Philippines Delivery Service AIR21 Takes Flight in the NetSuite Cloud

February 3, 2014

Many Philippine businesses and citizens know AIR21(opens in new tab), which since 1979 has grown to become a leading provider of door-to-door delivery and logistics services across the nation. For AIR21, the problem was that it didn’t know its customers.

For years, a heavily customized homegrown CRM application in use at AIR21 limited visibility into customers and prospects, hurting the company’s ability to cultivate stronger relationships and drive cross-sell revenue. The CRM system lacked integration with other AIR21 applications, resulting in inconsistent processes, data inaccuracies and delays in accessing critical information.

Formally known as Airfreight 2011, AIR21 recognized it needed a modern, scalable, web-based CRM solution(opens in new tab) to support its goals of improved customer service, faster turnaround times, greater sales staff productivity and better execution on sales and upsell opportunities. To address the challenge, AIR21 took to the air—or more specifically, to the cloud.

After evaluating a competing SAP solution, AIR21 selected NetSuite as its cloud foundation for CRM, sales force automation and customer service and support. NetSuite met AIR21’s criteria for being web- and mobile-enabled, easy to use and administer, secure. It also had to extend and across the affiliated companies of the Lina Group, which operates AIR21 and other businesses in logistics, information technology, business process outsourcing, communications and more.

"The biggest challenge for AIR21 was how to leverage the growing amount of robust customer information we had accumulated over the years and continue to collect, while allowing us to effectively execute our sales and marketing strategies," said Theresita Eisma, AIR21's Group CIO. "We needed a technology solution that was ready to go at the time of purchase. Our IT organization did not want to be saddled with the usual headaches associated with traditional software solutions.”

Rapid Rollout and Payback

With NetSuite’s ease of use and a short learning curve, AIR21 and its implementation partner, Cloudware Technology(opens in new tab), was able to rapidly roll out the solution nationwide in early 2013 without high training costs. Today, AIR21 is reaping the rewards of a streamlined lead-to-opportunity-to-cash lifecycle, netting better top-line results without the manual work of the past.

"Our sales organization wanted something user-friendly and as easy to use as Facebook. NetSuite gives users a quick snapshot of what they have accomplished and provides insights into future opportunities," said Eisma. "Now we don't have to generate numerous reports to get to the bottom line. The reporting capabilities of NetSuite allow us to keep stakeholders informed in a simple yet elegant fashion."

As a next step, AIR21 plans to take advantage of NetSuite's open, standards-based architecture to integrate NetSuite with its financial system to further improve business visibility and efficiency. With its new cloud solution, AIR21 is furthering its history of leadership and sets a good example for other companies in the Philippines that need to upgrade from aging homegrown systems and manual processes.

- James Dantow, VP for Worldwide Support and General Manager for the Philippines, NetSuite

NetSuite has packaged the experience gained from tens of thousands of worldwide deployments over two decades into a set of leading practices that pave a clear path to success and are proven to deliver rapid business value. With NetSuite, you go live in a predictable timeframe — smart, stepped implementations begin with sales and span the entire customer lifecycle, so there's continuity from sales to services to support.