stage within logistics procurement. Many of the LSP’s and customers continue to use legacy archaic operating systems with very limited integration capabilities. They continue to follow decades old manual processes, procedures and practices and many operators are hesitant to embrace the change.

Technology is changing the future of logistics. The digital revolution has significantly shifted society, impacting companies across all regions and industries. We experience major increase in overall digital adoption with the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers prefer everything online and right at their fingertips for immediate access. There are innovative digital solutions launched to support customers and LSP’s for international and local freight procurement. Such solutions include Freight Marketplaces connecting LSP’s and Carriers to provide instant rates and available capacity, eBidding or Reverse Auction platforms to provide most competitive market rates, Shipment Tracking Systems etc. Technology is vital and key for the industry and its indispensability cannot be overstated. Business must adapt this digital revolution quickly to stay ahead of market and compete.

GSC: What is LogisEye’s revenue model?
CMM: Currently we have over 1,400 registered and listed customers and over 80 LSP’s in our portal. Our users pay a nominal subscription fee to avail and access our services and product offerings. First time customers get a complimentary usage period of three-months. A transaction fee is also levied for the user and provider of logistics services for all emanating transactions that are awarded through the system.

GSC: Tell us the specifics of your freight procurement solutions — LogieBid and LogiQuote?
CMM: Our freight procurement solutions are aimed for importers and exporters who wants to accelerate their procurement time with substantial cost saving and enhanced transparency and visibility. LogieBid – Customers worldwide can launch reverse auction to procure most competitive market rates online for their international transportation by air, ocean (FCL/LCL) and Road(FTL/LTL).

They can invite LogisEye vetted LSP’s, and or additional LSP’s of their choice. Customers can compare and analyze bids digitally and award bids. Reverse auction for Air and Ocean (FCL/LCL) can be used for shipments across all continents while FTL/LTL is currently launched for middle east region. LSP’s can participate in the reverse auction, get visibility of their ranking, and modify their rates before bid closing time based on their pricing guidelines and increase their business growth. LogiQuote is our marketplace for instant freight rates. Currently LogiQuote provides rates for airfreight and we will be developing other modes of transport in the near future. Importers and exporters can search, compare, LogieBid and LogiQuote are two of our core select rates from multiple suppliers in less than 30 seconds. Rates are available on different carriers and service levels. Users have the option to arrange marine insurance cover for their shipments online. LogiQuote is currently connecting major airports in UAE with top 50 countries and +1400 trade lanes.

While customers can avail comparable and competitive rates from multiple suppliers online, route, track and pay for their shipments using these solutions, LogisEye acts as an additional sales channel for LSP’s. LogisEye offers freight and marine insurance rates for air, ocean, and road shipments under one platform and provide trade finance for freight invoices for customers approved by credit insurance provider. These USP’s make LogisEye standout against other similar solutions.

GSC: What are the opportunities available and challenges confronting LogisEye in the short and long-term futures?
CMM: Looking through my crystal ball, I see opportunities ahead simply because the logistics and freight forwarding business is growing even during the pandemic. Digital adoption and ecommerce is growing at a phenomenal pace. Systems are going digital and more and more companies are moving in the digital realm. This augurs well for our business and implies we will grow going forward. There are a few challenges to contend with. Firstly, the world is grappling with capacity and transporters don’t have the capacity to cope with increasing volumes.

Secondly, in the nature of our business, digitalization is key. In some quarters digitalization is not occurring at the same pace as others. Antiquated manual legacy systems still exist.

Thirdly, we have a transparent system giving visibility to all stakeholders. There is no room for compromise or unscrupulousness in our processes. Finally, the current ongoing pandemic has also hampered the economies of many countries in its wake. Ability to trade and buy goods and services had been adversely affected and freight costs have risen manifold, which is clearly a cause for concern for everyone.

GSC: What are your expansion plans going forward?
CMM: Now with strong moorings in the UAE, we are looking to expand imminently in the foreseeable future in India, China, USA and Germany, four prominent industrial and trading nations, who between them constitute an overwhelming percentage of international trade.  Over the next four years, we have set our sights to establish our direct presence in 30 identified countries, constituting +80% of international freight spend.

For the long term, LogisEye will also explore a franchise model for its operations in some of the reminder countries. We have a fully functioning Customer Support Centre in India. In summary, we are in expansion mode and optimistic about the future.

LogisEye is currently self-funded and we are raising Pre-Series ‘A’ equity round of US$ 5m primarily for launching in new markets, marketing and developing new products. I am very upbeat about growth and eyeing a bright, radiant future for LogisEye.

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