How KNNX is Fostering Collaboration with Technology

We spoke with Francis Lalonde, CCO of KNNX about why he joined KNNX and how they enable collaboration, transparency, and savings with distributed ledger technology

Trade has always been about finding customers, agreeing on prices and products, arranging shipping and meeting demand. When trade was local, and merchants and customers dealt with each other in person, trust was built face-to-face resulting in merchant/customer bonds that could last for generations. As time marched on and trading partners, customers, suppliers, and shippers found themselves separated by oceans and borders dependent on a variety of shipping technologies, the challenge of nurturing those connections for collaboration became harder to forge.

Trust and transparency with regards to freight invoicing or reconciling various order processing platforms became increasingly challenging—until now.

Today, thanks to their innovative approach to Distributed Ledger Technology, Toronto-headquartered KNNX is helping automate shipper and carrier invoice processing in real-time. Their innovative platform is helping companies save money, build trust, and manage and reconcile data in a way that Francis LaLonde, CCO of KNNX describes their platform as a “collaboration zone”. We recently sat down with Mr. Lalonde to learn more about his companies offering and how it is helping transform the way shippers and carriers connect. 
 

Francis Lalonde, CCLP
CCO
KNNX

 

Connections count

At a base level, Lalonde explained that what KNNX does is facilitate the processing of payments through a shared ledger. By centralizing all the requisite data in place, this helps companies save money and streamline the process of accepting and making payments.

“KNNX processes massive amounts of transactions,” he said. It's the collaboration we facilitate between the shipper and the retailer through a shared ledger. It’s also why our value proposition is different than some of the other folks in the industry. The connection part is really something that we do different. We’ve got an in-transit platform, we offer a payment platform, through all the ways we facilitate business, the collaboration part is really a strong differentiator for us.”

Money-saving superglue

Lalonde went on to explain that KNNX adds value by acting as a superglue that can hold all aspects of a transportation deal together—before wheels hit the road and costs really start to rise.

“Let’s say I'm a shipper and on your carrier, going after a load together. I tender a load and offer a rate to pick up and take it from A to B of $1000 plus a $100 dollar fuel charge. Now, you have an opportunity to say, OK, I'll accept the job, but my rates table is showing it at $1300. KNNX distributed ledger technology lets you address those disputes before the wheels of the truck start to turn. And, as we all know, once the wheels of the truck start to turn, things get much more complex very quickly.”

As the superglue holding everything together, KNNX links it all together seamlessly and adding tangible value to the companies they’re serving. Lalonde continued:

“Where we add a lot of value now is becoming the superglue between various company’s existing systems. A company might have telematics data. They might be getting their data directly from a third party. There could be data aggregators and forecasts, GPS information to consider, you name it. And, if you don't have a superglue in the middle that can take this information, confirm the GPS information with geofence data, for example, costly problems can arise.

For example, let’s say a driver was at a retail location for two hours and 45 minutes today, but standard offload time is 45 minutes. Are we going to pay 2 hours of waiting time? We see the GPS in full, we see the geofence information and we know it’s all accurate. Companies can now see everything transparently, create proper business rules for payment and get business down in a different way, and get some good savings out of it.”

A perfect solution for Canadian logistics

Interestingly, this offering is showing real benefits in the Canadian marketplace. In a country of this size, with such varied terrain and multiple modes of transit, having a shared platform for keeping it all tied together can work wonders.

“We have a very complex supply chain in Canada,” Lalonde explained. We have a lot of rail. We have trucking. We have jobs in this country where people ship by truck to rail, back to truck, to boat, back to truck again, from BC to Newfoundland. How do you reconcile that? Our platform offers some very strong, and unique capabilities to make those connections.”

An interesting angle for ESG

In addition to saving money and streamlining payment processing, Lalonde also explained that the KNNX shared ledger system has a side benefit, thanks to the added transparency the system delivers. He explained:

“As an example, KNNX can track quality control from a mine to a manufacturing site.  In this regard, we could ensure raw materials from say, Africa, that are headed to Japan are being harvested in the sustainable way, or that no child labor is involved, right? The shared Ledger offers that traceability, visibility, and accountability—it has real implications for brand integrity and ESG sustainability.”

In an industry that’s all about connecting consumers with products, shippers with manufacturers and brokers with logistics companies, it seems KNNX is firmly situated in the right place, at the right time. Let’s see what the future holds.