Introduction
A worldwide marine manufacturer relied on fragmented processes and underutilized TMS technology, driving the need for a comprehensive blueprint to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and support global transportation growth.
Services
TMS Capability Assessment
Industry
Marine Propulsion Systems
Results
- Five-year financial models comparing insource, hybrid, and outsource options
- Identification of 66 process improvement areas and 42 critical system interfaces
- Recommended strategies to optimize fleet, yard, and inbound operations
- Shortlist of high-quality TMS providers for future selection
- Identified data, organizational, and resource readiness risks
- Phased implementation plan aligned to direct and indirect benefit realization
Executive Summary
A global leader in marine propulsion systems partnered with JBF Consulting to assess its transportation management systems, processes, and organizational models. Although Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) was in place, it was underutilized, and operations relied heavily on manual processes and decentralized responsibilities.
JBF conducted a comprehensive blueprint engagement, capturing over 400 requirements, developing conceptual designs, and identifying ~$12.4M in annual savings opportunities.
By analyzing insource, outsource, and hybrid operating models, JBF recommended a phased roadmap emphasizing insourcing supported by targeted vendor partnerships.
The outcome provided the client with a pragmatic, financially justified strategy to reduce costs, improve visibility, and strengthen transportation maturity.
"The outcome provided us with a pragmatic, financially justified strategy to reduce costs, improve visibility, and strengthen transportation maturity.”
Customer Profile
As a world leader in marine propulsion and technology, company operations span North America, EMEA, APAC, and Latin America. Its supply chain includes inbound, outbound, fleet, and international transportation networks, all of which are essential to serving OEMs, dealers, and end customers worldwide. With growing complexity, multiple divisions, and fragmented processes, the client required a strategy to streamline transportation management, evaluate operating model options, and ensure its logistics systems could support scalability and innovation.
The Challenge
Despite having Oracle TMS, the client struggled with fragmented processes and redundant systems. Transportation responsibilities were decentralized across regions, creating inefficiencies, poor operational visibility and limited performance measurement. This also resulted in silos that prevented enterprise-wide optimization.
These inefficiencies left little time for strategic initiatives. Over time, critical gaps in fleet utilization, yard management, international logistics, and global trade emerged.
Leadership also faced a critical decision with significant financial implications: fully outsource to a third party, develop a hybrid model combining internal tools and oversight with external execution, or build internal capabilities by investing in technology and operational expertise. Each path would reshape the company’s cost structure, operational control, and scalability potential.
Without a clear path forward, the company risked escalating costs, reduced service reliability, and stalled digital initiatives. They turned to JBF Consulting to provide an objective evaluation, blueprint future-state designs, and deliver a roadmap aligned with long-term business objectives.
The Solution
JBF Consulting applied our logistics operations and technology expertise to evaluate our client’s operational reality across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Our comprehensive assessment delivered:
- 400+ validated functional requirements mapped to business impact
- Conceptual process designs for inbound, outbound, fleet, and international operations
- Organizational readiness assessment that evaluated data, resources, and change management capacity
- Data-driven benefits analysis projecting ~$12.4M in annual savings
- Strategic sourcing evaluation comparing insource, outsource and hybrid models, including hidden costs and risks like knowledge transfer, vendor lock-in, and future scalability
A phased implementation roadmap aligned with cost savings and system improvements, along with a tailored short list of vendors.
"Strategic alignment with business priorities proved more valuable than implementation speed.”
Results and Impact
Our engagement delivered a clear and pragmatic path forward. JBF’s evaluation revealed that a full insource model, though slower to operationalize, would yield the greatest long-term benefits, offering ~$12.4M in annual savings and cost 45% less than outsourcing over five years.
Key benefits included:
- Strategic Cost Advantage: Enabled leadership to make investment decisions with confidence by projecting five-year financial scenarios across insource, hybrid, and outsource models
- Business Simplification: Positioned the organization to unlock efficiency gains by prioritizing 66 process improvements and addressing 42 system interfaces, reducing complexity and paving the way for streamlined operations
- Performance Optimization: Our recommendations enabled measurable improvements in low performing logistics functions
- Vendor Strategy: Pre-qualified a tailored shortlist of TMS vendors with proven experience handling similar complexity and scale globally, increasing the likelihood of a successful system implementation and realizing direct and indirect benefits as planned
- Risk Mitigation: Enhanced organizational preparedness by identifying readiness gaps and recommending strategies for implementation, ensuring smooth adoption and sustainable long-term transformation
Our recommendations and roadmap positioned the client to modernize transportation management, improve visibility, and build capabilities across the world. By pairing insourcing with best-fit technology and strategic vendor partnerships, the company gained a cost-efficient, scalable strategy to drive immediate efficiencies and long-term competitive advantage.
Results and Impact
Strategic alignment with business priorities proved more valuable than implementation speed. While outsourcing appeared faster, the insource approach delivered superior ROI and established transportation as a strategic differentiator.
Critical insights that shaped our recommendations: high quality logistics data enables accurate decision making, robust change management ensures sustainable adoption, and rationalizing systems and processes across divisions creates compound benefits. These elements determine whether organizations capture full value or leave opportunities unrealized.
Is your transportation strategy optimized for future growth? Contact us today to learn how our proven approach can future-proof your strategy and deliver measurable benefits for your organization.
Email us at contact@jbf-consulting.com
