Courtesy of Progress, the global technology partner of CMS Transport Systems, delegates arriving in Melbourne to attend the Freight2020 VISION 2017 conference were treated to pre-event welcome drinks and canapés at Rydges Melbourne, followed by a teppanyaki dinner banquet just a short stroll away in Melbourne’s Chinatown.

With scores of company delegates attending Freight2020 VISION from all corners of mainland Australia, across Bass Strait (Tasmania) and the Tasman (New Zealand), as well as some guest speakers and specialists visiting from the UK and USA, the Progress-sponsored hospitality provided a relaxed opportunity for transport industry executives to network with peers and meet some of the people behind the Freight2020 system which powers their businesses.

Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS Transport Systems, welcomes delegates to the Freight2020 VISION 2017 pre-event welcome function sponsored by Progress

“We had our video producer flying into Melbourne directly from another assignment, in plenty of time for the conference the next day. Our intention was for one camera to capture the pre-event teppanyaki function. It turned out that some flights into Melbourne that evening were delayed due to bad weather in other regions, which meant our crew couldn’t arrive early enough for the informal activities,” said Melanie Williamson, the external manager of marketing and engagement for CMS Transport Systems responsible for the overall production and promotion of the Freight2020 VISION 2017 event. “I hadn’t brought my pro-camera along but decided to improvise with my iPhone. There were so many entertaining vignettes while the visiting delegates were unwinding from long flights or road-trips in preparation for what would be a very big day work-wise tomorrow.”

“Playing paparazzi gave me an excuse to get around the whole room and see how everyone was getting along over dinner, without being overly intrusive. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves and finding common ground in a social setting, thanks to the generosity of Progress.”

“As a NASDAQ-listed enterprise with a predominantly global focus, Progress demonstrates its commitment to developer-partners like CMS Transport Systems in Australia and New Zealand by sending their international executives to spend time with end-users at events like Freight2020 VISION 2017. It makes it easier for Progress to disseminate important information about forthcoming developments, and it helps keep the organisation on-pulse with the needs and experiences of each industry sector in each global region,” said Mel.

Joe Genovese [left] and Mike Marriage [centre] of Progress met delegates including Jolene du Plessis from Australian Bay Lobster Producers at the Freight2020 VISION 2017 pre-event welcome function sponsored by Progress [Anita Latarche of Cahill Transport in background]

Joe Rozenberg [left], Mike Marriage [centre], and Joe Genovese [right] of Progress at the Freight2020 VISION 2017 pre-event dinner with Allan Thornley from Shaw’s Darwin Transport [far left]

John Bryant, CFO of Australian Bay Lobster Producers, showed safe hands in one of the teppanyaki challenges with Grant Walmsley of CMS Transport Systems [standing], Jim Morgan of Morgan Transport Insurance [centre], and Neville Aganoff, Freight2020 implementation consultant [right]

Freight2020 VISION 2017 was a “pinnacle” event for Rob Mullins, managing director and founder of CMS Transport Systems, who was able to enjoy spending time with users of Freight2020 in the relaxed pre-event setting at Rydges Melbourne [pictured with Angela Catford, John L Pierce Transport]

The large dining room of Ginza Teppanyaki in Melbourne’s famed Chinatown was totally filled with delegates enjoying the hospitality of Progress in preparation for the Freight2020 VISION 2017 conference the next day

Delegates attending the Progress-sponsored Freight2020 VISION 2017 pre-event teppanyaki banquet were either dodging the momentary flashes of flame or whipping out phones to take home colourful memories of a very enjoyable business networking function provided by Progress

While many delegates at the Progress-sponsored teppanyaki dinner were able to catch the flying pieces of omelette and rice-filled bowls with few casualties and occasional demonstrations of brilliant coordination, Emerson Pierce of John L Pierce Transport was simply unlucky to land his bowlful of rice on his lap – but it was all in good fun (and a replacement bowl of rice was swiftly provided)

Progress was the principal partner in the Freight2020 VISION 2017 event

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CMS Transport Systems, the Australian-based developer of the Freight2020 transport management system, has won the ‘Fastest-Growing Partner’ award for the APJ (Asia/Pacific/Japan) region, as announced at the Progress 2015 Global Partner Awards held in February 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Progress recognised CMS for its ‘excellence in adopting OpenEdge (by Progress) as its core development platform for the Freight2020 management system’.

Freight2020 is the market-leading transport software solution in Australia, having set the pace for competitors with advanced features such as full integration, online customer portal, driver mobility using a free-to-download iOS/Android-compatible app, item-level tracking via DIY bar-coded labels, and system-wide management of OHS/WHS/heavy-vehicle compliance.

Craig Law, managing director of Progress Software ANZ (left), with Rob Mullins, managing director of CMS Transport Systems (centre, holding the award), and Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS (right).

