Meet Brad and Damien from our newly-formed Supply Chain team.
They’re dedicated, creative and above all passionate about going above and beyond for our clients through industry-leading on boarding & ongoing customer service.
They’re constantly challenging the status quo in our industry to improve the way we all interact with freight forwarding and logistics and to deliver unrivalled value for our customers.
When Damien isn’t in the office, you can usually find him playing his guitar or soaking up a little piece of serenity while working in his veggie garden. You’ll find Brad on the nearest golf course, a bush campsite or admiring the ocean with a schooner in hand.
Tell us a little more about the role of the Supply Chain team?
💬 Damien: We try to find that extra value in the way of software integrations, new application features or partnerships that can improve workflows to ultimately reduce time and improve supply chain visibility for our customers.
💬 Brad: The Supply Chain Team is focused on identifying and delivering additional value for our existing client base through improvements in operational efficiencies and customer interaction. Some of our key metrics are internal customer growth, maintaining strong relationships with all stakeholders within our customers’ businesses and delivering a world class level of service.
What does a typical day look like for you at Explorate?
💬 Damien: A typical day for the SCT starts with project meetings with our internal Explorate departments or externally with our existing or prospective client base to discuss the next steps of our current or future projects. We will then move into analysing the data in our application to identify trends and opportunities for new features or ways we can improve our workflows and customer service.
💬 Brad: We speak with our current customer base collecting feedback on ways we can make their lives easier through improvements in our technology and service. As Damien mentioned, we also work with our Sales & Operations teams to make sure we onboard new customers as smoothly and as efficiently as possible. We are always looking at ways we can challenge the status quo in our industry which may be through running ERP Integration programs for customers or looking at ways we can make their supply chain more efficient.
How would you describe Explorate to someone who doesn’t know anything about us?
💬 Damien: Explorate is a software company that uses technology to solve the supply chain challenges of the 21st Century. Our team includes a mix of experienced logistics professionals and software development superstars who are constantly innovating to push the boundaries across the sector.
💬 Brad: In the words of our co-founder Alex Ewart “We’re a tech company who happens to do freight forwarding, in which we happen to do very well”.
How do you like to spend your time outside of work?
💬 Damien: Outside of work I like to spend my time exercising, playing music (mostly guitar) or spending time in my veggie garden.
💬 Brad: When I’m not in the office I like to spend a lot of my time out on the golf course, cycling, camping and enjoying a schooner usually overlooking some sort of body of water.
What’s the most interesting project you’re working on?
💬 Damien: We’re also working on a purchase order management feature that will enable our customers to import purchase order information from their ERP system to the Explorate app and interact with and manage their PO progress into shipments directly from their dashboard.
💬 Brad: We’re currently working on a large scale breakbulk project which involves us moving 8 x Mining Trucks Ex USA – Australia.
Do you have any advice to people wanting to enter the freight forwarding industry?
💬 Damien: Exactly. Logistics and freight forwarding is a fascinating sector that is constantly challenging you and always changing. It can be extremely rewarding for people who enjoy problem solving and delivering a high level of customer service. There will be plenty of opportunities in the industry so the best thing you can do is be willing to learn and try new things as this will give you invaluable experience and open up doors.
💬 Brad: Learn as much as you can, put your hand up for any opportunities that get presented to you and never be afraid to ask questions (even if they seem dumb to you). International Logistics is an industry that has a lot of moving parts and being able to wrap your head around each aspect will benefit you in the long run.
What’s your favourite feature in the Explorate app?
💬 Damien: My favourite feature in the Explorate app is the automatic ETA updates. This allows our customers to make better forecasts and preparations for their cargo and ensures that they have market leading visibility of their supply chains.
💬 Brad: For me, definitely Shareable Shipments. I love that we can give our customers the power to offer their own customers value when it comes to moving their goods from A to B. Not to mention it saves our customers a lot of time not having to constantly update their own customers on where the product is whilst in transit.
Do you have any predictions on what the rest of 2022 will look like for the freight forwarding industry?
Damien: 2022 will continue to be a challenging year with ongoing disruptions and mismatched supply and demand across a lot of supply chains. We should see rates soften through the middle part of the year as more vessel space becomes available but we will still face ongoing space and equipment issues across selected trade lanes. We are looking to create a lot of added value for our customers with data analysis this year so they will be armed with better information and be able to make informed decisions quickly to make use of the opportunities available.
Brad: The last 12 months have taught me to be very optimistic, so I will remain optimistic. I think we will still see a lot of constraints throughout 2022 when it comes to space and shipping line rates. Although the market is softening at the moment there are still many events happening throughout the world right now that will continue to disrupt global supply chains. It will be another year of businesses having to adapt and become more agile to new supply chain blockers. Explorate will continue on its current path to finding solutions where solutions cannot be found.
If you could switch roles with someone in the team for a day, who would it be and why?
Damien: Same for me! I would switch roles with one of our Devs so I could get a better understanding of all the amazing work they do behind the scenes to design and build our software.
Brad: If I were to switch roles for a day I’d switch with one of the Developers, being able to see an idea in your head come to life in the form of a feature in our application is an awesome thing to see.
A better freight forwarding experience is possible – find out how our Explorators like Brad and Damien can make it happen: supplychain@explorate.co