171: Let's Collaborate, with Mercado and Shipz

Today's episode is a very special crossover episode, in honour of collaboration, featuring Mercado and Shipz Inc. Mercado strive to deliver transparency, collaboration, automation and predictability across supply chain. From product creation and tracking, to document management and shipment, to order collaboration and smart tagging, their platform has everything you need for the first mile of your supply chain. And when it comes to the middle mile, you need Shipz Inc; the innovative new bid-and-ship freight platform. Working to simplify the complexity often found in logistics, the Shipz platform closes the gap between mid-market shippers and forwarders, creating an accessible and hassle-free logistics solution for all. From quick and accurate quotes, selecting the right partners that fit your business, secure documentation all in one place and even lines of credit, shippers and forwarders will see a variety of benefits by connecting with the Shipz platform. I'm joined by Rob Garrison, CEO at Mercado, to talk about why collaboration in business is so important, the impact of the pandemic, the vast array of benefits that collaboration can bring – and the new and exciting partnership between Shipz and Mercado, coming for 2021. IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: [06.18] Why collaboration is so important in supply chain. "International supply chain is not only a mile wide, it's a mile deep – and that's the fundamental reason why collaboration is so important." [13.01] An overview of Mercado and Shipz. [15.37] How collaboration can help businesses to extend their offering by filling in their gaps with a third party. "As a customer… there are a lot of companies coming up and it's not always clear exactly who they are and what their competency is. So Shipz Inc's ability to diagnose those issues and connect them through the platform is a huge benefit." [20.55] The benefit collaboration has with regard to data and insights. "If you've got all the data in one source, you can give much richer reporting and much richer insight." [21.54] How collaboration can help expand businesses, helping them to operate successfully on both a local and a global scale. [25.22] Why Shipz is an important partner for Mercado. "Whilst we're experts in the first mile, it doesn't mean we should ignore the rest of the supply chain and it's great to be able to say to a customer, I have a great partner that can do that for you." [28.10] The role good partnerships played in keeping businesses afloat in 2020, and the impact on the industry as a whole. "The world suddenly shifted – the pandemic accelerated plans from 'over the next 10 years' to 'over the next 2 years;' it was that rapid. Businesses had to rely on collaboration in order to survive." [33.00] A look at Mercado's new Transform campaign. [39.11] An introduction to how Mercado and Shipz are collaborating in 2021.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED: Head over to Mercado's website to find out more and discover how they could help you too. And don't forget to visit Shipz to sign up for your FREE trial now. Check out our other podcasts HERE.