is once again a member of the annual list, placing No. 79. For 16 straight years, the company has graced the InformationWeek 500 rankings, which highlights leading business technology innovators in the United States.
“It is a wonderful accomplishment to once again make the InformationWeek 500 list for this many consecutive years,” said Mike Krut, Penske senior vice president of information technology.
With a North America truck fleet of over 216,000, Penske needed a process to best serve transportation customers who and commercial trucks that are acquired from many leading global manufacturers.
Unlike cars, commercial truck specifications are much more complex: there are hundreds of options, ranging from in-cab comforts to highly detailed engine and axle combinations.
“We created a web-based vehicle configurator to standardize our internal listings of myriad specifications of how the trucks are made,” explained Krut. “Each OEM (original equipment manufacturer) has a different way of listing their product offerings. This configurator has added agility and improved the commitment to our customers.”
Paul Rosa, Penske senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning said: “The new vehicle configurator is a nimble and flexible solution. It allows our company to quickly load and release new product offerings to our customers. Complex updates are now made in hours, instead of days.”
This is InformationWeek’s 27th year identifying and honoring the nation's most innovative users of information technology. The InformationWeek Elite 100 research tracks the technology-based investments, strategies, and results of some of the best-known organizations in the country.
"Gone are the days IT could run as an entity unto itself,” said InformationWeek Editor Chris Murphy. “If IT isn't part of product development, or marketing, or customer service, your company risks falling behind in the era of digital business.”
By "Move Ahead" Staff
earned placement on the 2014 as a top business tech innovator at No. 93. This is IW’s 26th year identifying and honoring the nation's most innovative users of information technology. Penske has earned a place in their rankings every year for the last 15 years.
“This past year the technology department created a process to electronically communicate customer truck delivery information for carriers not on a standard Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system,” stated Bill Stobbart, senior vice president of information technology for Penske Truck Leasing. “This innovative solution to a real business problem obviously caught the judges’ attention.”
In the supply chain industry, freight visibility is an important capability to both Fortune 500 and mid-size customers. When a carrier has EDI capabilities, it is able to report delivery status directly into Penske’s systems.
A number of smaller carriers that Penske employs do not have the capability to provide EDI connections. Penske’s IT professionals were tasked with building a standard process to provide these carriers with a better way to report on the pick-up and delivery status of their loads.
The solution was to install mobile device to machine communication; the driver can then send updates directly to Penske’s systems from their mobile phones via SMS text messaging.
Trucking carrier dispatchers have embraced the solution’s simplicity. Penske’s freight shipper customers and operational staff also benefit especially when deliveries are made during off-hours.
“We are honored to be recognized by InformationWeek for our support of the company’s transportation management and freight brokerage product lines,” stated Tom McKenna, Penske Logistics senior vice president of engineering and technology. “We’re confident this service offering provides our company with a competitive advantage.”
By “Move Ahead” Staff