The high-end network security product that Crossbeam manufactures is a chassis that provides firewall intrusion protection and prevention. It's the kind of thing that Crossbeam's customers often have a critical need for right away. And its service-level agreements often locked Crossbeam into very tight delivery windows. The problem was, delivery same day, next day or even more difficult, within four hours or so was often highly challenging, Curley says. "With the disjointed setup I had for 10 years, we weren't able to reliably meet those requirements. We needed to provide those service levels, and we were struggling."
Flash Global Logistics specialized in critical-parts stocking and delivery. The difficulties encountered by Crossbeam were nothing new to the provider, Miller says. "We saw an opportunity to design and create a system for the delivery services that they required."
Utilizing the provider's Flashtrac solution, Crossbeam gained a visibility it lacked before. "That was absolutely critical to me," Curley says. "One of my requirements for my delivery to a company is 99.8-percent inventory accuracy. Being on a system like Flashtrac let me see where product is, whether it's been picked for an order, what stage it's in, and where it's going."
Often where it's going is overseas, so denied-party screening compliance is required. That's been automated by Flash. "It provides for compliance with denied-party listings at ever step of he way," Curley says. "As the export compliance officer for Crossbeam, I take that personally."
Crossbeam is expanding, and at the moment it's focusing on Brazil and India. Plans are to remain with Flash because Curley feels the provider has state-of-the-art capabilities yet is small enough not to ignore Crossbeam's needs. "I need an established company," Curley says. "Not a large one, but one that still has a global footprint."
