Inside XPO’s Game-Changing Partnership with UPL
XPO is well established as a leading provider of innovative and sustainable end-to-end logistics services.
This extends to fourth-party logistics (4PL), a service including transportation expertise, data science and the development and implementation of bespoke technological solutions.
Among those benefiting from XPO’s expertise is UPL, a global crop protection leader serving the entire agriculture ecosystem. The organisation has a sales presence in more than 130 countries, as well as numerous production sites, with major hubs in France and Belgium.
XPO’s state-of-the-art 4PL solution, Key-PL, is managing tens of thousands of transport orders in Europe for UPL, providing the latter with a significant opportunity to enhance its operational performance.
Key-PL ensures every transport plan is executed in the most efficient way possible, bringing together more than 1,400 connected carriers and 180 loading points, thus resulting in significant savings by improving operational and financial performance for customers.
“The transition from our former 4PL solution to XPO has been seamless and has really showcased their exceptional teamwork and professionalism,” explains Christophe Busca, Head of Logistics Europe at UPL. “The implementation, in particular, was managed excellently with no disruption to our customer service.
“This change has been transformative for UPL, enabling us to provide a more proactive customer experience, while the improved cost management has made us more competitive in the market.”
Key-PL: An end-to-end digital solution
XPO’s Key-PL solution is based on three fundamental capabilities:
- Engineering and management of all customer flows (physical, financial and information)
- Transparent and neutral procurement management independent from carrier selection
- A control tower organised with dedicated experts for 360-degree visibility
Central to the partnership with UPL is the completeness of the product, which provides an end-to-end digital solution integrating everything under one proprietary order management system (OMS). This allows UPL to maintain its current transport organisation and benefit from a fully outsourced service, with no requirement to set up an OMS or transport management system or hire additional staff to manage flows effectively.
Key-PL also offers an integrated pricing methodology and uniform visibility across all flows and can manage both land and sea flows seamlessly – critical to the UPL business model.
XPO offers adaptable, innovative solution
XPO puts continuous improvement and gains sharing with partners at the heart of Key-PL, ensuring a positive feedback loop that delivers ongoing value and excellence.
The adaptable and innovative capabilities of the 4PL solution enable customisation to suit a variety of businesses.
In the case of UPL, XPO has tailored Key-PL to meet its specific needs, including pre-billing and freight audit services and an emphasis on sustainability through the collection of CO2 emissions measurements and an associated progress plan.
“As a global leader in sustainable agriculture solutions, UPL requires a managed transportation model that can meet their high demand,” adds Remy Guyot, Business Development Director for Key-PL at XPO Logistics Europe.
“XPO’s strong sector expertise and mastery of the implementation process, alongside our in-house digital OMS, will help achieve that. By focusing on a continuous improvement model and a solution tailored specifically for UPL, we hope to meet and exceed their ambitions for the next three years.”
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