It’s a Technological Priority to Enable the Organization to Pivot Better — Total Quality Logistics CIO

(US & Canada) Ryan Kean, Chief Information Officer at Total Quality Logistics (TQL), speaks with Michael Sutter, CEO of Enlivened Tech, in a video interview about the company and his role, technological initiatives, five strategic pillars of the technology strategy, turning challenges into opportunities, and investing in internal talent.

Introducing TQL, Kean shares that it is one of the largest freight brokers and the 62nd largest privately held company in North America. The company has a customer-first approach, and the IT team focuses on supporting 9,000 employees, 40,000 customers, and 140,000 carriers.

Speaking of the top priorities and initiatives, Kean notes that the supply chain industry is in constant flux due to various disruptions. Therefore, it is a technological priority to enable the organization to pivot better and adjust.

Delving further, Ken discusses the initiatives across the technology stack. He says that the core network as well as wide area networks are being replaced. Moving onto the database layer, there is a database and data modernization program going on, which focuses on governance, analytics reporting platforms, and quality, which will feed the new integration layer.

Next, Kean states that the company is moving towards API-based architecture, which gets consumed by the application layer. This layer is witnessing everything from a new ERP system to the modernization of the core application used by brokers.

Coming to the customer interaction part, the product management area is developing new skills and enhancing application capabilities to get real-time feedback, says Kean. This is done to make a difference to customers, who in this case are internal associates or users.

The organization does it in a way that is fiscally responsible but creates an experience for the associates, which builds their confidence, he adds.

When asked about aligning IT investments with broader business goals, Kean maintains that the investments circle back to the technology strategic plan. The plan has five pillars focused on:

1. Customer experience

2. The platforms

3. Driving friction out of processes

4. Developing talent

5. Ensuring work ways are efficient and effective

He continues that some of the technology investments are made against the business strategy, and the organization is assessing how those align with the strategic pillars.

However, since changes are rapid in the supply chain sector, Kean states that most of the solutions involve in-house development. He stresses creating a differentiating experience for the broker community, customers, and carriers through in-house development.

For instance, Kean says, if a customer needs to move to a new mode, the organization should be able to pivot quickly, develop, and meet the customer where the help is needed. When done internally, the development is rapid and done in a way that better aligns solutions to customer needs.

Moving forward, Kean states that as the broad transportation industry is constantly growing, the brokerage component within that also grows. As a critical part of the overall supply chain, he adds that delivering incredible service is the key.

Thereafter, Kean highlights that at TQL, all the strategic challenges are referred to as opportunities. The first opportunity lies in understanding the customer and stakeholder needs and adjusting according to that.

The second opportunity lies in talent development, says Kean, and having 450 of the greatest resources, he notes that it is imperative to invest in them.

In order to equip internal talent, he mentions creating an internal learning and development team within IT. The team focuses solely on building curriculum and experiences to help associates learn new skills needed to support stakeholders.

On top of that, TQL has a yearly apprentice program designed to facilitate bringing in internal non-tech employees into IT if they are looking for a change. Those who get selected for the cohort go through a 14-week software development bootcamp. Then, they are put on a development team, where they get an additional 2,000 hours of training, and on completion, the applicants become software developers.

Emphasizing further, Kean states that developing internal talent is critical because they understand the business, culture, customers, and challenges. From the talent perspective, the vision is to turn TQL into a place that nobody wants to leave, he concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Ryan Kean for sharing his insights with our global community.