by Wayne Slossberg
I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with David Swett, V. Alexander & Co., Inc.’s Vice President and Chief Information Officer. V. Alexander is an independent cargo dynamics provider that believes success is built on excellence, one transaction at a time. As a company, V. Alexander acquires the most effective technology and systems, hires and trains the most qualified people, pioneers new solutions for the industry and adds value to everything they do.
V. Alexander uses QuestaWeb’s customs house broker solution.
Wayne: Please tell me about V. Alexander & Co., Inc.
David: V. Alexander was formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1962 by Frank and Carla Brown. Carla is the daughter of Mr. Vaniah Alexander, a freight forwarder since 1946. We specialize in custom house brokerage, freight forwarding, logistics and warehousing.
Wayne: What challenges prompted V. Alexander’s decision to change technology?
David: We have always insisted on working with the very best technology for our industry. After several decades with our previous vendor, we saw an opportunity with QuestaWeb to upgrade our platform to what we believe is the very best brokerage and logistics package in the market today.
Wayne: What was the rationale behind selecting QuestaWeb?
David: QuestaWeb had the ability to cater to our individual needs as a customer in a way that no other software company could. As a firm that invests heavily in its own software development, V. Alexander desired a partner that would work very closely with us to integrate our technologies with theirs and be open to the kinds of customization and improvements that make the difference for us as a leader in our market. We have been absolutely satisfied before and since implementation of QuestaWeb’s solution for customs house brokers that we made the right choice.
Wayne: Tell me about the implementation process.
David: We went live with QuestaWeb’s software in October of 2015. The level of support during the start-up period was tremendous. It was all-hands-on-deck from the entire staff at QuestaWeb on the weekend of our “go-live” to assure that we were fully operational on Monday morning. And, we were.
Wayne: I think it is important to say that V. Alexander is the ultimate customer from the vendor perspective, especially insofar as implementation. You and your staff were prepared, enthusiastic and supportive. And, we were simply amazed by the innovative ways in which you are using our solution. It is little wonder V. Alexander is as successful as it is.
David: Thank you, Wayne. Our mission statement is something we live by and it says it all: “V. Alexander is dedicated to achieving excellence in our industry by contributing to the success of our customers, our staff and our vendors. We do this by insisting that each and every transaction with which we are involved employs our very best tools, people and technologies, and strive to improve each of these on a daily basis.”
