Industry Logistics and transportation Company Founded in Singapore in 1968, Neptune Orient Lines is a global transportation company, with core businesses in container transportation and supply chain management. Employees More than 11,000 IT staff 350 Annual IT Budget Not disclosed

For instance, in San Pedro, NOL set up a RFID (radio frequency identification) system for container yard management. With the new system, NOL was able to shave hours off the time taken to locate containers at the port.

In Grand Prairie, near Dallas, NOL has also deployed a RFID system for a FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) customer who is a top 100 supplier of Wal-Mart. Last January, the project went live with over 50,000 cartons tagged with RFID chips.

Additionally, NOL has put in place a global transport management system that provides a common platform to manage its carriers, including truckers, barge operators, rail companies, feeder operators, airlines and other ocean carriers. Apart from analyzing transport costs, the system also includes Web portals for customers to track trucking shipments, and for carriers to enter pick-up and delivery locations.

Most notable, however, is its RFID facility established in collaboration with Sun Microsystems. The NOL-Sun Advanced Technology Center provides a test-bed environment for companies interested in deploying RFID technology, as well as training for RFID professionals. The center was awarded ZDNet Asia Smart50 Communications Project of the Year.

NOL has several yardsticks to measure the success of its IT initiatives. For instance, all IT projects are scrutinized to ensure there are returns on investment (ROI) and the payback period is reasonable.

Furthermore, all IT projects are required to follow a very strict project management process. This includes documentation of customer requirements, regular project progress reporting, as well as a project closure report and evaluation by customers. This ensures customer feedback is acted upon, and issues are resolved on time.