“The decision we made to develop Freight2020 in the Progress OpenEdge environment is partly what has given the Freight2020 system its great strengths,” said Rob Mullins, founder and managing director of CMS Transport Systems, and the original architect of Freight2020.

Progress OpenEdge provides Freight2020 users with a database that is very fast, extremely robust, and infinitely scalable. Freight2020 was also one of the first transport management systems in the world to be made available either as a cloud-based, SaaS solution, or on-premise installation.

“With OpenEdge we can rapidly develop and implement new features and enhancements, and make updates whenever needed to reflect any changes in Australian legislation and compliance requirements for OHS/WHS, superannuation, levies, taxation, etc,” Rob said.

While both 2014 and 2015 were record years of growth for CMS Transport Systems with Freight2020, 2016 is already set to exceed all previous years. Many of the largest and most successful organisations in the Australian road freight transport industry in Australia and New Zealand are now using the fully-integrated Freight2020 transport management system.

The “Year over Year Growth APJ 2015” award presented to CMS Transport Systems, Australia, by the global technology company Progress Software.

“Freight2020 combines one of the world’s most advanced technological environments, OpenEdge by Progress Software, with the responsiveness and dependability of localised system development, implementation, training and support by CMS,” said Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS Transport Systems.

“The Australian road freight transport industry is an extremely demanding market for technology solutions due to its extreme business complexity,” Grant said. “Freight2020 streamlines all aspects of operations, maintenance, compliance, administration, and customer service for trucking companies of all sizes, in all freight markets.”

Read the ATN Fully Loaded article on CMS Transport Systems being awarded ‘Fastest-Growing Partner’ by Progress Software 25.02.2016. Click thumbnail to view.

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Neil Foley, Operations Manager, CMS Transport Systems

Qualified CPAs and experienced transport business managers

“Among the qualified CPAs now working on Freight2020 implementations we have Keith Robertson, who has been assisting with Freight2020 implementations and business transitions for a number of years; Linda Rosendale, who is also a qualified trainer and expert in accounting system transitions; and Neville Aganoff, based in our new Brisbane office. Neville was a CFO in the transport industry and has more than five years’ experience as a day-to-day Freight2020 user,” said Neil.

Melissa Fonteneau, Freight2020 Implementation Consultant

“Melissa Fonteneau joined CMS in Melbourne after 20 years as a manager in warehousing and logistics. Melissa brings this wealth of front-line operational knowledge into streamlining processes for users of Freight2020,” Neil said.

“Glenn Ozanne has more than 16 years’ experience working on business systems design and implementation in the mining, utilities, defence, and transport industries, with some of this time spent on offshore projects in Thailand, Russia and Kazakhstan.”

Based in Sydney to support Freight2020 implementations in New South Wales is now Peter Chaing, an accomplished commercial manager with over 25 years’ experience in financial and management accounting and more than two years using Freight2020 hands-on while working at 1^st Fleet.

National growth of Freight2020 implementation team ‘inevitable’

Glenn Ozanne, Freight2020 Implementation Consultant

With hundreds of Freight2020 users distributed across every state in Australia, the establishment of satellite implementation bases in New South Wales and Queensland was inevitable, according to Rob Mullins, managing director of CMS Transport Systems.

“We often have Queensland-based transport businesses making the transition to Freight2020, so it makes sense for CMS to locate an implementation specialist in Brisbane, as well as in Sydney, where companies are wanting to start using Freight2020 with increasing frequency,” Rob said. “New Freight2020 users in Victoria, Tasmania, ACT, South Australia and Western Australia will continue to have their implementations handled by our national implementation team from Melbourne.”

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For company founder and the original architect of Freight2020, Rob Mullins, it has been a long and satisfying journey in responsive solutions development, aligned with increasing complexity in the Australian transport industry, and progressive improvements in the capability and affordability of technology for business.

“There was nothing tentative about my intention in founding CMS,” Rob said in a recent interview. “Technology was relatively new in the 1980s, and rudimentary by today’s standards. The uptake of technology by the transport industry was slow, at least to begin with, but it was obvious that technology would become smarter and more affordable. Freight operations were always complex to manage on the administration side. With the continuing development of Freight2020, anyone could see it would be a matter of time before all transport operations would be technology-driven.”

Company always a team says founder Rob Mullins

As the managing director of CMS, Rob Mullins remains on the company’s senior management team. “We have been a team since the earliest days,” Rob said to the interviewer. “Grant Walmsley joined CMS straight from university more than 20 years ago. Today Grant is the general manager of CMS, and a director. Andrew has been with CMS for more than 20 years, and he’s now the head of research and development, as well as a shareholder. We have several other senior staff members who have been working with CMS for more than 10 years, and there are many long-standing team members in our administration and support departments. Dedicated people have given this company great stability, and consistency in product support and customer service,” said Rob.

