In 2001 after many rewarding and exciting years working in the international freight and customs industry, with a clearly defined concept, the founders of GPSM set out to create a company like no other in our industry. We saw an opportunity to create a solution that would truly assist importers and exporters to solve the information “black hole” that often existed between order placement and delivery. This lack of information caused frustration, used up resources and increased costs to the supply chain. We had spent years sympathizing with frustrated importers and exporters and decided it was time we did something about it! Naturally we also had to be an extremely efficient and competitive freight forwarder with a global network that could rival the “big boys”.
Step one was to name the company and thus we decided to name it what we intended to deliver “Global Product Supply Management” so every organisation and person who came across us knew from our company name what we were all about. Over the years it has been shortened to GPSM but we still enjoy telling the story of what GPSM stands for which today is still completely relevant.
With the company named, our now well-renowned solution “Communicator” was created. Communicater, designed to be the link between all interested (and previously unconnected) participants, sharing live information to the product level 24/7, became a reality. It has since evolved into a widely used Global system relied upon by importers, exporters and our global freight partners.
Then we needed to clearly define how we could help our customers so we coined our catch phrase “You know your Products, We know logistics, Accelerate your objectives with GPSM”. Delivering on this statement became, and remains our mission.
In early 2002 GPSM secured the exclusive Australian appointment of the global organisation known as IASA. (International Air & Shipping Association) This network linked GPSM to over 180 offices in 40 countries on all continents. All owned locally but acting as part of a linked, aggressively customer focused, Global Network. IASA’s motto “Think Global Act Local” was the perfect fit for GPSM ensuring we had access not only to some of the largest and most successful privately owned forwarders in the world, but also the ability to tap into global freight contracts making sure we could easily compete with the multinationals on rates and services. IASA is currently turning over in excess of US$1.3 billion worldwide.
During 2003 – 2008 GPSM continued to follow its dream, delivering not only professional, personal service to its customers, but also accountability and a level of information not previously thought possible in our industry. Every year we gratefully receive many testimonials and referrals from our loyal satisfied customers proving that GPSM is delivering on its promises and proving its dream a success story.
In 2008 it became apparent that we needed to do something about local transport, which was typically, previously outsourced. We set out and purchased a fleet of trucks that could handle our customers needs. This acquisition allowed us to link the trucks progress via GPS to our Communicater system connecting the last link of the chain, the local transport, to become visible and transparent. Since the initial acquisition in 2008 we have expanded the fleet to continue to meet customer demands. Many of our customers continually tell us how the linking of the trucking has even further reduced their cost though more efficient and transparent transport management.
We also had another driving force and that was to be a “Green Company” determined to reduce our impact on the earth. Communicater was designed to eliminate the need for paper reports, purchase orders, shipping confirmations and the like, and instead, provide all these facilities live on screen as an option thus reducing the need for reams of printed paper impacting on the environment only to be filed away and often not accessed again. All information and reports in Communicater can be viewed on screen or “printed to excel” where they can be worked on and stored for future on screen use. All notes and progress of products/orders/shipments are all logged on screen for any authorized interested parties to review at any time they are on line. Communicater provides intelligent connections and exception reporting that that allow better decisions to be made saving paper, time and money.
GPSM is also a community minded organization supporting several important charities including the Cancer Council and Downs Syndrome Research. We are proudly involved in community sporting groups, sponsoring teams helping our young people to achieve their goals. We are part of a Red Cross Blood donor program and we encourage all our staff to donate blood when possible.
So what does the future hold for GPSM? Just like on day one, we are full of goals, bright ideas and ways to improve what we are delivering with an overall vision of the future that is exciting and optimistic. Stay tuned to our progress!
Finally thank you so much to all our customers for your loyal support and for becoming an important part of the GPSM family. It is our pleasure and honor to be a part of your team.