Introduction
For more than 30 years, MD Logistics has created customized supply chain solutions designed to protect the integrity, quality, and brand experience of its clients’ products. The company operates more than 1 million square feet across three regions in the United States, specializing in life sciences and pharmaceuticals, as well as OTC and consumer health products.
As a leading 3PL serving these highly specialized industries, MD Logistics needed a billing solution that could support its operational complexity without slowing down teams or putting accuracy at risk.
The Challenge
Before partnering with Open Sky Group, MD Logistics relied on a billing platform that was limited, manual, and time-consuming. The monthly billing process required significant effort across multiple teams and created opportunities for error.
The company needed a more efficient solution that could empower the team and complete billing within specified parameters. They were also looking to improve accuracy, accommodate customized pricing, reduce reliance on technical staff, and move billing-related storage off the production database.
The existing process required involvement from MD Logistics’ IT, finance, and leadership teams for several days each month, diverting critical resources from other client priorities.
The Solution
Open Sky Group quickly emerged as the clear choice for MD Logistics. Beyond meeting the company’s technical requirements, Open Sky Group demonstrated a deep understanding of MD Logistics’ business needs and a commitment to building a customized solution around them.
Throughout the project and after go-live, Open Sky Group’s ability to listen, innovate, and refine the solution gave MD Logistics confidence that it had found a partner capable of supporting its long-term growth and operational excellence.
The partnership also expanded beyond the original billing project. Because MD Logistics valued the communication and partnership with Open Sky Group, the company incorporated Open Sky Group’s Kaleidoscope platform into its operations, ultimately replacing three reporting websites that were in use.
The Result
The implementation spanned six MD Logistics locations, delivering immediate improvements in efficiency, visibility, and operational performance. By automating and streamlining key billing processes, MD Logistics was able to complete time-sensitive end-of-month business analyst reports significantly faster, providing leadership with earlier access to critical insights and enabling more informed decision-making for the month ahead.
“Ultimately, we were able to accomplish every goal we had for this project with Open Sky Group. The efficiencies we realized from this partnership allowed our team to refocus critical resources to building customized supply chain solutions for potential clients.” says Allison Cizmar, Manager of Financial Planning and Data Analytics, MD Logistics.
Beyond these planned outcomes, MD Logistics realized several unexpected benefits that further enhanced productivity. Invoicing is now completed faster than anticipated, pricing updates can be managed without technical support, and teams can backdate pricing changes as needed. Accounting users have streamlined their invoicing process in their accounting application, while warehouse leadership can quickly upload supporting documentation with minimal effort. In addition, the platform improves workflow continuity by allowing users to work seamlessly and makes it easier to identify and resolve missing data issues without relying on IT resources. Together, these improvements have reduced administrative burden, empowered business users, and increased overall operational agility.
Why It Matters
As a leading 3PL specializing in life science and pharmaceutical distribution, MD Logistics required a billing solution capable of supporting the complexity of its operations without sacrificing efficiency or accuracy. The company needed a flexible platform that could accommodate customized pricing and service models while empowering business users to complete monthly invoicing with greater speed, confidence, and independence.
