Roland hits the right note with a flexible freight solution from Freight People
Roland is a global leader in electronic musical instruments, with a diverse product range spanning compact synthesisers through to grand pianos. As a premium brand shipping fragile, high-value goods, Roland relies heavily on specialist sensitive freight carriers while servicing customers ranging from boutique music retailers to large national chains and ecommerce partners.
“Freight People isn’t just helping us move freight,” Liam said. “They listen, they adapt, and they’ve built a solution that grows with us and supports the future of our supply chain.”
Liam French, Supply Chain & Operations Manager, Roland Australia
One
central platform for all freight bookings and tracking
1.5 min
approx. saved per order across thousands of daily shipments
Maintain
existing carrier contracts while seamlessly adding new providers
Improved
reporting and data-driven decision-making across the supply chain
The challenge
Roland’s freight profile is inherently complex. Different products require different handling methods, fleet types, and service levels, and the business has long-standing relationships with specialist carriers such as Cope Sensitive Freight and Go Logistics.
As Roland grew and onboarded new retail and ecommerce partners, that complexity increased. The warehouse team was required to log in to multiple carrier portals, re-enter shipment data, manage bookings in different systems, and work with inconsistent file formats. Freight data was scattered across carriers and spreadsheets, making it difficult to gain a clear, end-to-end view of performance or cost.
“Trying to collate all those files into a dataset was really quite challenging and time-consuming,” said Liam French, Roland’s Supply Chain and Operations Manager. “Our processes were terribly disjointed, and it didn’t make good business sense.”
The lack of a single view also made it difficult to trial or switch carriers when performance on a particular lane declined, or when new delivery requirements emerged, such as residential surcharges or mandatory DC pre-bookings.
The impact
Without integrated freight processes, Roland’s ability to make informed decisions was limited. Data lived in silos, preventing accurate cost-to-serve analysis by product, lane, or customer type. Manual processes slowed operations and made Roland’s longer-term goal of ERP-integrated freight management difficult to achieve.
“It’s very challenging to make good business decisions when data isn’t aggregated,” Liam explained. “You’re seeing pieces of the puzzle, but not the overall picture.”
The Freight People solution
Roland partnered with Freight People, who fully managed the underlying FMS (Cario), to introduce structure, flexibility, and control into its freight operations without disrupting what was already working.
As a modern freight broker and 4PL, Freight People provided access to a broad portfolio of integrated carriers while supporting Roland’s existing carrier relationships and negotiated rate cards. This flexible model was critical.
“One item that was an absolute deal breaker was the ability to have a flexible system,” said Liam. “We needed to use both our existing carrier rate cards and Freight People’s rate cards from their extensive portfolio of integrated carriers, and bring them together in one system.”
Through Freight People and the Cario platform, all freight - whether managed directly with specialist carriers or through Freight People’s network - is now booked, tracked, and analysed in a single environment. This gives Roland operational consistency while preserving choice and flexibility.
Beyond execution, Freight People enabled Roland to consolidate freight data in real time, supporting deeper insight into cost-to-serve and performance trends. Monthly reviews based on unified data now directly inform carrier selection, routing decisions, and future planning.
The results
With Freight People in place, Roland has significantly improved operational efficiency and decision-making.
Processing time per order has reduced by approximately 1.5 minutes. When multiplied across thousands of shipments per day, this represents a substantial productivity gain for the warehouse team.
The model also allows Roland to test new providers or quickly pivot when a carrier underperforms on a specific lane, without disrupting core operations. Having all freight data in one place is helping the business optimise today while planning confidently for the future.
“When our warehouse team processes orders, they’re selecting the most suitable and often the most cost-effective option at the time,” Liam said. “We’re making data-driven decisions now, and that’s a game changer.”
Liam French, Supply Chain & Operations Manager, Roland Australia
What’s next
Roland’s Sage ERP integration is scheduled to go live in early 2026, further increasing automation and visibility across the supply chain. The business is also planning enhancements such as improved customer notifications and carbon reporting, alongside future logistics innovations including RFID-enabled pallet labelling.
“Freight People isn’t just helping us move freight,” Liam said. “They listen, they adapt, and they’ve built a solution that grows with us and supports the future of our supply chain.”
Liam French, Supply Chain & Operations Manager, Roland Australia