Sargento Leverages BluJay Solutions to Reduce Freight Spend and Improve Visibility

Sargento improved operational efficiencies by eliminating manual processes and non-value-added services. In the past, if a carrier charged an incorrect transportation cost, Sargento did not have the visibility to correct these charges prior to being invoiced for them. Sargento would calculate the rates, but were often invoiced using a different rate. As a result, they had a difficult time reconciling payments. Since the implementation of the BluJay platform, each carrier has a contract in the contract management module of the system, where their rates are locked and paid accordingly with no discrepancies. Not only has the system helped Sargento manage costs, but the automation has also reduced the manpower required to reconcile payments from 15 hours per week to six hours per week, resulting in a 60 percent reduction in administrative costs for freight payment. Accruals are done as soon as the product is loaded at the distribution center. The billing information is fed to the finance department and the accrual of transportation costs is done in real-time. Accessorials that occur during delivery are captured as part of the invoicing process and are also allocated down to the order level. This helps to ensure the real cost of freight is captured for each customer. With the BluJay platform, they are now able to evaluate charges during the year to better determine what the customer charges should be the following year, taking into account the back-end fees that each customer was accumulating. This allows Sargento to accurately allocate costs back to their customers and helps ensure Sargento remains profitable.