Revolutionizing Logistics – SourceForge Podcast

Sydney Sheppard (00:05)
Hello and welcome to the SourceForge podcast and thank you for joining us today. I’m your host Sydney Sheppard here at SourceForge and Slashdot Media. SourceForge is the world’s most visited software comparison site where B2B software buyers compare and find business software solutions. And as always here on the podcast, we discuss software and technology with leaders and change makers in tech. And joining us today, we have Phillip Lechter, the Vice President of Growth for CXT Software.

CXT Software is the leading provider of Last Mile route and on-demand shipment management technology for logistic needs throughout North America. Thanks for coming on the podcast with us today, Phillip.

Phillip Lechter (00:46)
Absolutely Sydney. Thanks for having me. Really excited for our conversation today.

Sydney Sheppard (00:50)
Same, definitely. So just getting right into it, could you give us a quick overview of CXT Software and what you guys offer there?

Phillip Lechter (01:00)
Yeah, absolutely. We are essentially the back office operations for couriers, carriers, logistics companies, medical organizations, all with one frame in mind. And that is to deliver to some sort of an end user, whether that’s direct to consumer or even B2B. And so we run all of the dispatching, all of the operations around that, invoicing, you name it, that would go into delivering an order. We do exactly that.

Sydney Sheppard (01:28)
Awesome. That’s great. Doing it all, get everything done in one spot.

Phillip Lechter (01:34)
Yeah, absolutely. There’s so many different pieces to that, but really bringing them together makes a huge difference.

Sydney Sheppard (01:40)
Yeah, totally. So can you tell us how did your experience in developing logistics solutions influence the design of CXT Software’s platform?

Phillip Lechter (01:51)
Yeah, you know, when you when you look at our history, we actually started as a courier company that was with a need in mind, which was how do we how do we actually solve some of these challenges that we were having from a visibility issue, from the ability to understand where our drivers were communicating with the drivers, as well as being able to give that information back to our clients.

And that is what spawned the initial framework of CXT Software as a solution. When you look at it from that perspective, we built this from the idea of being a courier and carrier. And so we have hundreds of years of courier experience with Inside Our Four Walls to add to our software developers as well.

Sydney Sheppard (02:37)
That’s great. The best way to create something is by seeing and experience things and actually knowing where things need to be improved and provided to people. So that’s awesome.

And can you tell us what gaps in the shipment management market did CXT Software aim to address with its technology?

Phillip Lechter (02:56)
Yeah, there’s a couple of things I think are really valuable there. And the first is that even though it seems like a shipment from point A to point B is an easy process, there are a lot of different workflows or ways that can be done. And so one of the things that we really made sure that we developed in our solution is the idea that you can use our solution, but it doesn’t mean that you have to design your business around our solution.

So while we have an out-of-the-box solution, that box will actually will actually bend to your business versus it being the other way around. And that’s what really has created some uniqueness for us in the market space today. The ability to not only do on-demand work, so picking up a piece or shipment from one location delivering it to the next, but then also the ability to have different workflows around routed work, which is where you think about distribution or going from, going to the same place every day at the same time.

And those different workflows require different needs, have different terminologies, different communications. All which are designed with inside of our solution that your business can actually do all those different types of work your way.

Sydney Sheppard (04:12)
Amazing. That’s great. I mean, definitely all sorts of businesses and people do things different ways. I feel like a lot of, I mean, dependent or doesn’t matter what industry or what you’re doing, but a lot of systems are kind of stuck in certain ways. So being able to adapt to what individual companies and people need is definitely a strong benefit, you know, for someone to use your solution over another.

Phillip Lechter (04:40)
Yeah, absolutely Sydney. And when you, just to give some examples of that, right? A logistics company where their core business is deliveries will have different challenges than say a hospital network that wants to deliver and track where their beds are or they or a pharmacy with prescriptions or a medical lab. I mean, any of those types of use cases have different requirements and needs and that’s really where we stand above the rest.

Sydney Sheppard (05:11)
How has CXT Software adapted to include the latest trends of course, such as AI and advanced analytics in shipment management?

Phillip Lechter (05:20)
You know, as we look at where the market is going with new technology, we are at the forefront of adopting that. We just launched last year our autonomous dispatching function, which is designed to be able to identify what the most effective driver would be to assign a particular order to, and then readjust their itinerary in order to meet the demands for our clients.

And what that really means is the ability for in order to come in and be immediately assigned and autonomously assigned to a specific driver. And when we start to look at how we start to apply all these pieces, what we’re really looking at is where’s the business case for each of these new types of tools and technologies. And it’s interesting that we’re seeing some of it’s applying really well, others, it’s still work in progress. And that’s something that we’re constantly on the forefront of.

