cargonerds is offering solutions for global shipping freight forwarders to digitalize their booking, quoting, tracking, and reporting. Many of those companies – especially the small and medium sized freight forwarders – don’t have the time or the resources to achieve this on their own, so they need a partner on their side. cargonerds has therefore developed a plug-and-play solution so that no IT skillsets are required from the freight forwarders.
The products are unique because freight forwarders can easily build a global digital network without being limited to a legal entity. Basically, it works like a messaging service, like WhatsApp. Supply chain “friends” are easily connected and suddenly, networks of independent freight forwarders – having agency contracts in place – can exchange data. Of course, this methodology also works for global logistics companies that have overseas offices.
When it comes to connecting applications of different freight forwarders, there are mostly two major problems: first, there are no solutions available on the market to connect systems fast and easily; second, a major obstacle for many in the market is that they get a tool, but nobody is there to make it work for them. cargonerds got this together and in just a few steps, the transport companies are in the digital age of transportation and shipping. Customers confirm that they are really surprised about the extremely fast kick-off which takes no longer than forty-five minutes.
The solutions provided by cargonerds are not only driven by the demand of customers but also customer proven. The provider’s initial and main account Röhlig serves as a real and complex proof of concept. With Röhlig as a customer, the cargonerds know what thirty countries around the globe need. This experience makes them very confident that their solution is working. During the collaboration with Röhlig, the product management team has really learned what shippers and freight forwarders need.
The cargonerds team is supporting thirty countries around the globe from their homebase in Germany. This is possible because the solutions are very simple to maintain. The multilingual product management team which is working remotely most of the time is supporting customers globally without the need to have different offices around the globe. Customers benefit from another advantage: they are working with product managers, i. e. the people that have the deepest knowledge of the tool.
With their offering, cargnerds is basically following global logistics trends and needs like making processes more efficient through digitalization. For their global launch, the company is focusing on markets where freight business is controlled and where major commodity flows go, like the USA, Singapore, Europe and Australia.
Considering this, the offering is so simplified that it works everywhere. If there’s a certain change for a country required, cargonerds product managers are always interested to develop a solution for it, but essentially their solution works around the globe already today.
As part of this, cargonerds believes in an iterative approach and in continuous learning. The team tries to keep solutions as simple as possible. When managing around thirty different countries and requirements, one can easily get lost in various single cases. Therefore, cargonerds really boils it down to the minimum requirements.
Looking into the future, cargonerds is hoping to onboard hundreds of customers within the next two to three years – namely freight forwarders from around the globe. However, the purpose is not to develop products to compete with other large software companies. cargonerds is focusing on the link to bring different solutions to life. That’s why the company partners with other companies like Magaya or Webcargo with their mission in mind: To make digital logistics work for the SME freight forwarders.
About cargonerds
cargonerds is a German software development company based in Hamburg offering digital solutions for booking, quoting, tracking, and reporting. Founded in 2021, the dynamic team of 30 employees and contractors gives small- and medium-sized companies the opportunity for fast and efficient digitization. It positions itself as a shortcut to digital logistics. cargonerds aims at reducing complexity, time, and costs for the implementation of log-tech solutions to make freight forwarders ready for the digital requirements of customers and carriers.
Conrad Franchi, Managing Director, cargonerds
Conrad, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Röhlig Logistics and Founder of cargonerds, has extensive experience in corporate & digital strategy, freight forwarding as well as data & technology projects. After joining Röhlig Logistics in January 2016, he founded cargonerds as a Röhlig spin-off in November 2021 to help SME freight forwarders to successfully compete during the digitalization phase of the industry. Conrad holds a master’s degree in Economics of International Trade & European Integration. He started his career in PricewaterhouseCoopers, worked as a senior management consultant at IBM and as an associate partner at Horn & Company.
