From fragmented modes to holistic supply chain agility: Uber Freight’s strategic partnership drives value for a global chemical giant

About this global chemicals company

A multibillion-dollar global chemicals manufacturer supplies specialty materials used in more than 15 different industries worldwide, from aerospace and construction to electronics and consumer goods. The company operates 60+ manufacturing, R&D, and operations facilities in 25 countries and employs 6,000+ people worldwide.

As global supply chains grow more complex, leading manufacturers are realizing that agility and cost optimization demand more than just solving for a single mode of freight. For this global chemicals manufacturer, success required transforming a decentralized, piecemeal logistics approach into a unified, strategically managed transportation partnership—empowering teams worldwide to stay agile, responsive, and data-driven.

In partnership with Uber Freight’s international experts and advanced technology platform, the company shifted from managing one-off shipments to orchestrating a holistic, centralized solution—unlocking flexible service options and actionable visibility across every shipment, lane, and mode.

The adhesives division of a global chemicals manufacturer—serving 2,000+ customers across more than 30 countries—faced a critical operational bottleneck: international freight operations remained fragmented, decentralized, and reactive. Individual sites independently quoted and booked shipments with various forwarders, a time-consuming and inefficient process that left each plant negotiating in isolation, forfeiting economies of scale and holistic oversight.

Without a centralized approval process or unified strategy, teams defaulted to using air freight—often faster, but far more expensive—and lacked the flexibility to adjust modes dynamically. This siloed, one-off booking model created significant blind spots. Company leadership was left with little visibility into true shipping volumes, modal breakdowns, or total costs.

The opportunity to consolidate shipments or gain leverage was nonexistent, and—most importantly—the company was unable to strategically steer its global supply chain in response to changing demand, market shifts, or emerging risks. Recognizing the imperative to move beyond transactional problem-solving, company leaders sought a partner who could deliver more than cost savings.

They needed a managed transportation provider with a holistic, agile approach—one with the network, technology, and consultative expertise to centralize control, create actionable visibility, and adapt solutions for continuous advantage.

In 2023, the company deepened its partnership with Uber Freight—expanding from domestic into full international managed transportation. Rather than simply providing more capacity or better rates, the Uber Freight team unified the manufacturer’s SAP ERP with the Uber Freight International Platform, establishing a single digital command center for every international shipment. This integration unlocked real-time, end-to-end visibility across air, FCL, and LCL shipments, along with the agility to adapt services as needs changed.

Centralizing all forwarding, customs, and compliance through Uber Freight transformed a patchwork of site-level decisions into a coordinated, network-driven strategy. On the import side, Uber Freight orchestrated seamless customs clearance and final deliveries, flexibly leveraging both the client’s and its own carrier networks. On the export side, Uber Freight streamlined processes by running competitive spot-quoting across multiple forwarders and centralizing contract management for FCL moves. This freed up the manufacturer’s internal teams to focus on high-value activities, while Uber Freight took on the burden of documentation and regulatory compliance.

A critical pillar of this partnership was Uber Freight’s approach to modal optimization. Where one-off bookings had led to costly overreliance on air freight (nearly 60% of all international shipments), Uber Freight introduced a disciplined, data-driven approval process for mode selection. By coaching plant teams on the strategic—and often lower-cost—benefits of ocean shipping and consolidating shipment opportunities as they arose, Uber Freight helped shift the company’s mix to favor ocean over air. This dynamic flexibility, enabled by centralized oversight, delivered significant cost containment: the conversion and consolidation of shipments under Uber Freight’s model saves the manufacturer roughly $145,000 annually.

But the benefits went further. With Uber Freight as a managed transportation partner, new layers of insight and operational discipline emerged. A dedicated Uber Freight team member audited and paid all forwarder invoices, improved vendor relationships, and helped prevent over-payment. Through advanced analytics dashboards and on-demand reports in the Uber Freight TMS, the company could suddenly track spend, transit times, and carbon emissions by lane—empowering leaders to support sustainability goals and quickly respond to market events, like shifting tariffs.

By turning what was once a fragmented, one-off transactional model into a centralized, strategic partnership, the manufacturer gained more than control—they gained the flexibility to stay agile, the visibility to make smart decisions, and the ability to continuously adapt and improve.

Through this managed partnership, Uber Freight’s team and platform have become a true extension of the manufacturer’s global supply chain function—centralizing critical operations, unlocking data-driven agility, and freeing up time for innovation across the organization.

Today, Uber Freight acts as a seamless extension of the manufacturer’s global supply chain team. This managed partnership enables the business to unlock consistent savings, maintain compliance, and—most importantly—leverage their transportation network as a source of business agility and growth. What was once a source of cost and confusion has become a centralized engine for strategic clarity and competitive advantage.

From 2023 to 2024, with continued strong 2025 YTD volumes across air, FCL, and LCL shipments.

Additionally the company experienced:

• Streamlined global compliance with full import customs brokerage and automated export filings.

• Unprecedented data visibility through dynamic dashboards tracking spend, transit times, and carbon emissions.

• Improved operational control by centralizing international freight management into a single control tower model.