But I will say this. One of the things that makes us unique is that being a 25 year old solution, we have been able to take the best of the past and stability and understanding and experience, but also melded into the world of today. And I think that’s what’s most important to recognize that we don’t rest on our laurels. We are actually out building what and being at the forefront of this evolution.

Sydney Sheppard (06:44)
Totally. Yeah. I mean, it’s important to always be kind of morphing and changing, you know, of course, as the industry and just technology in general grows. So that’s awesome. And going even more, you know, into AI, how do you see the integration of AI impacting the future of shipment management systems as a whole?

Phillip Lechter (07:07)
I think there’s a lot of play there. I will say though that it may, some of it’s a little early and maybe we can get into that dialogue a little bit later. But when you think about how this is really coming to bear and how it’s coming in, a lot of it today is still very driven by the human algorithm, and that human algorithm, so it’s really what can be designed, and so it’s truly about what we can put in is what we’re going to be able to get out.

And we’re not yet at that place where in this space, especially, you’re seeing that true artificial intelligence where it’s truly learning and growing on its own using history and example. But there are a couple of plays that are probably not far around the corner.

For instance, demand pricing is one of those areas that could be really, really powerful down the road in short order when you have a certain level of service that you’re offering. So for our clients, those are typically what we would call order types. And an order type might be a one hour delivery or four hour delivery, but they may only have certain available times. so we could actually, we’re actually working through and looking into how do we start to adjust pricing related to demand and what’s needed?

So for instance, if you don’t have enough availability for say a one hour, you know, one hour delivery, but you have a lot of availability for a four hour delivery, how do you appropriately adjust the price? And so that’s one of those areas of AI that’s around the corner.

Also, staffing is a huge piece. Like where in, if you think about San Diego as an instance, Sydney, you have drivers all throughout San Diego, where do you want them placed throughout the day? And can you know that before you get that order? And I think that’s where AI is also going to bring us in direction is the fact that ultimately we should be able to preset and understand based off of history where we can make better decisions in our business to drive that new result. And those are the things that we’re really looking at as we get into this new space. I will say some of that isn’t here yet, but we are close to cracking that code.

Sydney Sheppard (09:25)
Yeah, that’s awesome. I feel like, I mean, we probably don’t even know, we don’t know what AI will be able to do in the future. So what you said just totally makes sense, but utilizing it how you can with the history that you do have to give you, you know, helpful solutions is awesome. That’s super cool.

Phillip Lechter (09:48)
Yeah, how can we make better decisions at the end of the day in this business? Miles and time are the two biggest revenue sources or cost factors. You decide and they’re both right. And so how do we minimize our costs and maximize our revenue opportunity in a business that’s relatively low margin? You know, when you think that that is a big key to this and how can we as a solution, solve that and offer that for our clients?

Sydney Sheppard (10:18)
Totally, those are some of the most important things. So, totally makes sense. And can you explain the significance of CXT Software’s integration capabilities with other logistics and enterprise systems? Because we know integrating with other systems is super important.

Phillip Lechter (10:37)
Yeah, absolutely. You know, to say it this way, when we started this organization 25 years ago in 1999, it was an all, you know, had to build everything all in one. And in today’s environment, that’s not the case. And so our goal is to be best in market. It’s to be best in class, best in market at what we do best and to stay in that lane.

For instance, and I use this as a simple example, but our goal is not to become a competitor to QuickBooks. We can integrate with QuickBooks in order to pass the data back and forth. Those types of things, even on the analytics side, while we have some analytics capabilities, a true analytics engine, whether it be Tableau, Power BI, Zoho Analytics, or whatever other package that, Crystal Reports, our goal is to make it easy as easy as possible to get the data out of our system into a system like that. And so we’ve really focused on the business side of that.

In addition, also, how you get information from your clients. And so our customers’ clients are sending them order information. That becomes those integration points for us as well. And on top of that, any additional third-party level type solutions, whether that’s warehouse management or even communication systems back and forth with clients and or drivers, are all tools that can be integrated on the platform. And we really know that connectivity is the key to our future success.

Sydney Sheppard (12:10)
So now can you tell us what support and resources CXT Software offers to its clients to ensure effective utilization of the platform?

Phillip Lechter (12:20)
Yeah, well, while solutions and SaaS solutions tend to be high tech, we really take a high touch approach. And whether that’s access to our technical support, our client success team, our solution specialists or our product experts, our enterprise services team and professional services teams, you know, depending on what you need, we’re able to offer that.