During the interview, Rob was asked about how he saw the future of the Australian road transport industry. “The future is bright,” Rob responded. “With Australia’s geography, and the wide spread of our population, produce, and resources – our high dependence as a nation on both imports and exports – the Australian economy and our communities will always rely on having an efficient freight transport and distribution network. Road transport itself will continue to become safer and more efficient, and cleaner for the environment as time goes on.”

Responding to growth and change

“Our development of Freight2020 will continue responding to industry growth and change,” Rob continued. “Freight2020 delivers an expansive suite of modules for operations management and administration – configurable to fit any mode or mix of modes in freight services provision.”

“Already Freight2020 users can do away with printed consignment notes, have POD notifications sent automatically to their customers, offer online consignment track-and-trace, and allow drivers to interact with live bookings via our new mobile app,” Rob said. “I’ll be excited to see how future advances in technology – some that we can’t even imagine yet – will allow CMS to make the Freight2020 transport management system even more powerful and sophisticated.”

Celebrating 35 years in 2015

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This new position carries responsibility for the project management of Freight2020 system development, support, and implementation, and is centred around the technical development and help-desk departments of the firm’s Australian headquarters in Melbourne, Victoria.

Neil joined CMS following more than six years working with Australian mobility solutions company Interdev, the last three-and-a-half years being served as Interdev’s general manager.

“Over the course of my time at Interdev I was able to work closely with CMS on a number of projects. It was always a pleasure to work with senior CMS people, and trusting relationships were established. On the technical side, I became impressed by the firm’s capabilities, and the cleverness of the Freight2020 system. It meant no insult to Interdev when I agreed to accept the offer of a new, more technically-oriented role at CMS. Interdev are a great company with great products. I just felt it was the right time for me to extend my own focus beyond one niche of development in transport industry technology, to the breadth of Freight2020 as a fully-integrated, end-to-end solution,” Neil said.

Australia’s transport operations technology very advanced

“I’m originally from the UK, although I’ve been in Australia for more than eight years now. For nine years I worked with the most successful fleet management system in the UK. Like Freight2020, this solution is developed in a Progress environment. I was the product manager before I moved here. Based on my UK experience, I can say that Australia’s ability to develop technology for transport operations and fleet maintenance management is very advanced. That’s one reason why I chose to further my career in this field in Australia.”

Grant Walmsley, general manager of CMS Transport Systems, welcomed Neil to the organisation with surrender of his centrally-positioned office for a new workspace, on the same floor of the building, but further away from the technical area where Neil needed to be more accessible. “The record number of new Freight2020 users in 2014 has meant a record number of system implementations for our technical people. Neil has joined CMS in time for the growing number of new-user implementations to be handled smoothly, and ongoing development deadlines to be comfortably met,” Grant said.

“The creation of this new technical operations management position, and acceptance of this role by Neil Foley with his industry-specific experience, means that Rob Mullins can concentrate on working with senior technicians on the roadmap for future Freight2020 development, and I can spend more time with our customers and prospective new customers,” said Grant. “I think it was a very astute decision for CMS, and it has positioned the company very well for future growth.”

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This year’s conference gathered over 1,000 Progress Software partner developers and customers, as well as Progress Software executives and product experts. It was the perfect venue for CMS, a top-tier Progress Software partner developer, to unveil its latest app for meeting a highly specific need with strong connection to road transport. CMS general manager, Grant Walmsley, announced that CMS could well be among the first in the world to come up with a commercial application for Progress Software’s new PaaS technology.

“CMS’ latest custom-built app again underscores our capability to innovate by tapping on our technical strengths developed through the years, and help grow the client’s business,” Grant pointed out. “We remain in the forefront when it comes to developing cloud-based solutions hinged on the flexibility and power of Progress Rollbase.”

The showcasing of CMS’ new Progress Rollbase app was one of the major surprises at the event and the buzz was immediately picked up by the technology press and online media.A Lifehacker weblog post emphasised how CMS was able to get the Rollbase-powered app completed within a tight deadline. The article quoted Grant as saying: “We saw a new business opportunity if we could develop an app for this (grain storage) market. The key driver behind the whole application was it had to be deployed by November for harvest time.”

To meet the tight deadline, CMS partnered with Rollbase Philippines to develop the new product. Click here to view the full article.

Grant explained that this new app would streamline the frontline processing of grain handling for growers, transporters, storage facilities and marketers. A rapid take-up within the industry is expected once the fully-commercialised version is ready to enter the market.

The ground-breaking CMS presence at Progress Exchange served to remind the international developer world about CMS’ commitment to innovation and responsiveness to help achieve client business objectives.”CMS will continue building on its strengths to break new ground in developing custom business apps to meet the changing demands of the market,” Grant said.

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