Rectangle

Part 1 of our Rectangle Q&A Video Series! Get to know our CEO and Co-Founder - Matt Salefski #logistics #technology #ai #automation #supplychain #video #freight

???Our controversial opinion:? We’re further from standardization than we were 30 years ago, despite the consistent call for it. ??Our reasoning:? For decades, the industry has relied on EDI. However, while the X12 standard exists, the reality is that each shipper customizes the content and demarcation of their EDI spec. APIs have slowly become more popular as a more flexible and robust means of transferring information, but they require software engineers to build and maintain. And APIs have no standards, at all. Logistics is a global problem. As global trade continues to grow, the need for standardization across countries, languages, and cultures becomes nearly impossible. Each shipper also has unique business needs—even companies like Target and Walmart, which operate in similar industries, have distinct logistics requirements. Many companies also benefit from this lack of standardization, as personalization provides competitive advantages over a one-size-fits-all approach. So, what’s next? At Rectangle, we're developing solutions that go beyond standardization to meet the evolving needs of the supply chain. Curious to learn more? Feel free to connect with us. #technology #innovation #automation #logistics #trucking #supplychain

This week the JOC Inland Distribution Conference was right in our backyard! Which meant a lot of industry leaders would be coming to Chicago, and we could not pass on an opportunity to bring them together for an evening of laid back conversations, networking, and learning from each other. We want to thank our co-hosts Greenscreens.ai, BiggerPicture and Samantha Jones Consulting for making this night so collaborative and enjoyable. Thank you to everyone who attended, we hope to see you again next time your travels bring you to our city! #networking #events #logistics #supplychain #technology #auotmation #ai

Please join Rectangle and Rock Yard Ventures on October 7 for a casual get together. Let's talk supply chain, construction, manufacturing, startups, VC, technology. More info here: https://lu.ma/sgd6p0am There are some great food options and a bar, so stop by, have a drink, say hello, and meet some cool people. We're just grabbing some tables and hanging out — come and go as you please!

Our mission is to enable all supply chain data to be accessible across all supply chain systems. We will do this by building technology that connects historically unconnectable systems. In hours, not months. #mission #purpose #business #logistics #technology #automation #accessibility #processimprovement?

"As a carrier operating in a tough market, Rectangle has been a game-changer. We began with a small pilot, which quickly demonstrated Rectangle's capability to not only automate our existing processes but also seamlessly integrate new processes from new customers. With Rectangle, we've streamlined our operations while also improving our service delivery. We highly value our partnership with Rectangle and are excited about our continued success together." Customer experience is so important to us. We are building our business on the needs of our customers, and oftentimes addressing new challenges, and creating new solutions. If you’re a carrier, broker, or forwarder, we’d love to talk with you about your operational challenges that perhaps you think are impossible to automate. #automation #technology #logistics #transportation #supplychain #improvement #operations

Unpopular Opinion? ?? ??? Our unpopular opinion: Probably one of our more popular unpopular opinions (that’s a thing). It’s not about gross margins, it’s about net margins. This one might seem obvious, but winning spot freight at low or no gross margin is worse than not winning it. It won’t cover the operational cost of executing the freight (something some companies struggle to put a $ amount on) – resulting in negative net margin. This results in a carrier/broker paying a shipper to provide them services… ?? ?? Our reasoning: If the market clearing rate is break-even for you, then, most likely your operational cost is higher than the market. It’s a sign that you can be operating more efficiently. You’re either not using automation or the automation that you’re using isn’t doing what you think it is if you ask your team. #technology #innovation #automation #logistics #trucking #supplychain

Rectangle hope you enjoy your Labor Day! Labor Day is a great opportunity to recognize the commitment and hard work that everyone brings to the table. Your contributions are essential to our success. Here’s to taking a break and recharging. Thanks for all that you do. #LaborDay #Gratitude #TeamAppreciation

We want to better introduce our team! Starting off with Matt Salefski! To help you get to know him better, we asked him some questions! Spoiler alert, he has an awesome fun fact at the end! What is your title/role? CEO.? Fancy title, but what it means is that I do the unfun stuff: legal, audit, finance (I find finance fun), writing updates. Outside of the unfun stuff, I spend most of my time selling to potential customers and to potential investors. But mostly to customers these days. How many years have you been in tech? In logistics?? I’ve been in tech since 2012 when I started at Amazon at the mothership in Seattle. I was originally responsible for “non-media used” which is basically anything “used” on Amazon that isn’t a book, DVD, or video game. Think: vacuum cleaners, iPads, phones. This is actually when I first learned about freight forwarding because a ton of our customers were overseas and our most popular zip codes happened to be freight forwarder warehouses. After Amazon, I joined a small(ish) startup (now not so small) in NYC. Very different from the big corporate vibe of Amazon. I spent 3 years there and then got my chance to enter logistics. I joined Transfix in 2017 and got a crash course in domestic freight, then moved to Flexport in 2019 where I got an even bigger crash course in domestic freight during the pandemic. It was super surprising to me how different domestic and international freight are. Almost like night and day. What is your favorite thing about the logistics/supply chain industry?? It’s one of the few industries that impacts everyone on earth. This was one of the things I loved about Amazon, as well. Any improvement impacts millions of people at Amazon. Any improvement you make to the supply chain impacts billions of people. In my opinion, it’s the “highest leverage” industry in the world. What is a fun fact about you?? Next month I’m participating in the PAPA World Pinball Championships ?? #team #leadership #growth #logistics #technology #supplychain

Email is the lifeblood of the supply chain. Did you know that you can tell your browser to use a web-based email client (like Gmail) instead of Outlook or Mail? What does this do? Have you ever tried to click a weblink (like someone's email address or a "contact us") and it opens up Outlook but you use Gmail? ?? Here is how you change that: In Chrome, simply visit your web-based email client (Gmail, Outlook 365). In the address bar, you’ll see an icon that looks like two diamonds overlapping each other. ?? Click it, and you’ll get this dialog: "Allow gmail.com to open all email links?" Select "Allow" and then "Done" Now all email links in Chrome will be opened in either gmail or outlook. Tag someone you think would enjoy this simple but helpful tech tip! ??