And I think that’s what’s really, really true and powerful to this is I mentioned earlier about the idea of customization. Like we, we don’t expect for you to change your business to fit inside of our solution box. We really focus on how can we mold and meld that. And sometimes that could be as simple as the way you want to set it up. Other times you might build on, on top of that. And so we offer those levels of services from a professional services basis where we can actually help and assist in customizing on your behalf.

So either way, whether you choose to do it or you ask us to do it, that option is available and it’s what makes things truly unique for us. That includes integrations too. We recognize that not all logistics people are experts at this world of integrations. And so that’s a level of support and offering that we’re able to provide to our clients as well.

Sydney Sheppard (13:38)
Amazing. I mean, any form of support, especially like if you have someone who can help you daily, just setting up what you need to, that’s extremely helpful because I’m sure obviously you guys are the experts at how to set up your software solution. So, you know, helping people who don’t have experience with it is very time efficient. Yeah, very effective and helpful. That’s awesome.

Phillip Lechter (14:06)
Absolutely, you know, and even in the world today, our number one motto is we pick up the phone, right? You know, and that is really important. You get to talk to real people at real times. And that is our core competency at its fullest.

Sydney Sheppard (14:25)
That’s amazing. Yeah, that’s very helpful. There’s been so many times where I try to call, I mean, whatever it may be, like, you know, a credit card company or something like that. And you can’t get through to a real person. That’s like one of the most frustrating things. So being able to speak to someone just makes everybody happy. That’s, that’s great.

So now can you tell us how CXT Software scales and adapts as organizations grow and their shipment management needs also are evolving.

Phillip Lechter (14:56)
Yeah, there’s a couple different ways. And I even will start with price first. We are a consumption-based pricing model on a monthly basis. So with the ebbs and flows of some of the logistics businesses, whether it’s seasonal or just the flow of their business, our pricing rises and falls with our clients. And that’s a really truly unique element from our perspective, which is we are a 30-day contract. We do not do long-term contracts.

We believe in winning your trust every single month and every single day. And when you expand upon that, now if we get into some of our larger commercial environments, there are additional resources and tools that we have available, including, you know, some database redundancies, geolocation in regards to the ability to shift over the different coasts, I mean, we’re talking catastrophic issues, but what happens if we go down, our clients’ businesses go down, that’s how integral we are to their operations.

And so we take that very, very significantly and seriously. And I think some of the other pieces that also go with that growth is the ability to customize. And I know I’ve brought that up a couple different times, but a lot of our larger clients especially, they will build specific reporting processes, specific things that are really core and key to their business that ultimately become unique to them.

Sydney Sheppard (16:33)
Yeah, that’s awesome. That’s great. I like how you said too at the beginning, how like the prices and stuff will fluctuate with your clients because I mean, when you think about logistics and shipping and all that stuff, like it totally makes sense that their, I guess load is changing each season, you know, depending on what time of year it is. So that’s, that’s great. Definitely a good thing to point out for people to listen to.

So now, kind of a fun question, could you share a memorable story about a time that your company went above and beyond for a customer?

Phillip Lechter (17:12)
Yeah, you know there are a few and as I think through a couple that come to mind, the first one, you know, in this business and in the last mile space, there can be acquisitions, right? And whether it’s acquiring a new region or even a growth-based mindset within our clients.

A lot of times the challenge in acquisition is how do we merge and deal with the different software solutions that are there. And I think that’s one of the areas where we’ve really, I think those are, we could build on that, which is when you think about how do you not disrupt the service? Because at the end of the day, our clients’ customers, what’s most important. And when there’s a change there, there can’t be a disruption of service. And how do we minimize that? Whether that’s in doing different types of redirection, whether that’s in different training elements, we are able to step up.

And so one specific example, we had a client that acquired another organization and within hours, we were able to ensure that they were able to make that transition up and running. Now there were some things that had to go along the way with that, but it was really us being willing to step up to the plate and support them that really made that difference.

But on a day-to-day basis, we recognize the fact that our responsibility is stability. It’s the ability to make sure that our clients’ businesses are running. Because if we’re not running, our clients aren’t running. And that is a really important distinction that we really take very, very seriously and deal with that on a day, you know, ensure that on a day-to-day basis.

Sydney Sheppard (19:04)
That’s awesome. That’s great. We talked about efficiency earlier and you you saying like you helped a company within an hour to get, you know, get things up and running and changed over. That’s amazing. That’s very, very unique and you don’t get that everywhere that, you know, you go. So that’s awesome.

