This company, a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of health and beauty products and small kitchen appliances, operated across domestic and international channels from a New Jersey headquarters, with manufacturing in Illinois and distribution centers in Windsor and Arizona. The logistics operation spanned multiple modes and markets, but the infrastructure supporting it hadn’t kept pace with the scale.
Freight bill processing was outsourced with limited audit capability. Billing errors and overcharges were passing through unchallenged. The company had accepted base rate increases from its core carriers as a matter of course, with no data to validate or contest them. There was no integration between the ERP and the Freight Bill Audit and Payment system, making it impossible to allocate freight costs to the SKU level daily, and periodic financial accruals were inaccurate. The logistics function also had no on-the-ground support at a key distribution location.
The result was a company paying more than it needed to for freight, with no clear picture of where the money was going or why costs kept rising.
Argus built the data infrastructure first, then used it to drive 28% rate reduction and 17% ongoing optimization savings year over year.
Freight bill processing with limited auditing
Freight billing was outsourced without meaningful audit capability. Billing errors, duplicate charges, and carrier overcharges passed through unchallenged.
Inaccurate freight cost accruals
No ability to accrue freight costs periodically with sufficient accuracy, creating unreliable financial reporting and variance that finance teams couldn't close or explain at quarter end.
Accepting carrier rate increases without data
The company had accepted base rate increases from its core carriers with no market benchmarking data, no validated baseline, and no leverage to push back.
No ERP and FBAP system integration
The ERP and Freight Bill Audit and Payment systems ran in isolation. No SKU-level freight allocation. No real-time cost variance tracking. No accurate daily financial reporting.
Insufficient day-to-day logistics support
The company lacked tactical logistics support at a key distribution location, leaving the customer service team without the operational intelligence they needed.
No reverse logistics structure
Returns and warehouse transfers were handled without an optimized routing program. Intermodal opportunities were missed, and cost per unit moved was higher than it needed to be.
The Argus solution
ERP + FBAP integration for SKU-level visibility
Argus integrated the client's ERP mainframe with the Freight Bill Audit and Payment system, delivering daily freight cost visibility allocated to the SKU level. For the first time, the finance team had real-time cost variance data and the accurate accruals needed for reliable periodic financial reporting.
Volume leverage and carrier rate negotiation
With the full freight spend now visible and benchmarked, Argus dissected lane-by-lane costs and used consolidated volume leverage to renegotiate carrier rates against a validated historic baseline. Not a number anyone invented. Not a guess. The result: 28% cost savings from benchmark rates.
Reverse logistics and intermodal routing
Argus built a structured reverse logistics program for returns and warehouse transfers, delivering cost savings through intermodal routing that replaced higher-cost single-mode options. BI reporting tools tracked freight as a percentage of sales, driving year-over-year optimization.
On-site logistics support at Windsor
Argus positioned a logistics professional on-site at the Windsor distribution center to provide daily operational support, streamline information flow to the customer service team, and align tactical logistics execution with the strategic program Argus was managing at the network level.
Full platform management: system advancements built into the program
Argus's full platform management delivered system advancements and efficiencies critical to the client's business processes, including reporting tools to track freight as a percentage of sales, periodic accrual accuracy, and operational reporting for the Windsor customer service team. These capabilities became embedded in the daily operation.
Cost savings from rate reduction
Additional savings through optimization
Level freight visibility, updated daily
Freight tracked as % of sales
Increased accuracy with periodic financial accruals. Increased logistics efficiency in day-to-day operations. A structured reverse logistics program replacing ad-hoc returns handling. A logistics function that finally had the data to defend every decision it made.
Argus Logistics has managed $750M+ in freight spend across North America since 1992. Our clients contractually guarantee 2.7x savings versus fees paid. The results above aren’t unusual. They’re what happens when a company with serious freight complexity gets a partner who thinks like an operator, not a vendor.
Years of freight expertise
Founded 1992. Deep domain knowledge across consumer products, retail, and distribution.
Savings vs. fees paid
Logistics Control Tower model
No cost. No obligation.
Most companies we work with have never had someone look at their freight operation as a whole. We do that for free, because once you see the picture clearly, the next step usually becomes obvious.
You’ll walk away with a documented view of what’s working, what isn’t, and what it’s costing you — regardless of what you decide next.
Health & Beauty
$5.25M
99.7%
$2M+
