The ICL story can be traced back to 1976, when founder Patrick Donahoe began his logistics career at Chevrolet.  In a major initiative to measure quality throughout the value chain, Pat helped establish a system that allowed Chevrolet to identify and track the raw material being used by vendors to create a variety of cast parts, and then track the resulting finished parts from the suppliers into final assembly.  The lessons learned later helped GM establish the development of “just-in-time” inventory management practices that would eventually be used throughout the organization.

In the early 1980s, Pat left the snows of Michigan for beaches of Orange County, California.  Building upon his experience at Chevrolet, Pat joined the team that launched Mitsubishi Motors Sales of America.  With a goal of providing Mitsubishi the ability to more effectively monitor its flow of parts, he played a key role designing and implementing a parts management system capable of tracking all of the company’s inbound and outbound parts shipments.  The resulting system became a model for the industry, and the basis for similar systems later developed by other manufacturers entering the US market.  Trade publication Cargo Magazine later recognized Mitsubishi’s effort in an article published in their April, 1984 issue.

In 1985, Pat would join another startup, Hyundai Motor America, as they launched the Hyundai brand in the US.  Armed with the knowledge he gained in developing Mitsubishi’s parts system, Pat was tasked with developing a similar system for HMA’s finished vehicle supply chain.  This would prove to be a ground-breaking effort.

At the time, each of HMA’s transportation partners had their own internal methods to monitor the location and status of vehicles under their immediate control.  The railroads had the most detailed information, and could even provide an estimated time of arrival to an interchange or destination ramp, something they had been doing since the 1970s.  However, there was no standardized process or format within the industry for collecting and distributing all this information, nor had anyone successfully integrated this type of information into a single application capable of monitoring vehicle shipments across multiple modes of conveyance.  Faxes and phone calls were the most commonly used tools for tracking down the status of in-transit shipments.

To support Hyundai’s rapidly growing business, Pat developed a PC-based system that collected data from the various carriers into a single database accessible to HMA’s logistics staff.  The system contained information on each vehicle’s current location, estimated arrival time, as well as some basic performance data.  Perhaps best of all, the system was largely automated and could be managed directly by the logistics department, as opposed to the company’s other, mainframe-based applications.

From his work at both Mitsubishi and Hyundai, Pat was one of the industry’s experts in the field of supply chain visibility.  Pat was an active member in a number of industry groups, including the Association of Import Auto Manufacturers, the Council of Logistics Management, and the Automotive Industry Logistics Steering Committee.  He contributed numerous papers to not only the AIAM and CLM.

Recognizing that other automakers had an unmet need to improve visibility of their own supply chains, Pat decided to leave Hyundai in 1992 to form ICL.  In 1994, Kia Motors America and American Suzuki were the launch customers for the first version ICL’s Integrated Logistics Management System, a comprehensive solution that allowed automakers to easily exchange data with key transportation suppliers, monitor vehicles moving through the transportation process, and automatically audit all associated invoicing activity.

Since that time, ICL has continued to be the leader in the development of finished automotive supply chain solutions.  To meet the needs of the largest, most complex automotive distribution networks, ICL developed the Oracle-based MatrixSCM, a robust and flexible web-native platform designed specifically to support today’s fast-changing logistics environment.  And thanks to its commitment to continuous improvement and reputation for outstanding service, ICL’s unique, hosted finished vehicle solutions are used by more OEMs than any other system currently available.

With over 160,000 hours of development and testing, incorporating decades of real-world operational experience, ICL’s hosted and managed solutions are the logical choice for managing your finished automotive supply chain.