Phillip Lechter (19:26)
This is our core, you know, our core is our clients. I mean, we recognize that. Now, it doesn’t mean we’re always perfect and things do happen in technology that we all, you know, we’ve all experienced and moaned and groaned about or had challenges, but the question isn’t what happens is how do you respond? And that’s one of the things that we really pride ourselves in is ensuring that we get, we do that level of response that’s necessary.

Sydney Sheppard (19:53)
Yeah, that’s amazing. Another kind of fun question. What do you know about the logistics software space that maybe no one else knows about?

Phillip Lechter (20:03)
Yeah, that’s a really great question around what is it that we understand about logistics. Obviously, the history and the ability for us to have had true challenges in the logistics space. So we’ve been there, done that, and experienced it. So that has really given us a value add.

But I think when we think about the future, I think this is where it gets really unique and interesting, especially in the last mile space. And we talked earlier about AI and some of these nice buzzwords, but when you think about AI and autonomous in the current last mile space.

So much of that, and I’m going to say so much versus all, probably could make the case for all, but almost everything that is being called AI today is still human-driven algorithms. You know, and I think that’s what we have to all kind of be considerate about is the fact that it’s not artificial intelligence just yet, you know, when we think about, because artificial intelligence would be able to have predictive values that drive forward. And when we think about this industry, we’re not quite there yet.

And I think that’s what’s important to recognize as we look at efficiencies, is a lot of it is still based off of what a human brain can design versus what a artificial intelligence can consume. And that difference is really, really critical in today’s market. Now, I don’t have a crystal ball. I couldn’t tell you when that’s going to be. Maybe that’s tomorrow. But reality is it may be a little while before true artificial intelligence can absolutely impact our industry.

Because if you think about it, I’ll just give you a use case example. Autonomous vehicles as an example. Great, great idea. But how do you get the package out of the vehicle to the doorstep, whether that’s a business or a consumer? Now it works great in a middle mile market where you’re going from one warehouse to the next warehouse. But in that last mile space, drones have challenges related to the FAA and the ability to fly. So there’s so many different barriers to this idea of autonomous delivery.

And then on top of that, when you get into AI, the computing power isn’t quite there yet where it can actually consume the right level of information to make it more powerful in the marketplace today. And that’s what we see in this space as we move forward. And excited for when the time comes where that’s not the case.

Sydney Sheppard (22:44)
Yeah, definitely. That all makes a lot of sense. And what emerging trend do you believe will have the biggest impact on your industry in just the next five years?

Phillip Lechter (22:56)
I think going back to the ability to start marrying more predictive analysis into the efficiencies of the business. Right? Like how many drivers do I need today? Where should I have them located if I’m in an on demand space, especially right where we don’t necessarily have the same stop each and every day. That I think is going to be a big part. And I also think that that demand pricing, these are all things that we see coming around the corner, at least in a in a beta environment where where we can start to really kind of test and consume that and get that to some level of market space.

And I think those are going to be some of the bigger elements that are going to start to really impact the bottom line because ultimately that’s really what we want to see is that impact of the bottom line and I think that’s where we’re going to start to see this really come to fruition over the next you know three to five years.

Sydney Sheppard (23:54)
That’s awesome. I mean, I’m not in your industry, obviously, but that will be cool for you guys to see over time about where to place people throughout cities for shipments. That’s like so interesting to me. I mean, definitely a very, very helpful thing for many companies. Like you said, for efficiency and saving costs. That’s awesome.

So now for our final question, where can people learn more about CXT Software, and your platform and how could they get in touch with you or your team?

Phillip Lechter (24:30)
Absolutely. Simplest way, cxtsoftware.com. From there, not only can you learn about the platform, you can review some of our explainer videos, materials, and also book a demo right there. We’d be happy, regardless of whether you think it’s the right fit or not, booking a demo or talking to one of our teammates is a great way to really explore that and understand kind of where the use fits might be, make sense.

We’re more than happy to jump on the line and have that conversation, whether it fits or not. So we just love having the dialogue and just super excited to have those conversations as they come to bear.

Sydney Sheppard (25:15)
That’s awesome. You heard him go to cxtsoftware.com. I took a look around there and there’s definitely a lot of very cool, interesting things you can read about and see on there. So definitely go check it out. And thank you, Phillip, for this chat and enlightening us about CXT Software in your industry.

Phillip Lechter (25:32)
Thanks, Sydney. Appreciate it.

Sydney Sheppard (25:34)
And thank you to our listeners for tuning into the SourceForge podcast. Make sure to subscribe and stay up to date for all our upcoming B2B podcasts that we have coming for you.

Alright, catch you guys in the next episode.