Sun-Glo of Idaho: Real-Time Shipment Visibility = Improved Customer Satisfaction

Real-time Shipment Visibility = Improved Customer Satisfaction

Sun-Glo Potatoes are grown in Idaho—and shipped across the United States. Established in 1974 by five Southeast Idaho potato growers, Sun-Glo of Idaho^® is an industry leader known for consistent quality and outstanding customer service. Since 1999, Sun-Glo has been solely owned by the Crapo family, who have been producing Idaho potatoes for four generations, and their modern facility has the capacity to ship more than 5 million hundredweight of product each season. Sun-Glo sells potatoes nationwide.

Prior to deploying Tive’s real-time visibility solutions to help monitor the location and condition of their shipments, Sun-Glo didn’t have an efficient system in place to keep customers informed of shipment ETAs. Instead, members of the Sun-Glo team:

• Made lots and lots of telephone calls to track shipments
• Sent many emails to carriers
• Received many late night and early morning calls from customers requesting updates
  

Road Testing the Benefits of End-to-End Shipment Visibility

The company knew that by expanding shipment visibility throughout their supply chain they would also improve customer satisfaction—so they turned to Tive.

In June of 2021, Sun-Glo kicked off a proof of value exercise with Tive using Solo 5G trackers on ten shipments over a two-week span.

“My customers instantly loved it,”

said Jill Crapo Cox, Vice President of Sales at Sun-Glo.

“I have not had one bad experience—and I am 100% sold. I've had nothing but positive experiences with Tive, and I look forward to continuing to work with them.”

Fixing Shipment Problems—Before They Escalate

During the first week of the proof of value, a refrigerated (reefer) unit on one of Sun-Glo’s trucks malfunctioned. The Tive cloud platform sent a real-time alert notification to the Sun-Glo team notifying them that the shipment temperature had gone out of range.

Sun-Glo was able to call the truck driver, notify him of his reefer problem, and get it fixed—preventing product damage. Sun-Glo delivered a load of perfect potatoes to the end destination, and avoided a large insurance claim.

“Tive helped us save a lot of money and time that day,”

said Cox.

You Can’t Fix What You Can’t See

Sun-Glo started using Tive on all rail shipments and a majority of their cargo trucks, enabling their team to actively monitor exactly what is going on with their shipments—in real time.

Sun-Glo also receives immediate alert notifications when specific actions occur, including:

• When a truck stops
• If a truck brakes too hard
• If a load has tipped over
• When a shipment arrives at a destination
  

In-transit data collected by the Solo 5G trackers is immediately available in the Tive platform from any mobile device, enabling Sun-Glo—and their customers—to manage shipments from point of origin to point of delivery.

Says Cox,

“Sun-Glo is my family business and I am extremely vested in my customers knowing that we will do whatever it takes to deliver undamaged, high-quality products. I want to ensure that our customers are 100% happy with our service, and Tive helps Sun-Glo accomplish this.”

End-to-End Shipment Visibility = Competitive Advantage 

When a load leaves Sun-Glo, Cox sends an email to the customer that includes shipment details and a shipment tracking link. When the customer clicks the link, the Tive platform displays exactly where their truck is on the map at that moment. And Tive doesn’t just record GPS location: the trackers monitor temperature, idle time, whenever container doors open, humidity variances, and more.

With instant access to real-time shipping data, the Sun-Glo team is empowered to act quickly to fix potential issues—and their customers are thrilled to have high-level visibility into their shipments.

Customer satisfaction is extremely important to Sun-Glo, and the enhanced level of visibility provided by Tive makes the company stand out as a preferred potato supplier.

“I have recommended Tive to a lot of people,” says Cox. “The biggest selling point is being able to give my customers a real-time link to physically track their own shipments. I believe in Tive.”

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